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Injuneering.... could this possibly work?

Discussion in 'General' started by SirCrashAlot, Jun 29, 2022.

  1. SirCrashAlot

    SirCrashAlot Well-Known Member

    So im trying to build a cooling device that I don't have to keep filling up with ice and just wanted to see what the geniuses on here thought about my idea.

    I'm thinking about getting a little 5 cubic ft chest freezer and sealing the inside of it well enough to hold water. Im going to build a copper coil system that will be immersed in water inside the freezer and will be part of a closed loop water system that will run through two holes drilled in the lid of the freezer for an exit and return. It will have an external pump and more copper coils to be placed in front of a fan so itll blow the air over the cold coils.

    What y'all think?
     
  2. ton

    ton Arf!

    It sounds like you’re going to spend a lot of time to build a thing that works like, but worse than, a portable air conditioner. That could probably be purchased for cheaper.
     
  3. 83BSA

    83BSA Well-Known Member

    Have you priced copper pipe lately?

    Cheers,

    Dave
     
  4. sheepofblue

    sheepofblue Well-Known Member

    Is it worse than food?
     
    joec and SirCrashAlot like this.
  5. SirCrashAlot

    SirCrashAlot Well-Known Member

    It's all reclaimed pipe lol. I'm trying to bring just a little comfort to people that work in a hot kitchen. On a larger scale than a portable unit could manage.
     
  6. SirCrashAlot

    SirCrashAlot Well-Known Member

    No, copper lasts... food turns to shit after you use it lol.
     
    E Reed and dtalbott like this.
  7. sdg

    sdg *

    We did this in college. It sorta worked but only because the heat source was in the hallway. Complete waste of time and power but hey it was someone else's power
     
    SirCrashAlot likes this.
  8. SirCrashAlot

    SirCrashAlot Well-Known Member

    Thanks for the reply. Someone who's BTDT. On to the next bright idea I suppose.
     
  9. SuddenBraking

    SuddenBraking The Iron Price

    I've done some similar things in trying to cool grow rooms in the past. A company called hydro innovations was all the rage back in the day until people realized that in a high humidity environment, cold copper would drip like a mofo.

    BUUUUUT, if you have unlimited pipe and wanted to bury the pipe in the ground, it could work (kinda/sorta/maybe).
     
  10. stangmx13

    stangmx13 Well-Known Member

    Copper coils in front of a fan won't transfer much heat from the air to the coils. You'd need a radiator or heat exchanger like in a real AC. And if you did manage to transfer a bunch of heat, you would overpower the chest freezer easily and probably break it. Also, if the chest freezer is in the same room you are trying to cool, you will only heat up the room.

    Your idea probably has enough heat capacity to keep 1-2 people cool-ish in a small room, not a hot kitchen. There are many reasons why AC's are large and use lots of power.
     
    SirCrashAlot likes this.
  11. Cooter!

    Cooter! Sarcasm level: Maximum

    Depends on the humidity where you're trying to cool, but have you thought about a mister on a fan/swamp cooler set up? Pretty easy to rig one, especially if you have a hose water source to avoid the pump.

    Some of those portable A/C units are pretty legit though. We have a few little 110v personal ones at the shop about a 2'/2'/6" wide on wheels with a 6" diameter hose to direct the airflow. Works great especially if youre sitting at a bench.
     
    dtalbott, Phl218 and SirCrashAlot like this.
  12. nlzmo400r

    nlzmo400r Well-Known Member

    Refrigerant is a beautiful thing
     
    Phl218 likes this.
  13. Robin172

    Robin172 Well-Known Member

    The book "The Mosquito Coast" comes to mind.
     
    Canadian Bacon and Sabre699 like this.
  14. A. Barrister

    A. Barrister Well-Known Member

    Do a little engineering, and compare the amount of heat a fridge can remove, compared to what an A/C unit can remove. BTU's. Compare and contrast.

    Also, as has been mentioned already, a fridge returns its excess heat back into the room, while an A/C unit expels its heat into another room/outside.
     
    Gino230 likes this.
  15. pickled egg

    pickled egg Tell me more

    Look into putting AC in the makeup air. You have a makeup air system, right?
     
    beac83 likes this.
  16. Phl218

    Phl218 .

    :stupid:

    Surface area and moving media through it is key. Done right, you will need to refill ice every hour
     
    Gino230 likes this.
  17. A. Barrister

    A. Barrister Well-Known Member

    Ok, for reference, a 5 CF freezer uses about 100 watts when running. A 5000 BTU A/C unit uses about 500 watts. And the A/C unit runs a lot harder than that freezer will. For comparisons sake, we'll assume that cooling capacity is proportional to energy usage.

    How many BTU do you think would be needed to cool down, somewhat, a hot kitchen? I'd say a lot more than 5000 BTU.

    The freezer can't remove close to enough heat, and it isn't made to run continuously.

    You have your answer. :cool:
     
    dave3593 and OldSwartout like this.
  18. auminer

    auminer Renaissance Redneck

    Install a wood stove in the space and build a fire in it every day for a couple of months. Embrace the suck.

    When you stop, the relief will be more refreshing than your suggested fix.
     
    badmoon692008 likes this.
  19. YamahaRick

    YamahaRick Yamaha Two Stroke Czar

    Cheapest way would be to pipe in fresh air from the outside ... have a fan blowing air to the building's exterior at a rate where in fresh air inlets are flowing 2-3X room's cubic area/minute. It might be hurricane force wind, but you might be cooler.
     
  20. dobr24

    dobr24 Well-Known Member

    Phl218 likes this.

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