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This isn't so much an Instructable as it is a "How I did it".
A few years ago my family and I ran a shop in Ganmain, a fairly hot part of country NSW.
To add to the heat we had huge west facing windows and we were the main source of Takeaway Food ie: Pizza's, Fish and Chips, Burgers etc. Very nice too.
We couldn't afford the $5000+ we were quoted to Air condition the shop so I built my own.
It in no way compared to a commercial unit but it did provide us and our customers a little bit of welcome relief from the heat.
The following is a "blow by blow" of how I did it but I have no photo's of the actual unit so you'll have to use your imagination a bit.
A word of warning.
240 volts and water are a lethal combination.
When mixing the two please take all precautions including ensuring that you have fast circuit breakers installed. It might save your life.
A few years ago my family and I ran a shop in Ganmain, a fairly hot part of country NSW.
To add to the heat we had huge west facing windows and we were the main source of Takeaway Food ie: Pizza's, Fish and Chips, Burgers etc. Very nice too.
We couldn't afford the $5000+ we were quoted to Air condition the shop so I built my own.
It in no way compared to a commercial unit but it did provide us and our customers a little bit of welcome relief from the heat.
The following is a "blow by blow" of how I did it but I have no photo's of the actual unit so you'll have to use your imagination a bit.
A word of warning.
240 volts and water are a lethal combination.
When mixing the two please take all precautions including ensuring that you have fast circuit breakers installed. It might save your life.
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Signing UpStep 1The Big Box.
As you can see from the photo's, a commercial air cooler is nothing more than a big box.
A big box with bits in it and side panels with big onion bags full of wood shavings held on with wire mesh.
OK, they might have perforated troughs running along the top but so what.
My aim was to copy the theory as of delivering water to pads where it could evaporate and I could suck air through it and deliver it to a specific place as cheaply as possible.
The materials I used were:
4 red bread crates. 720mm X 600mm.
4 550mm x 670mm sheets of Rock wool.
4 550mm x 670mm pieces of mesh.
1 childs paddling pool. 1450mm x 1450mm x 200mm.
5 meters (almost) of 1/2" poly irrigation pipe.
4 1/2" poly elbows.
2 1/2" poly tees.
4 1/2" poly end plugs.
16 180deg radius micro sprays.
1 240v "Air curtain" fan. (Recycled from the shop doorway)
2 small 240v Aquarium pumps (unsure of the size but one big one would have been better.
1 sheet of 2mm(?) aluminium sheet (recycled).
2 180mm Air vents.
6 meters of 180mm insulated ducting.
Sundry wire, tape, bandaids etc
The tools I used were:
A Drill.
Tin snips.
Pliers.
Stanley knife.
I have no idea of the cost but it wasn't very much.
A big box with bits in it and side panels with big onion bags full of wood shavings held on with wire mesh.
OK, they might have perforated troughs running along the top but so what.
My aim was to copy the theory as of delivering water to pads where it could evaporate and I could suck air through it and deliver it to a specific place as cheaply as possible.
The materials I used were:
4 red bread crates. 720mm X 600mm.
4 550mm x 670mm sheets of Rock wool.
4 550mm x 670mm pieces of mesh.
1 childs paddling pool. 1450mm x 1450mm x 200mm.
5 meters (almost) of 1/2" poly irrigation pipe.
4 1/2" poly elbows.
2 1/2" poly tees.
4 1/2" poly end plugs.
16 180deg radius micro sprays.
1 240v "Air curtain" fan. (Recycled from the shop doorway)
2 small 240v Aquarium pumps (unsure of the size but one big one would have been better.
1 sheet of 2mm(?) aluminium sheet (recycled).
2 180mm Air vents.
6 meters of 180mm insulated ducting.
Sundry wire, tape, bandaids etc
The tools I used were:
A Drill.
Tin snips.
Pliers.
Stanley knife.
I have no idea of the cost but it wasn't very much.
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The air coming into the room from the unit was more than 15 deg cooler than the ambient outside temperature and up to 20 deg cooler than the temp in the cooking area of my shop, where it was directed.
Cheers.
Rob.