But they're missing the simple solution:
Drive round back of the cold storage warehouse and get them to chute in about a ton of ice through your skylight vent. Don't forget your sweater.
On a side note, anybody know of a good portable AC unit for a condo (not window unit)? I moved near the ocean and they don't come built with AC, but it's friggen hot out.
@Shamoononon, Vampire Grater: With a portable A/C unit, you'll have to keep a window or door open for the exhaust hose (like a dryer). The "exchanged air" is really hot and has to go somewhere other than back into the room.
If it's mostly just humid but not especially hot, you could always just go with a dehumidifier. It technically heats the room slightly, but the dryness more than makes up for it.
@Shamoononon, Vampire Grater: Heater core, electric fan (and an enclosure to hold both), bilge pump, big cooler, two lengths of tubing.
Fill cooler with some water and bags of ice, place pump in bottom, run hose to heater core inlet, then another from heater core inlet back to cooler. Blow air through heater core. Presto.
If you spend enough effort with the core/fan enclosure, you can also incorporate a wicking air filter for evaporative cooling.
I built a similar thing for my dog's space in the truck (except it's closed-loop instead of bilge). Works wonders.
You'll go through a surprising amount of ice, however.
Growing up my family had a GMC van as the family truckster. It had a bench seat that folded down in the back into a bed and had front and rear AC units. It ruled.
@engineerd: and THIS around $120 at your friendly-neighborhood Lowes. Could it be because the former is proprietary, like HP inkjet cartridges, and the latter is just a box with generic stuff in it?
@mechimike: It's $1200 because it was actually designed for that car. The house box was designed for a standard window opening and is a little more generic.
However, you need the inverter mechimike mentioned, plus a high output alternator to power this thing without draining the battery (another $180 or so). Plus all the materials and time to make it fit and work. Cheaper? Yeah. Sized properly? No. WT? Yep.
@engineerd: I doubt the technology involved varies all that much between home use and the much smaller volume inside the passenger compartment of a car.
@HurtsSoGood: Actually, it does slightly since auto a/c units use a TXV now and most window units are still just using a fixed orifice.
Also, it's not necessarily the technology, but the packaging and engineering. An auto's a/c unit is designed (by engineers) for that vehicle. Meaning they have spent time sizing it for the interior and conditions a vehicle sees, as well as designed the packaging to work in the vehicle's engine bay and dashboard. Then it is tested and verified.
It's not just a simple matter of throwing shit together. Unless you work for Chrysler.
I can't even count how many times I've seen something like that. Just the other day I saw a guy with a window unit sticking out the SIDE of his truck cap window. It stuck out a good 18" on the left, leading me to wonder how he'd make it through a drive-thru.
@Graverobber: I seriously thought about going there, except with the whole rape van theme instead, but having a sister who has been raped, I just couldn't bring myself to do it.
07/29/09
But they're missing the simple solution:
Drive round back of the cold storage warehouse and get them to chute in about a ton of ice through your skylight vent. Don't forget your sweater.
07/29/09
I just saved a bunch of money on my car insurance by switching to Frigidaire!
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@Elhigh:
Some are more spectacular in their inventive stupidity than others.
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I'm not sure there's any place on this planet hot and humid enough to justify this.
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As long as it works...
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If it's mostly just humid but not especially hot, you could always just go with a dehumidifier. It technically heats the room slightly, but the dryness more than makes up for it.
07/29/09
Fill cooler with some water and bags of ice, place pump in bottom, run hose to heater core inlet, then another from heater core inlet back to cooler. Blow air through heater core. Presto.
If you spend enough effort with the core/fan enclosure, you can also incorporate a wicking air filter for evaporative cooling.
I built a similar thing for my dog's space in the truck (except it's closed-loop instead of bilge). Works wonders.
You'll go through a surprising amount of ice, however.
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Meh, I'm rolling in this gem..... with a proper roof top unit..... I'm so white trash....
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This.
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@engineerd: Not this.
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However, you need the inverter mechimike mentioned, plus a high output alternator to power this thing without draining the battery (another $180 or so). Plus all the materials and time to make it fit and work. Cheaper? Yeah. Sized properly? No. WT? Yep.
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Also, it's not necessarily the technology, but the packaging and engineering. An auto's a/c unit is designed (by engineers) for that vehicle. Meaning they have spent time sizing it for the interior and conditions a vehicle sees, as well as designed the packaging to work in the vehicle's engine bay and dashboard. Then it is tested and verified.
It's not just a simple matter of throwing shit together. Unless you work for Chrysler.
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p.s: I like the "Bluff"ton university exit sign. I am pretty sure that's what I did to get my degree at UofM.
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I hope your sister's attacker is currently dropping the soap in a prison somewhere.
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my mom has always wished she was raped by someone else...
07/29/09
That, sir, was self-deprecating humor at it's best. Thanks for the laugh
@Iron-Balls Minardi: I think most of us Jalops have been consigned to hell for our some of our comments. :)