Cooler Air conditioners

[mcnick]

I am sure you have all heard about the cooler air conditioners. They are a very simple design. I was just curious if anyone had any luck with them, and if they even worked..?? I am always on the hunt for a new air conditioner idea as i just can't seem to come up with a good one without butchering my poor trailer.

Any ideas..??

[Harry Young]

Yours is a great question,

I am a bit cautious to reply because you used the term cooler and air conditioner together, these two terms are describing two different technologies or processes.

Could you clear up for me whether you are referring to one or the other?

Maybe a link to what you are considering using?

The cooler is an evaporative process using a wick or pad in some designs or the spinning cone creating a mist in R.V. low volt designs. It adds moisture to the occupied space being conditioned.

A/C is mostly a chemical process with basic principles in physical science, often an absorption method or a compression cycle process...It moves heat energy from one side of the system to another side of the system, it removes moisture in the process from the conditioned space.

Both have their limits, both work well in different circumstances which favor their principles of operation...Knowing the climate you are in is immensely helpful in deciding which way to go, when selling one or another system to my customers I talk with them to get a feel for their requirements and establish where they hang out climate wise 80% of the time.

I use the 80% rule to evaluate which technologies is going to be most beneficial.

Harry

[mcnick]

I am sorry, I completely spaced out in thinking of really the technically terms for what all cooler could mean.. I am talking about the kind where it uses ice and it pretty much blows a fan across it... such as the one in this link below..

http://www.kooleraire.com

I have just seen them around and wonder if they work. It tends to get around 100 degrees in the summertime with roughly 75-80% hummidy where I live... so it usually takes quite a bit to cool spaces.

[Harry Young]

At 80% humidity you will be using the temp difference in the water and ice to a short term advantage, this would work better in a humidity of below 60% and not in an enclosed room. I think you would be disappointed in its over all performance after a bit of use. The ice is going to be a pain to try to keep up with on a 100 degree day.

These units work in all their incarnations best as personal cooling devices where you can be directly in the air stream, as trailer coolers they fall short.

The number one defense against a 100 degree sunny day is a silver solar tarp, (Harbor Freight has them cheap) and believe it or not a damp cloth or clothing of very light material kept damp. At 80% humidity I would shoot for a very energy efficient A/C unit and a honda generator (at least in this class of machine) about a 2000 watt or 3000 watt unit for a 5000 btu A/C unit, avoid the digital controlled A/C units they do not hold up with use on generator.

You will be happier, the wife more comfortable and the kids not vomiting from to much heat.

Its a great topic, these coolers pop up all over the market.

Thanks for bringing it up.

Harry

[Doug Mager]

Here's our cooler/airconditioner for our car.
You MIGHT be able to adapt one to your trailer....
Its hanging out in the R/R window!!!!
VERY 'green' and is totally 'wind powered', LOL!!!

[Frederick L. Simson]

It tends to get around 100 degrees in the summertime with roughly 75-80% humidity [b]where I live...

The problem with trailers is that they are portable, and conditions they are in are never the same.

When I first bought my Fiber Stream it had an [b]OLD evaporative cooler mounted on the roof.




It had a water tank, a pump, a float valve (like in a toilet tank), an excelsior pad, and a 2 speed fan. Two hoses always hung off the side of the trailer; this is how you filled the roof-top water tank without climbing a ladder. To operate it, you first had to fill the tank. Then you had to run the pump to moisten the excelsior pad above it, and the excess water dripped back down into the tank. Once the pad was good 'n wet, you turned on the fan to draw air through the vents in the cooler's enclosure from outside - through the wet pad - and down through the ceiling vent into the trailer. You had to open a window to let the hot air out... and it worked by keeping the dampened air moving. As the fan blew through the pads, they would dry out, and the pump would have to keep pumping to keep them moist. The tank held about 2 gallons, so there was about 17 pounds of water on the roof in addition to the 16 pounds the cooler itself weighed...

It also only worked when the outside humidity was low... Less than 20%
In "normal" to high humidity everything just got clammy and condensation beaded up on the walls!

BUT that thing ALWAYS leaked! Plus, if I wanted to move the trailer, I would have to drain the cooler's tank...


... with a hose into the sink...
...which took FOREVER. So I seldom put water in it. Which left me with a huge roof wart over a one-way fan.

[Lizbeth]

Fred and I have adapted regular window ACs for our trailers. Mine was about 90 bucks from Sam's Club.

I made a plywood platform mount that hooks into the rear window that opens. There is also a brace that runs from the outside edge of the platform to the belly band. I had some scrap plexi that I cut to make fillers around the AC. The AC rides on the floor in front of the closet held in place with a tie down run through some brackets I installed.

If we need the AC (or the space) we install it. It takes about, oh, 5 minutes. If not I put a tray on it and it makes a nice bedside table. We run it with our Honda 2000 with no problem when we are dry camping. The AC keeps the trailer very dry and comfy.

[Frederick L. Simson]

BUT that thing ALWAYS leaked! Plus, if I wanted to move the trailer, I would have to drain the cooler's tank...

Attachment 17861
... with a hose into the sink...
...which took FOREVER. So I seldom put water in it. [b]Which left me with a huge roof wart over a one-way fan.

So I got rid of the Evaporative Cooler and replaced it with a Fantastic-Vent (Fan).

[Frederick L. Simson]

Fred and I have adapted regular window ACs for our trailers.

Link to: My Removeable Window Air Conditioner

This works well when I visit my family in Oklahoma, Missouri, and Arkansas.

But when I'm in Palm Springs in July, the Temperature is 113^o and the Humidity is [b]12%

The 5000 BTU A/C is useless above 105^o when it's that dry.

[Dan Meyer]

I'm not so sure that the 'Cooler-Air' concept (http://www.kooleraire.com/) would be very effective.

The air conditioner on my Scamp 16 has the capacity of about 9,000 BTU's, which is the cooling equivalent of melting 1,500 pounds of ice per day, or a bit over 60 pounds per hour. I'd estimate that you could fit 25 pounds of ice in a good sized cooler, start the fan in the cooler-air device and the ice would be melted in an hour or two. Resupply the ice, and you might stay cool for another 2-3 hours.

I understand the some railroad passenger cars used ice air conditioning many years ago. Huge ice bunkers under the cars (capacities of 4-5 tons of ice) would be loaded every morning. Water would be chilled from the ice melting and circulated through 'radiators' in the cars that would have air blown over them, cooling the air. This worked well, but the railroads had ice houses strategically located all over the country.

I've often thought this cooler-air concept is neat, but have never actually tested it myself. I'd like to hear from someone with first-hand experience.

-- Dan Meyer

[Pete Dumbleton]

Actually, early movie theater cooling was accomplished by blowing air across ice -- That's where the "ton " measurement for a/c came from, the standard being based on a ton of ice -- One ton of air conditioning capacity produces the same cooling ability as melting one ton of ice in 24 hours -- 12,000 BTU/hr is a one ton rate.

The 4-5 tons/day of the rail cars would be like having a 60,000 BTU air conditioner.