Onward Through The Fog

vswingfield · 08-14-2007, 01:07 PM

Spin-off from “It's Soooooo Hooooot outside.....”

Due to the extreme heat, my old Coleman AC has been overheating and cycling off every few minutes. Result, temps inside my Excella matched or exceeded those outside.

Last Saturday I went to Home Depot and bought a drip irrigation starter system ($18), battery powered timer ($31), and a package of fogger emitters ($2.50).

This is a temporary measure, till I replace the AC, I realize that I don’t want water on the roof every day all summer. Because of this, installation consisted of running the ½” main line down my awning and making short runs of the ¼” lines to the misters. I also have 1 fogger in the center directly in the ½” line. There are a total of 7 foggers, with one cooling the AC condenser.

It reached a high of 107.1 yesterday (Monday the 13th) and my inside temp peaked at 87.1. A full 20-degree drop! Best day yet. I have the timer set to come on at 10:00 am and shut off at 9:00 pm. It’s really making a difference.

Given the temporary nature, please excuse the mess in the timer photo. When the AC is replaced, this will revert to its original purpose…watering the plants. I’ll tidy up the install then.

There has been a lot of interest, and Jim and Susan asked me to start a thread. Photos are attached.

Vaughan

OTTF

53flyingcloud · 08-14-2007, 01:25 PM

KEWL...
Don't people in the desert climate area do this as well around their patios?Hey, set ur timer for 8:30pm and, everyone can get a shower before bed..

ciao
53FC

SilverCabin · 08-14-2007, 01:26 PM

At Perry, someone in the VAC had these hung along his awning. He had the coolest patio at the rally. I was thinking about engineering something for the awning with the parts I have left over from the Home Depot kit for the next time we have a hot camp.

Glad it's working for you.

Randy

Jaxon · 08-21-2007, 08:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SilverCabin

At Perry, someone in the VAC had these hung along his awning. He had the coolest patio at the rally. I was thinking about engineering something for the awning with the parts I have left over from the Home Depot kit for the next time we have a hot camp. Randy

Now there's an idea...! But, with the dimensions of the awning being what they are (not that big of an area), wouldn't one get soaked with the mist over time?

Fyrzowt · 08-21-2007, 08:25 PM

My dad has done this before at hot locations. The trick to not getting too wet, seems to be a quality brass emitter to get better atomization. Also, suspend it high enough, like from a tree branch.
Dave

Jaxon · 08-21-2007, 08:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fyrzowt

My dad has done this before at hot locations. The trick to not getting too wet, seems to be a quality brass emitter to get better atomization. Also, suspend it high enough, like from a tree branch.
Dave

Thanks, Dave. This is definitely worth looking into - the old 'swamp cooler' concept...

overlander63 · 08-21-2007, 08:46 PM

You could also run the solenoids through a timer, on 15 minutes, off 30.

Fyrzowt · 08-21-2007, 08:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by overlander63

You could also run the solenoids through a timer, on 15 minutes, off 30.

Then you're only hot 2/3 of the time

overlander63 · 08-21-2007, 09:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fyrzowt

Then you're only hot 2/3 of the time

Okay, I meant on 30, and off 15. This would let things dry out between dousings.

**moosetags** · 08-22-2007, 12:47 AM

Neat idea. We need that for our house this week. Our first floor A/C has been out for the last 5 days. Fortunately, the air is still working on the other floors. We also have Lucy in the driveway with her air running for a place to do our computer work.

overlander63 · 08-22-2007, 06:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by moosetags

We also have Lucy in the driveway with her air running for a place to do our computer work.

I bet you're doing a LOT of computer work right now...

GO Bob · 08-22-2007, 08:04 AM

I was one that had the misters with the VAC. I had a 20' mist mate from Wal Mart. Aiming the mister away from the awning solved most of wetting problems. The chairs under the mist and the rug rats standing under them got wet. Per instructions the misters should be 10' above ground. Right now I have a mister on my home AC to reduce pressure on system. I think we are over 14 days of over 100 degrees.

Mrs_RedSHED · 08-22-2007, 09:05 AM

What a beautiful innovation! I've only heard a little about swamp coolers, do they work well enough in areas of higher humidity (the midwest)? What was the humidity like in Perry?

InsideOut · 08-22-2007, 09:45 AM

They are most effective in areas of low humidity...Perry seemed very humid to me, but then I'm used to arid Colorado which is waaay lower than most areas.

Shari