As I put my swamp cooler together I'm starting to get concerned about running
it dry. What if anything are people doing to cut it off when the water gets
low? Is the float switch mentioned below relevant? If so, anybody have any
specifics?
Thanks,
Steve
--
There is a problem when the turnover in the United States House of
Representatives is lower than it was in the Soviet Politburo.
-- NATHANIEL PERSILY, election law expert at the University of
Pennsylvania Law School
On Jul 17, 2011, at 8:14 PM, hooperstack wrote:
> I built and used a swamp cooler for my Hexayurt in 09' that worked
> great to keep the yurt cool. I roughly used the design found here:
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/texasdesertlife/sets/72157605888462649/
> using a float switch to fill an upper reservoir thereby keeping the
> pump operation to a minimum, as I was running off a solar setup. If
> you're on a limited power budget, this system is a good way to go.
> Here's a picture of it:
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/texasdesertlife/sets/72157605888462649/
>
> On Jul 10, 9:20 am, Richard Ginn <g...@gii.net> wrote:
>> another way to have water flow down over the material is with a large
>> reservoir (plastic garbage can) above it that you refill by hand (bucket) as
>> needed. 50 gallons would trickle down all night maybe?
>>
>> On Sun, Jul 10, 2011 at 3:31 AM, ken winston caine <
>>
>>
>>
>> k...@mindbodyspiritjournal.com> wrote:
>>> **
>>> Pretty amazing amount of pumping for 6 watts, Richard.
>>
>>> Still, if I'm running it 24 hours a day (along with the fan) during the
>>> current 100-plus degree days and high 70s to high 80s nights until about 4
>>> a.m. when finally it starts to cool down a little, I'm using 282 watts a
>>> day. That's 1/5 of the total electricity I have available each non-overcast
>>> day from my solar system. That's a pretty big bite and I can probably afford
>>> it only a day or two a week and keep the system healthy.
>>
>>> It's NOTHING if you're on the grid. And a wonderful savings compared to
>>> typical pumps.
>>
>>> Best,
>>> ken winston caine
>>
>>> P.S. Am going to look into it, anyway. Because it would be really nice to
>>> be able to use it if only from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. or so when the inside of my
>>> RV heats up into the middle 90s most days this time of year. My self-wicking
>>> coolers bring the air right in front of me and on my face down to the mid
>>> 80s while I'm working at my desk, which is much more tolerable than mid 90s.
>>> But if I could force more water into the pads, and add pads, I could get
>>> better cooling.
>>
>>> Have been meaning to hook up the Kill-a-Watt meter up to an aquarium pump
>>> and see what kind of wattage it draws. If it's less than 6 watts, I'll
>>> report that here. (Doubt that it will be.)
>>
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> *From:* Richard Ginn <richardg...@gmail.com>
>>> *To:* hexayurt@googlegroups.com
>>> *Sent:* Saturday, July 09, 2011 10:21 PM
>>> *Subject:* Re: [hexayurt] Windows and COOLING on the PLAYA
>>
>>> For 6 watts you can power a 12-volt CPU water cooling pump that is rated at
>>> 132 gallons per hour, and then you don't have to wick the water at all:
>>
>>> http://www.frozencpu.com/products/6073/ex-pmp-53/Danger_Den_DD-CPX1_1...
>>
>>> On Tue, Jul 5, 2011 at 5:11 PM, ken winston caine <
>>> k...@mindbodyspiritjournal.com> wrote:
>>
>>>> Jack, I've experimented with developing a 7-watt, self-wicking swamp
>>>> cooler
>>>> that works pretty well.
>>
>>>> Haven't experimented with EVERY fabric known to man, but did find,
>>>> surprisingly, that absorbant paper towels tended to wick better than about
>>>> any cloth fabric I could test.But even., then, they tend to wick up only
>>>> about 6 inches above the water surface.
>>
>>>> What really helps is to hang them with open pleats facing the air source
>>>> and
>>>> allowing a tiny bit of air space between each hanging wick. That allows
>>>> the
>>>> air to pass between them a tiny bit. If using a high-efficiency,
>>>> low-wattage
>>>> 12v fan made for use in RVs and campers, having the open end of the pleat
>>>> facing the fan's exhaust also helps the pleats balloon a bit and speeds
>>>> evaporation.
>>
>>>> My design provides 8 to 10 degree cooling for about 5 feet in front of the
>>>> swamp cooler exhaust. So it's a personal cooler, not a room cooler.
>>>> Although
>>>> it does noticeably help cool the room a tiny bit, so long as you have
>>>> fresh
>>>> air vents in the room bringing in occasional super dry gusts. That's when
>>>> you notice the moisture evaporating in areas of the room other than
>>>> directly
>>>> in front of the cooler.
>>
>>>> The more folds of wicking material you can fit in your box (if buidling a
>>>> swamp cooler) the more cooling effect you'll get.
>>
>>>> Have yet to experiment with putting the fan on the top of the box, ponting
>>>> down at the wicks and water tray on the bottom. Am planning to test that
>>>> next.
>>
>>>> Have tried quite a few variations. Have found that the fan BEHIND the
>>>> wicks,
>>>> blowing air through them, provides better cooling than locating the fan in
>>>> front of the wicks so that it *draws* the air through the wicks.
>>
>>>> Also have found that having a larger intake opening than exhaust opening
>>>> seems to help a bit, too. About a 2::1 ratio has seemed best in my
>>>> experiments.
>>
>>>> You can do these with cardboard boxes and duct tape and rubber maid
>>>> shoe-box size plastic containers.
>>
>>>> The type of fan I use is this:
>>
>>>> http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/fan-tastic-endless-breeze-1...
>>
>>>> I also found at the end of summer about six years ago at a Wal Mart in
>>>> Albuquerque a season closeout price on Wal-Mart's "Ozark Trails" version
>>>> of
>>>> this fan and bought seven of them for $4 each and am using those in two of
>>>> my swamp cooler. They actually use less wattage than the Endless Breeze,
>>>> but
>>>> push slightly less air through, too.
>>
>>>> May have been four years ago I wrote here about Buckminster Fuller's
>>>> proven
>>>> "cooling effect," but have not yet heard of anyone experimenting with it
>>>> on
>>>> the playa with hexayurts.
>>
>>>> Fuller proved that putting a rain-capped stovepipe in the center of the
>>>> roof
>>>> of his circular dymation house or at the apex of the roof of a geodesic
>>>> dome, and then having open vents about 1 foot above floor level around the
>>>> walls of the building created an amazing, counter-intuitive cooling
>>>> effect.
>>>> The ratio of low-wall vent airflow capacity to roof vent was about 4 to 1,
>>>> if I recall correctly.
>>
>>>> What happens -- and Fuller demonstrated this multiple times, including in
>>>> a
>>>> dome at the equator built for the U.S. military -- is that as the ground
>>>> around the building and the walls of the building heat up as the sun beats
>>>> down, this creates a flow of warm air rising around the outside of the
>>>> building. That rising air creates suction at the floor level vents,
>>>> pulling
>>>> air out of the building. That causes a rush of air to be pulled down into
>>>> the building through the roof vent.
>>
>>>> Fuller said this phenomenon extends for hundreds of feet into the air
>>>> above
>>>> the building. So you have hot air rising in a circle around the building
>>>> and
>>>> COOL air from higher in the atmosphere hundreds of feet above the building
>>>> being sucked down the center of the invisible column.
>>
>>>> The cooling effect was commonly reported to be in the range of 20 degrees.
>>>> That is, the air coming in through the root pipe and dropping on the room
>>>> had an effect of cooling the room by about 20 degrees from its temperature
>>>> with the vents all closed.
>>
>>>> Pretty amazing. Completely passive (other than opening and closing vents).
>>>> And, other than the initial cost to build (the pvc or stove pipe and rain
>>>> cap and dampers), free.
>>
>>>> I say that this is counter intuitive because normally we expect interior
>>>> heat to rise and exit through a roof vent. And normally it does. And that
>>>> certainly helps exhaust heat from the room or building. But it doesn't
>>>> bring
>>>> in a nice, steady, flow of cool air that drops on the room from the
>>>> ceiling.
>>
>>>> Hope that helps inspire someone to experiment and report their results.
>>
>>>> Best,
>>>> ken winston caine
>>
>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>> From: "Jack Senechal" <jacksenec...@gmail.com>
>>>> To: <hexayurt@googlegroups.com>
>>>> Sent: Monday, July 04, 2011 3:19 PM
>>>> Subject: Re: [hexayurt] Windows
>>
>>>> I've used metal tape to fix a plexiglass panel to the outside, and it
>>>> worked great. You could do two for better insulation, one inside and
>>>> one out. And if you have two panels of plexiglass, you can bolt
>>>> through them for extra solidity. But I think that might be overkill
>>>> for the Playa. Having the cutout in there to block the sun during the
>>>> part of the day when it shines in the window directly would probably
>>>> be a good idea.
>>
>>>> Regarding ventilation, I suspect that it would work well to generate
>>>> an updraft by installing a black chimney pipe in the roof. That would
>>>> draw air up when the sun shines on it, pulling it in through your
>>>> vents below.
>>
>>>> As an added bonus, you could put a damp cloth over the vent so air has
>>>> to pass through it, which would cool it down and moisturize the air.
>>>> You'd need a course fabric for that, something that's absorbent and
>>>> loosely woven so air could pass through well. You could drape the
>>>> bottom into a bucket of water, and it would wick it up continuously.
>>
>>>> I haven't actually tried those ventilation ideas to work out the kinks
>>>> yet, but I intend to do that this year. The principles behind it are
>>>> sound though :)
>>
>>>> Jack
>>
>>>> On Mon, Jul 4, 2011 at 11:20 AM, Milt Fisher <mfisher...@gmail.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>> I was planning to tape the filters to the outside after setting up. That
>>>>> way
>>>>> I could replace the cutouts during dust storms if too much dust came
>>>>> through
>>>>> the filters.
>>>>> Did you just have one filter? Was that enough to provide ventilation?
>>>>> On Jul 4, 2011, at 9:44 AM, Steve Upstill <upst...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>>>> Don't know if you're headed for the Playa, but I liked my hyurt nice and
>>>>> dark. I had great results with a furnace filter: cut a hole just small
>>>>> enough to hold the filter firmly. Bonus: you can still fold/stack your
>>>>> panels.
>>>>> Cheers,
>>>>> Steve
>>>>> --
>>>>> Before you criticize a man, walk a mile in his shoes. That way, when you
>>>>> do
>>>>> criticize him, you'll be a mile away and you'll have his shoes.
>>
>>>>> On Jul 4, 2011, at 9:03 AM, Milt Fisher wrote:
>>
>>>>>> I'd like some recommendations for hexayurt windows. I'm not interested
>>>> in
>>>>>> framed, sliding windows with screens, just some plastic of some kind
>>>>>> taped
>>>>>> over a hole in the panel. Any recommendations on what kind of plastic
>>>> to
>>>>>> use? Thin plexiglas maybe? Or perhaps flexible vinyl?
>>
>>>>> Any other ideas for simple windows?
>>>>> I'm planning to tape the plastic to the outside and hinge the panel
>>>> cutout
>>>>> into the window opening so we can close it when we want darkness.
>>>>> Thanks,
>>>>> Milt
>>>>> --
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