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Free Air Conditioning

by Vyger on August 16, 2007

Table of Contents
intro: Free Air Conditioning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

step 1: check your water temp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

step 2: materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

step 3: Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

step 4: reinforce it (tie it together) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

step 5: Connect to the water supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

step 6: Turn on the water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

step 7: Answers to questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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intro: Free Air Conditioning

Technically it should be called a heat exchanger, we lovingly call it the water cooler, but it has been providing us with free cold air for more than 20 years now so it
definitely does work.
Shortly after moving here (Montana) I noticed that the water from our well is really cold, under 50 degrees. I built this heat exchanger to take advantage of that cold
source for use in the house in the summer and as a byproduct it heats up the water going to the garden a bit before it goes on the plants since the plants didn't seem to
care to much for the super cold water. Good benefits all the way around and since I would be pumping the water to water outside anyway the only actual cost is the
power to run the box fan that moves the air through the copper piping.
How well does it work? We hit a high temperature in July of 112F, hottest that I can remember. The temperature inside was 76F with the cooler running all the time. I
almost didn't want to go out to move the sprinkler.
The disadvantages? Well, you have to move the sprinkler a lot, but it does keep the grass green. Also if the humidity gets high, water will condense on the exchanger the
same as on a glass of cold water. So I keep towels underneath it to soak up the moisture. If it gets really muggy I have to change the towels several times a day. I just
hang the wet set outside in the heat to dry and rotate the dry ones back under the cooler.
It will take some skill to put it together but once done it is maintenance free, except for the time I left it outside before putting it away for the winter and it froze some
leftover water in a pipe and broke it. Make sure to get the water out of it and store it where its above freezing.
Another disadvantage, it isn't pretty, but it is unique and truly "green".

step 1: check your water temp

For this to work at all you need to have cold incoming water. The colder the better. Get a standard waterproof thermometer and run your outside water for a while and find
out what temp it is. This probably will not work in places where you have a municipal water supply unless its from a cold source. Also you need to have enough ground to
water so you don't water log your garden and lawn. It will probably work best in rural areas.
With the fan turned off and the water running outside the temp of my copper pipe is 48F (Infrared non contact thermometer reading)

http://www.instructables.com/id/Free-Air-Conditioning/

step 2: materials
For my heat exchanger I used copper pipe with aluminum fins. This is the same stuff that is used for hot water baseboard heating systems. I got mine a long time ago so I
don't know if the same stuff is still around but there should be something similar on the market.
In addition I got mine for free. I found it in a pile at the local landfill apparently discarded by a contractor as scraps from a heating job. (I used to get all my firewood at the
landfill from trees people in town cut down, that has all since changed with all the new laws. Now I am not allowed to remove wood from the landfill, instead they bury it,
go figure.)
I doubt that they throw anything like this away today with recycle prices so high but you should check with a local contractor to see if he has anything. He probably would
rather sell it to you cheap instead of hassling with recycling it. If you can't get scraps then you will need to by new.
To fit a standard box fan the sections need to be about 21 inches long. Stacked one on top of the other it took 7 pieces to reach the top of the fan. This will vary if your
fins are smaller.
You will also need elbows to connect the sections together and lots of little pipe pieces. Scrap works great here too rather than cutting up a full length of pipe.
Originally I started with one layer of pipe but after seeing how good it worked I added 2 more so mine has 3 layers of heat fins. This seams to be a good number.
Anymore and it would get difficult to move around and would take up to much room. Any less and the air doesn't get enough contact to cool down enough. Finish the
ends with fittings that can connect to a hose. You can use the special connecting hoses for washing machines but I just cut up sections from a regular garden hose. The
bigger the diameter of the hose the better, you will restrict the water flow to the outside if you use small hoses and pipes. All of this hardware is available at any local
hardware store. Shop around for the best prices. I used 42 elbows to put mine together.

step 3: Tools
Not much is need in the way of tools. A pipe cutter is essential, Measuring tape and marker, Flux and solid core solder and rags to wipe off the pipes. The pliers are for
holding the pipe as you solder, the sections are short so the whole thing gets really hot. You should also have some fine sandpaper or emery cloth to sand the fittings. It
helps the solder to hold better. If you haven't done soldering before this will be great practice. Remember, do it outside or in a garage with lots of ventilation. Give yourself
lots of space and watch for anything combustible. If you drop the torch make sure its not going to set anything on fire. Simple things for sure but people actually do
manage to set things on fire a lot. Make sure the solder fills the joints completely. If you take your time and do it right you will have no leaks when you finish. Remember,
hot liquid metal runs downhill and does drip. Don't hold it in your lap.
Assemble the sections separately then solder then sections together after they are finished. Make sure that the connectors for the hose are on the bottom, if you use 3
layers you will have to run a pipe from top to bottom to get both connectors on the bottom. You can see it in the picture of mine. One nice thing about using copper, if it
doesn't fit right you can take apart the joints and do them over again.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Free-Air-Conditioning/

step 4: reinforce it (tie it together)

The soldered joints are not strong enough by themselves to hold this all together, especially after it is filled with water. I used plastic twine to tie mine all together because
at the time that is what I had and it worked good. Today I would probably use nylon wire ties along with the twine. Just zip it all together. Whatever you use make sure
that its tightly pulled together so the joints aren't stressed. It helps too to add some kind of handle so you can pick it up easily.
Notice in the picture the hose connector on the bottom and the long pipe to change from the top to the bottom.
One step I forgot to mention, PRESSURE TEST IT for leaks outside before you bring it into the house. Run water through it until all the air is out and then leave it sit
under pressure and check for any wet spots.

step 5: Connect to the water supply

I added a feeder pipe coming off my pressure tank and piped it under the house directly to a connecting box in the floor. I added valves, one on the incoming and one on
the outgoing and a bypass valve. Then continued the feed pipe to the outside. Yes, if someone were to turn the valve on without the cooler attached it would spray water
all over. But nobody ever has so far. The only time I ever had a leak was when I tried using snap on hose connectors. They are convenient but they leak. So they work
great outside but don't use them for this application.
I should have used ball valves for the connectors, they restrict the water flow less and are faster to turn on and off. I may swap out the ones I have now to ball valves in
the future.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Free-Air-Conditioning/

step 6: Turn on the water

Place towels under the exchanger, check the hoses, turn on the water. You can hear the gurgling as the air moves through the pipes. Turn the sprinkler on outside. Turn
the fan on behind the exchanger and thats pretty much it. Free Cold air.
Depending on what you can find, the initial parts could cost you a bit, especially since copper has gone up in price. And it is a bit labor intensive to put it all together. But
once done its maintenance free unless it springs a leak.
And its totally green, using cold that would normally just go to wast.
Ours works so good that it sometimes gets too cold and we have to open a window. Other times when I need to water but don't need the cooling I have to put it on
bypass.
I have to admit that I did get an air conditioner though. Its at the opposite end of the house and I run it when the humidity gets really high. Its mostly just for dehumidifying.
The water cooler does most of the cooling.

step 7: Answers to questions

Due to the number of comments I thought it best to add an extra page to address some of them and to answer some of the questions and clarify a few things.
In regards to using car radiators - although at first this appears to be a good idea I would not recommend it for many reasons, some are as follows:
First - you would find it very difficult to connect up the water lines in a way that would hold the pressure. You would need to find adapters to somehow go from radiator
size hoses down to regular water pipes. Even though it might be possible to do so, it is highly likely that you would end up with leaks.
Second - High water pressure would probably cause leaks. Car cooling systems are designed for relatively low PSI. Radiator caps are designed to open and vent at
about 12 to 15 PSI if I remember correctly. Your normal house water supply runs between 30 and 70 PSI. My pump is set to cycle between 30 and 50 PSI (30 on, 50 off).
This kind of pressure would likely rupture a radiator or cause the cap to pop open and vent. So, while you are outside moving the sprinkler and you turn off the water,
inside a fountain erupts in the living room. Not so fun.
That's why I used standard water pipes - they are designed specifically to hold the higher pressure.
Third - Many older radiators leak to begin with. In order to keep them in service, many are plugged up with stop leak. But as soon as you start running lots of fresh water
through them all of the stop leak and other assorted crud will be flushed out and they will probably end up leaking. And there goes your fountain again.
Fourth - Radiators are going to be difficult to get clean. Most of them are full of bug leftovers and oil and other assorted things from the engine compartment. Even if you
do get them clean they will probably continue to put off a nasty smell.
Fifth - The ability to use the outside water in a normal way, and by this I mean that you can turn off the water at the hose, run sprinklers or even wash your car without
any fear of fountains in the living room, is something you probably could not achieve using radiators. With my cooler there is no need to just let the hose drain on the
ground because it can be pressurized - it is not just a drain. In addition because it is made to hold the water pressure and not leak you can locate the cooler anywhere in
the house where you need the cooling. I actually considered building a unit to fit into the heat ducts and use the furnace fan to drive the air through it so that it would
become a whole house unit, but I decided that it was too much work and too complicated for my needs. Keep it simple and you will have fewer problems.
If you are planning on using this for your garage or shop I could see using radiators. Water spills wouldn't be near the problem that they would be inside your house but I
would not recommend using radiators for in-house use.
Next - If you mount one in a window and pull in air from outside you will defeat part of the cooling effect. The outside air is far warmer and has much more heat in it than
the inside air. By setting this up completely inside and circulating the air inside through it you get more cooling because the air going through it is already more moderate.
Use outside air only if you need the ventilation.
{{{
What would be really great is for some enterprising company to manufacture a specific unit for this purpose. A heat exchanger/radiator that is designed for the standard
water pressure built into a plastic housing for catching the condensation and with a fan mounted inside. An all in one unit. Just attach the hoses and plug the fan in. But
it's unlikely that anyone will because the market is not large enough. Of course, that being said, some Chinese company will probably market this in the future and totally
screw me out of any share of the profits.
}}}
I did a Google search on the internet and there is baseboard heating pipe available, even some for salvage prices. Somebody in Texas had 200 feet that he had just
taken out and didn't want to throw away because it was in ??like new shape. My cooler used about 40 feet of the pipe. So that's around the amount that you will need to
make a similar unit.
The water I use is directly from my pressure tank. It's untreated and is intended for outside watering. Our ground water here is pretty nasty. It's very alkali and has lots of
rust in it. Just to be able to use it for the house I run it through a sediment filter, then a rust filter and finally a water softener which uses rust removing salt. And after all of
that we still don't drink it. So the inside water and outside water are kept completely separate.
I want to emphasize this---- I don't waste the water by just dumping it on the ground. It is used for watering the garden, grass and trees. It hasn't rained here for 8 weeks
now. With temperatures in the 80's and above everything dies if it's not watered. So the water is not being wasted. I try to keep a band of green around the house as a
fire preventative. In 1999 we had a grass fire / fire storm sweep through the area and 3 neighbors houses burnt to the ground along with 4 out buildings/garages and the
UPS shipping depot. Only the houses with green grass around them were spared. So having a green belt is a pretty good idea. So again I emphasize, I would be
watering anyway, I am just taking advantage of something that would normally be thrown away. (The cooling properties of the water). Also this doesn't need tremendous
amounts of water to work. Even at a trickle there is still a lot of heat absorbed by the water.
"bricko" described this as ?a poor mans water source heat pump". He is pretty correct in that. Regular heat pumps don't work here because the winter air temperatures
are too low, as much as 40 bellow zero and often 10 below for weeks at a time. So they developed what are called ground source heat pumps that both heat and cool

http://www.instructables.com/id/Free-Air-Conditioning/

using the ground for the moderate temperatures that a heat pump needs. My cooler is actually only half a system in that it's not for heating, but for cooling only. A full
Ground Source Heat Pump system is very expensive and uses a lot of power year round. In addition the laws concerning them have changed recently. In Montana you
are no longer allowed to return water back to the water table by using a well. There were too many instances of people contaminating the water table by returning dirty
water to a well. So any new heat pump system has to be contained or sealed. You can run a fluid through underground heat exchangers but the inside fluid cannot come
into direct contact with the ground water, thus it's a sealed loop system. I have avoided all of this by simply using the water for both watering plants and cooling the
house. It's not sophisticated, there's no compressor, no thermostat, it's manually regulated, this is what makes it cheap and green. This is also in keeping with the whole
concept of the going green contest. Yes there are more sophisticated systems available. But that's not the intent of the contest, at least as I understand it. (Or so I thought
until I saw the contest results)
I do have a plan for a wind powered/compressed air/water pump that I would love to adapt to this system and make a totally self contained system. But I have never had
the funds to develop it or the kind of shop tools I would need to build it. Maybe someday----.
Finally for those of you who have asked, I run the coldest water through the outermost layer so the air to leave hits the coldest water as it departs. The temperature drop
between the incoming and outgoing water depends on the flow rate. Running full open the water temp only drops a few degrees. But running only one sprinkler and so
reducing the flow, the temp difference can be as much as 15 degrees. The inlet hose will be wet with condensation but the out hose will be completely dry. Interestingly
the fan speed doesn't appear to have to much affect on the difference in the water temp, but it does have an effect on the air temp. The lower the fan speed the colder
the air coming out of the cooler. That's because the air spends a little longer moving over the fins and gets a chance to shed more heat. However the cold air doesn't
circulate around as much because there isn't much air movement, so I usually run the fan on high or medium.
Also in case anyone is wondering or interested, my well is around 70 feet deep with a submersible pump at the bottom and a pitiless connector about 10 feet down.
Because our ground freezes down to 8 feet on occasions all underground pipes need to be at least that deep if not deeper to prevent them from freezing. So this is a
sealed well, the top of the casing is closed to prevent any contamination from getting into it. Our water table is around 20 feet down so the pump is well below the table.
This allows for it to draw down a lot before it starts sucking air.

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Comments
50 comments Add Comment

view all 136 comments

bubblewrap74 says:

Aug 26, 2008. 10:53 PM REPLY

Hm... nobody seems to be concerned about the fact that water is becoming more and more scarce in the world, including ground water. Is this really a smart
thing to be doing with groundwater resources? Sure, it's free but how do the neighbours feel about the depletion of the ground water levels in the area when
a sprinkler is running all day in hot weather?

Vyger says:

Sep 19, 2008. 11:35 AM REPLY

My water usage is actually quite small compared to most. I don't have an in ground sprinkler system, just one sprinkler and a hose. This summer it got so
dry that I couldn't even keep up with the grass drying out. I am not a grass fanatic, I water just enough to keep it alive and semi green and that is for fire
protection as much as appearances. We had weeks of red flag warnings this summer. (A Red flag warning is a weather service warning that the
conditions are dangerous for wild fires. High temperatures, very low humidity and high winds.) Also a lot of my water usage is for my garden, or would
you find my growing my own food an objectionable use of ground water?
In this rural area many farmers use giant irrigation sprinklers. They probably use in a few hours what I use all summer. I don't think they care about my
water usage. Also my ground water is replenished from the Missouri River which is only 1/3 mile away. I have no environmental impact except to provide
shelter and food for the birds that live in my trees that grow because I water them.
It really doesn't take that much water to make this system work. Water has a tremendous heat carrying capacity and even at low volumes this heat
exchanger works well because the water coming in is so cold. How well this works does depend on your local climate, so its not going to work well for
everybody. For where I live it works great and it has no impact on my water use as I would water the garden and grass and trees anyway. The cooling
effects are a BYPRODUCT of the water usage and not the primary use. The primary use of the water is for the vegetation, that is why the cooling effects
is free for me.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Free-Air-Conditioning/

We had a lot of very hot days this summer and I never once had to turn on an air conditioner. It's a result of smart living. I have trees shading the house
and I have super insulated everything. (with 30 below temps in the winter thats pretty mandatory here). And finally I open up the house at night and let it
cool down using fans to exhaust the warm inside air. (It usually drops into the 60's at night here.) I do laundry at night and keep heat generating activities
to a minimum in the day. Its a matter of altering your activity as well as the machinery to fit what's happening outside. You know, the simple stuff like
close the door because the heats on and turn off the lights and use floresents. (I converted to mostly florescent's 25 years ago) The end results are lower
energy usage and friendly environmental living. Its simple, work with the natural cycles instead of against them. I have been doing it this way for many
years and have had good results, Now if I can just get the guy who owns the field next to me to quit spraying my windbreak trees with weed killer things
would be great.

j626no says:

Aug 27, 2008. 9:08 AM REPLY

not attempting to start a fight, but i've noticed this trend lately...everybody that complains about somebody's 'ible has never created one of their own. just
something i've noticed.

bubblewrap74 says:

Aug 27, 2008. 10:01 AM REPLY

I'm not sure that having not created an instructible means that one's comments (negative or positive) have no validity. I'm also not "complaining".
Asking legitimate questions about the wisdom of such a system is pretty reasonable, I think. You have not addressed any of the questions, only
criticized me for bringing them because you don't think I have the "right". How valid is that type of response?

j626no says:

Aug 29, 2008. 1:22 PM REPLY

i wasn't saying you have or do not have the "right". i was pointing out a trend that i have noticed.

bubblewrap74 says:

Aug 29, 2008. 1:37 PM REPLY

Actually, I do think you were trying to imply that my comments were somehow less valid because I have not made an Instructible. If I had
made a positive comment, I'm guessing you would not have gone and looked at my profile.
I'm not sure if whether or not someone has created an instructable is at all relevant. Comments should be judged on their merit. You have not
made any statements about the merit of what I said, but instead implied that people who haven't made in instructable shouldn't be critical. In
this case, anyone who is an inhabitant of this blue earth (ie. everyone) should be able to ask whether this use of water is wise or not. I would
make the same comment regardless of where such an article or webpage about the idea was posted, so the fact it's on Instructibles is
unimportant, as is the fact that I have not authored anything.

StCanna says:

Sep 13, 2008. 2:51 PM REPLY

Yes, what a silly notion that water is becoming scarce... I think it is called the Hydrological cycle. Maybe it becomes scarce in a certain place from which you
are trying to extract it but that just means its goin somewhere else. If its not in the ground than its in the air and one just needs to condense it. If its not in the
air (which there is always SOME moister in the air) then you just need to drill around til you find it in the ground. Sometimes it takes some WORK, but there
is always water!

Anna_Anna says:

Sep 6, 2008. 11:14 PM REPLY

Am just wondering where y'all think that this groundwater is going?

My own 3rd grade science teacher taught us quite well.
So I do believe it all goes right back into the ground at some point. Mother Earth recycles quite well.
The water above is simply being used.
All water is used.
Science and history books agree: ALL water returns to the ground at some point.
That said, this is very innovative and usable too!
Thank you for a great idea!
Anna_Anna

altomic says:
I haven't read any previous comments because I am lazy.
I always wondered why people don't power air conditioners with solar panels.
You "need" airconditioning when it's hot. when it is hot the sun is out. when the sun is out you can get good solar energy.
makes sense.
except at night.
like you say a solar/wind pump would be excellent. make it really effective for 'free".
I say "free" as you have to buy stuff to make the solar/wind generator.
ramble

http://www.instructables.com/id/Free-Air-Conditioning/

Jul 28, 2008. 6:07 AM REPLY

Jollyrgr says:

Aug 28, 2008. 10:46 PM REPLY

Figure that for every one ton of cooling (12,000 BTUs) you need 1100 watts. In my area a typical four bedroom two story house needs a 3 ton central air
conditioner. Thus you need 3300 watts to power the AC. But you never want to run an inverter at 100% so figure you would need a 5000 watt inverter
and equivalent solar panels to power it. A typical inverter would cost $3500 US. Figure about $1200 for every 200 watt solar panel. Estimate $24000 for
4000 watts of solar panels. This does not include storage batteries (which need to be replaced every five years) and the space to put all of this stuff.

alex-sharetskiy says:

Aug 23, 2008. 7:05 PM REPLY

if you only use your AC at night, you'll save power

Spokehedz says:

Aug 23, 2008. 11:02 AM REPLY

Couple of reasons...
1. solar panels are expensive. You 'break even' on the cost of them versus how much you save in 20+ years.
2. they don't make enough electricity for AC unless you use a LOT of them--which only makes paying them off even longer.
3. If you would just plant a tree near your house--you wouldn't need to use the AC very much.

_Ko0LaiD_ says:

Aug 27, 2008. 10:26 AM REPLY

we have th5 trees in a row and one of them grows tons of leaves, the others are evergreens.

rct1113 says:

Aug 23, 2008. 8:33 AM REPLY

The problem is that air conditioning requires so much energy that simply can't be provided by a single solar panel. We just don't have the technology yet.
The closest thing that we have yet is an air conditioner that uses both solar and the grid. however, I think someone could make their own solution, after
all, this IS Instructables.

_Ko0LaiD_ says:

Aug 27, 2008. 10:29 AM REPLY

12v solar panel, connected to a power inverter, will be enough to power a regular 120v A-C.

m85476585 says:

Aug 24, 2008. 5:26 PM REPLY

We have the technology; it's just too expensive.

watermelonhead says:

Aug 6, 2008. 4:15 PM REPLY

my dad is making a solar water heater...

turnerfromdh says:

Sep 6, 2008. 9:19 PM REPLY

but isnt that just putting water in a clear tube in the sun to heat it up not with solar pannels and stuff

Esmagamus says:

Jul 15, 2008. 6:32 PM REPLY

Loved the idea and the Instructable is nicely made. Still, the thought of all that water going to the sprinkler... Are you sure you are not wasting water? Also,
what kind of solder did you use in this? Are you sure you are not contaminating water with lead (nasty stuff)?

glorybe says:

Jun 29, 2008. 5:24 PM REPLY

You have sort of duplicated something that exists on very large commercial AC units at times. These units store very cold water that is often made at night
when the AC system is off. Pipe with fins crosses through these large, cold, bodies of water and water that is isolated in those pipes goes to various rooms
and into radiators. Fans then blow through the radiators providing cooling.
You are lucky in that nature provides your chilled water. You might find that water at about 52 degrees F. when it passes through your coils is considered
about perfect. If it is colder than that people tend to get a touch of air at times that is too cold even though the room is about right in temperature. Also you
might consider a tiny pump that takes the condensate that you currently take care of with towels and dribbles it back over your coils. Evaporation can provide
a very potent source of cooling in your climate.
Where I live a small home can easily condense five gallons or more of water per day from the air inside the home.

codongolev says:
but this way it's free. ;)

http://www.instructables.com/id/Free-Air-Conditioning/

Jul 9, 2008. 5:44 PM REPLY

Axl_Buell says:

Jun 16, 2008. 6:39 PM REPLY

I have heard of similar systems before, and the same issues are always mentioned. Mainly, how to efficiently use waste water, and how to keep a low water
temperature if not using a constant new supply from a cold water well.
What if you used a continuously recycling water system, where after leaving the heat exchanger the water enters a large soft copper coil inside a dorm-sized
refrigerator. Some of these refrigerators can reach near freezing temperatures. Some sort of pump would obviously be needed since you would not be
utilizing your well pump's water pressure. However, considering the relatively small circuit the water would be flowing through, and the relatively small
amount of water, I don't believe a monster sized pump would be necessary. The cold water should be enough to keep the pump cool, or perhaps it could
even be mounted inside the refrigerator.
Now I know one of the main purposes of this Instructable was to create a "green" alternative to energy hungry air conditioners, and a refrigerator and pump
also consume their fair share of energy. I have a possible solution to that problem as well.
Many RV and Camper refrigerators are wired for 12 Volt usage off of a deep cycle battery. These refrigerators can sometimes be powered for days off of a
large enough battery. You could run the entire cooling system off of the deep cycle battery, and while you're at work all day, while the sun is at its strongest,
charge the battery with a solar panel.
Anyone with input, let me know, these are all just untested ideas. Some variables I'm unsure of include the size of pump needed, and the amount of energy
the pump would use.

n0ukf says:

Jun 13, 2008. 3:16 PM REPLY

You mentioned not using car radiators but failed to mention heater cores. You could get a few car heater cores from the local junk yard and connect them
together, they should handle more pressure than the radiator. The smaller hose connections would be easier to adapt to and you don't have the lowpressure radiator cap to mess with.

Vyger says:

Jun 13, 2008. 10:36 PM REPLY

Actually what might work even better are transmission cooler coils if you can get all the oil out. They are designed to hold pressure and with the smaller
fins might transfer heat better. You would have to hook several of them in parallel (just like batteries) rather than serial to get adequate water flow
because they are smaller diameter pipes.

theburn7 says:

May 30, 2008. 8:25 PM REPLY

Good idea, i like this way, but my town is rationing water >:-(

bigbark34 says:

May 3, 2008. 4:52 PM REPLY

I plan on making my own personal airconditioner this weekend, as stated above, I plan to have a cooler send the cold water to my copper pipe wrapped
around my fan, and the return water will be going to a second cooler filled with ice, hopefully when it gets back to the main cooler feeding the copper tubing it
will have cooled down enough not to make the ice melt to fast, as opposed to having the return water run straight back in the the main water send. hopefully
this works, any more suggestions would be greatly appreciate.

jc71710 says:

Apr 22, 2008. 7:09 PM REPLY

I;m planing on building the diy ac. conecting the heat exchanger to the intake of my heater and running the fan only in a 2000 square foot house I have a
couple of questions how many gallions per hour of water are going through the box fan heat exchanger and how many square feet is it cooling. best
reguards joe

romedeiros1970 says:

Apr 7, 2008. 5:22 PM REPLY

Have you tried running your system with low-flow soaker hoses instead of the sprinkler? I would imagine that the cooling effect would be similar, while saving
you trips to the yard to move the sprinkler. Soaker hoses can also be more efficient at deep watering, so it could be a win all around.
Thanks for sharing the great idea.

Vyger says:

Apr 8, 2008. 11:54 PM REPLY

I tried soaker hoses but our water plugs up the holes in them. I agree that its preferable to spraying it into the air as there is much less evaporation. I did
developed a type of soaker that I use in watering the garden and it has proven to work really good. You can see it in the last 2 pages of my other
instructable entitled Shred and Till .
http://www.instructables.com/id/Shred-and-Till/

romedeiros1970 says:

Apr 9, 2008. 6:31 PM REPLY

I remember the bubbler. Thanks for the response.

erikyuki says:

Jan 9, 2008. 1:07 PM REPLY

Another option one has is to install the radiator under water (inside the well - probably not possible if you have an artesian one) and make the air pass
through the insides of it. That would be a bit more complicated to do, but solves many of the problems presented here. The only one still to solve is the
possible contamination by rust, lead and other chemicals. Any ideas?
Cheers!

http://www.instructables.com/id/Free-Air-Conditioning/

medicationreqd says:

Dec 31, 2007. 12:45 PM REPLY

If your wellhead is accessible, you could just run a hose back into the well. I'm sure the water temperature would still remain at 48.

Siruss says:

Nov 16, 2007. 5:03 PM REPLY

To close the water loop why not add ice or even better, dry ice to a large cooler. Then, maybe using a high pressure rubber/plastic air hose, snake the piping
around in the dry ice cooler to cool the water down as much as possible before sending it back to the heat exchanger.

bb789 says:

Aug 25, 2007. 9:43 AM REPLY

Why not just let the outflow return back to your wellsite? It will make its way back to return again.

mmmmna says:

Sep 4, 2007. 6:34 PM REPLY

Well, now the water is hotter from cooling off the room, so next time you draw it in, it isn't quite as cold..... and it has been through soldered connections
(soldered copper pipes can leach lead into the water, as vyger points out). Letting the water feed the vegetation is not necessarily bad, unless there is a
water shortage declared.... then you might get fined.
I could address a lot of these issues, but ultimately, the idea, as presented, has its own merits. People that are creative can adapt this to whatever they
want!

bb789 says:

Sep 4, 2007. 7:59 PM REPLY

I didn't think anyone still used lead solder for pipes. I use silver solder per code. By the time expended water goes through 20 ft of earth, it is cooled
and filtered. I just scrapped a dehumidifier and saved the "radiator" and fan section. Feeding water into the 1/4 inch end and out of the 3/32 end and
returns near our 80' deep artision well. sitting in the window, the unit Works fine.

static says:

Oct 13, 2007. 11:51 PM REPLY

I have to be curious as to how you return water into your artesian well? Problem with thinking of an aquifer as a filter is that filter will eventually
get full. Hard to tell if your referring any filtering affect to the lead content or not, but if you are, I doubt there would be any filter of lead

mmmmna says:

Oct 17, 2007. 6:20 AM REPLY

Actually this filter has some interesting cleaning mechanisms in it: Biological organisms (bacteria, germs, protozoa, various worms) that
consume what would contaminate some filters. No, not everything gets consumed by those cleaners... we still talk of lead in lead/tin solder
that MAY have been used in portions of such a dissipator.
Sadly, we never seem to worry about the various OTHER ores that we already mine from one continent, process into aluminum, iron, steel,
etc., and then ship that material to another continent and let it decay into the ground on the new continent (prime example of minerals shipped
to other continents: automobiles; applicances also factor in). Lead is a concern, for some obvious reasons, but is tin totally harmless when
ingested for decades at 'weak' solution levels? For that matter, is Aluminum safe (hint: remember the alzheimers links to cookware, heatedly
debated a decade ago)? Is Iron safe (think hemochromatosis)?
We've focused on lead, but diffusing anyones mineral resources into thousands of groundwater aquifers is stupid thinking.

mmmmna says:

Sep 4, 2007. 8:05 PM REPLY

Actually, I was combining multiple situations into one thought - used car radiators from a junkyard are likely to still be lead/tin soldered; and I still
have the lead/tin solder on my tool bench, because I've never used it all up, just like other folks might still have lead/tin solder laying around.

bb789 says:

Sep 4, 2007. 8:11 PM REPLY

Well mmmmmna, you are just going to have to break down and dump that old lead/tin stuff and spring for the good stuff. LOL

Vyger says:

Aug 25, 2007. 1:24 PM REPLY

I use the water for watering and returning water to th well after it has been removed is no longer legal. It can contaminate the well.

Scwounch says:

Aug 27, 2007. 7:01 AM REPLY

Couldn't you use a radiator/exchanger inside the well and leave the loop closed? It would require a separate pump, but then you wouldn't use up so
much well water.

!Andrew_Modder! says:

Aug 16, 2007. 6:43 PM REPLY

omg nice! never really thaught bout doing that!! now me being in ohio, i need to find a cold water source.. mabe a hose :-) so i can do this :-D !!nice one!!

http://www.instructables.com/id/Free-Air-Conditioning/

static says:

Oct 12, 2007. 8:58 PM REPLY

I thought Ohio, like Kansas has a frost line. Where water lines are buried below that line, the water will be colder than the ambient air temperature. Water
comes out of my tap at~65 F. . Not like in South Texas where, the water comes out of the tap almost hot, relatively.speaking.

!Andrew_Modder! says:

Oct 13, 2007. 11:19 AM REPLY

:-\ out of the tap, it comes REALLY cold here idk mabe 55-60*f cold, (right now at least).. P.S. i could use tap, but that would not be technicly free

static says:

Oct 13, 2007. 11:25 PM REPLY

Nope it isn't free. But if you are using that water to water a garden or lawn anyway and can use it to cool a space first you are getting more for
your money. Even more it where to eliminate operating an AC unit. Alas the situation here is that this would be impractical. Unless I start a truck
garden.

!Andrew_Modder! says:

Oct 14, 2007. 10:17 AM REPLY

ya

crgintx says:

Aug 23, 2007. 10:13 PM REPLY

A closed loop system would work probably just as well. There are passive air circulation systems that uses a buried pipe(steel works best 6" or larger)
with an above ground intake manifold control the flow that provide air at 65-75 degrees year round. A roof vent or open chimney flue air will draw air from
the pipe w/o electricity with enough force to create a whistling sound as its drawn through the vents. The pipe is buried at least 5' deep to ensure a stable
temperature. Installation is costly but the system requires no additional electricity.

Sis says:

Aug 31, 2007. 12:40 AM REPLY

Is there a way to heat a 4000 sq.ft. older house (1971)in Colorado Springs, Colorado, using this technique you mentioned here? It gets a few degrees
below freezing much of the time at night,from November thru April, and the ground stays frozen till middle of May sometimes. Some areas the ground
is frozen 6 feet deep. Any suggestions? Thanks, Sis

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