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Homebrew Air Conditioning for Under $25
inkey string writes "Summer has arrived, and I've been busy slowly overheating in my student house without central air.
I decided to put my thermodynamics classes to work however, and produced this ~24$ homebrew air conditioner. It'll cool a room to a comfortable level in 15-20 mins, and will run for a few hours on a garbage pail full of water.
It's cheap, environmentally friendly (just fire the waste water off to your garden), and makes a good one hour project for a quiet evening."
You know, you could've specified units...
I bet the heat from his server melted all his ice cubes in his garbage bin.
Why not just throw the ice into the fan and make snow on your carpet?
What he could do to make this even more efficient is to dig a 6-8 foot hole in the yard. Bury a series of coiled copper tubing in the hole with the two end going back up into the bucket. Buy a simple and cheap garden electric pond pump or fish tank pump to pump the water contantly from the bucket to the earth to the bucket. The ground at that depth is always at roughly 50 degrees. Then use the same system attached to the fan with suction but have the other end return the water directly back into the garbage can. The water bottle could still be utilized to increase effectiveness. This makes it into a cheap geothermal system that utilizes the same water over and over again. Also, to prevent even further loss due to evaporation, put a lid on the garbage can.
What he could do to make this even more efficient is to dig a 6-8 foot hole in the yard. Bury a series of coiled copper tubing in the hole with the two end going back up into the bucket. Buy a simple and cheap garden electric pond pump or fish tank pump to pump the water contantly from the bucket to the earth to the bucket. The ground at that depth is always at roughly 50 degrees. Then use the same system attached to the fan with suction but have the other end return the water directly back into the garbage can. The water bottle could still be utilized to increase effectiveness. This makes it into a cheap geothermal system that utilizes the same water over and over again. Also, to prevent even further loss due to evaporation, put a lid on the garbage can. I would be interested to see pics if this upgrade is implemented.