Running 5000 BTU air conditioner solar

[J.P.M.]

TO JPM. Is there a way for me to send you a private message? Based on your lat-long I must be very close to you (Escondido). I am kurtsdcb at gmail dot com / Thanks!

No. Nothing personal, but I tend to keep to myself.

Besides, anything I tell folks only seems to piss them off.

Do this:

1.) Never lease.
2.) Never buy Sunpower.
3) Before you even think about PV, get your use as low as possible. Do that and PV will be unnecessary and less than cost effective.

That's about all I ever suggest to people these days. Then, when I do, most of the time they go lease, usually Sunpower, without any other measures.

Anything else I could tell you can easily be found in books for very little time or effort.

[Kurtsdca]

TO JPM. Is there a way for me to send you a private message? Based on your lat-long I must be very close to you (Escondido). I am kurtsdcb at gmail dot com / Thanks!

[gbynum]

Years ago while I lived in New Jersey we would roll down the 4 windows and drive 40 mph to get cool air. We called it the 440 cooling system.

That would probably work pretty well in NJ. In North Carolina we preferred the 460 systems.

[J.P.M.]

I don't know. From pictures it's likely a combination of fairly free (i.e. flexible) copper refrigerant coils, a polypro water container with flexible insulation and air space at the top.

Thank you. No disrespect to you, but where I'm going with this is trying to figure out why this device is not simply little more than some crackpot toy conjured up to make a fast buck or two by someone or some bunch that doesn't know their ass from a hole in the ground with respect to HVAC or such like.

[jflorey2]

Not trying to bicker here, but if the chamber is completely sealed and full of water, what happens when the volume of the liquid/ice changes are not equal to the chamber changes in volume ? Variable/flexible chamber ?

I don't know. From pictures it's likely a combination of fairly free (i.e. flexible) copper refrigerant coils, a polypro water container with flexible insulation and air space at the top.

[J.P.M.]

This uses a completely sealed chamber full of water, and circulates the refrigerant through it.

Yep. Or during times when solar generation is high but prices are low (i.e. poor return on generation.) That happens more and more often here as TOU high-demand times move towards the evening.

Not trying to bicker here, but if the chamber is completely sealed and full of water, what happens when the volume of the liquid/ice changes are not equal to the chamber changes in volume ? Variable/flexible chamber ?

[jflorey2]

Just watch the humidity levels if the ice can come in direct contact with the dwelling air via forced circulation and sublimate and/or evaporate the ice/liquid H2O to water vapor.

This uses a completely sealed chamber full of water, and circulates the refrigerant through it.

also, if on TOU/etc., I'd suggest making the ice at off peak times and not making the ice during high billing hours.

Yep. Or during times when solar generation is high but prices are low (i.e. poor return on generation.) That happens more and more often here as TOU high-demand times move towards the evening.

[J.P.M.]

Years ago while I lived in New Jersey we would roll down the 4 windows and drive 40 mph to get cool air. We called it the 440 cooling system.

I think I remember doing something similar several times when driving home drunk @ 0300 hrs. or so in the winter with my head stuck out the window and wind/snow blowing in my face. Always seemed like a good idea when I was doing it. True story: One nite I was (apparently) going so slow a snow plow actually passed me and in doing so sprayed my face and car interior and exterior with road snow/tire spray.

[J.P.M.]

There's a chiller out there called the Ice Bear that does just that - freezes water when energy is available and uses that heat sink at night to cool a house.

Just watch the humidity levels if the ice can come in direct contact with the dwelling air via forced circulation and sublimate and/or evaporate the ice/liquid H2O to water vapor.

also, if on TOU/etc., I'd suggest making the ice at off peak times and not making the ice during high billing hours.

Overall, I'd compare the cost of such methods with simple and common air conditioning, with some of that difference in cost/efficiency probably influenced by the relative COP's of the cooling devices.

[jflorey2]

Water can be a good store of energy. Maybe double the PV panels so you can freeze or chill lots of water during the day then sleep on or in it at night. I'll do anything to not have to deal with or pay for batteries

There's a chiller out there called the Ice Bear that does just that - freezes water when energy is available and uses that heat sink at night to cool a house.

[Bala]

Water can be a good store of energy. Maybe double the PV panels so you can freeze or chill lots of water during the day then sleep on or in it at night. I'll do anything to not have to deal with or pay for batteries

For us winter is out best time for solar production, cooler, and a lot less rain.

Summer is the worst time for production due to rain and when we would really like A/C it is the build up to rain. Extremely humid and overcast and possible thunderstorms.

So having standalone solar if we were to be trying to freeze water all day we would end up on generator all night to charge batteries.

A reason not to have A/C is that if we did we would not leave the house, as it is I am just as cool if not cooler up in my shed working on projects.

Always remember off grid power has IMHO very few advantages, if any. It has been good after Hurricanes but they have been may years apart.

[J.P.M.]

On good summer day if will be +30c, it won't drop much for the night. High humidity. I designed the house for air flow, it's not designed to stay warm at all. We generally get a katabatic breeze at night but some nights are just hot

I remember years ago on the previous forum sunking told me my batteries were a bit hot, they were just ambient temp.
cold here is 14c, very cold 12c, that is only a few nights per year, 25c would be a cool day time temp.average rainfall 5 meters

Understood. High dew points tend to keep overnight low temps. warmer than low(er) dew points.

[Bala]

There is a way to add insulation and add thermal mass to a dwelling with the goal of increasing something called the thermal time constant. The rough goal is to have the heat loss low enough and the thermal mass high enough so that the dwelling heat cycle is about 24 hours long and about 12 hours or so out of phase with the daily ambient temp. cycle. So, during warm season, ventilate at night and bring thouse mass temp. down. Then in the morning, button up the house and use the insulation to keep the heat out as much as possible and use the thermal mass to SLOWLY absorb the heat that does leak in thus avoiding a large temp. rise. Then, open up at nite when/if it cools down. In the winter or cool season, reverse the cycle and ventilate during the warm hours and button up at night.

It's not perfect, but it does work. if nothing else, it'll keep the bills for heating/cooling down during hottest/coldest times and probably eliminate them in the shoulder seasons.

On good summer day if will be +30c, it won't drop much for the night. High humidity. I designed the house for air flow, it's not designed to stay warm at all. We generally get a katabatic breeze at night but some nights are just hot

I remember years ago on the previous forum sunking told me my batteries were a bit hot, they were just ambient temp.
cold here is 14c, very cold 12c, that is only a few nights per year, 25c would be a cool day time temp.average rainfall 5 meters

[SunEagle]

On a night here that you would like a/C there is no wind to power a windmill. It's summer so fridge and freezer are working hard at using up battery storage.

We are acclimatised and prefer not to have A/ C if we can. There are some uncomfortable nights but we are ok as is.

A/C in cars is never turned off.

Years ago while I lived in New Jersey we would roll down the 4 windows and drive 40 mph to get cool air. We called it the 440 cooling system.

[J.P.M.]

Water can be a good store of energy. Maybe double the PV panels so you can freeze or chill lots of water during the day then sleep on or in it at night. I'll do anything to not have to deal with or pay for batteries

There is a way to add insulation and add thermal mass to a dwelling with the goal of increasing something called the thermal time constant. The rough goal is to have the heat loss low enough and the thermal mass high enough so that the dwelling heat cycle is about 24 hours long and about 12 hours or so out of phase with the daily ambient temp. cycle. So, during warm season, ventilate at night and bring thouse mass temp. down. Then in the morning, button up the house and use the insulation to keep the heat out as much as possible and use the thermal mass to SLOWLY absorb the heat that does leak in thus avoiding a large temp. rise. Then, open up at nite when/if it cools down. In the winter or cool season, reverse the cycle and ventilate during the warm hours and button up at night.

It's not perfect, but it does work. if nothing else, it'll keep the bills for heating/cooling down during hottest/coldest times and probably eliminate them in the shoulder seasons.