Subject: Re: solar powered cooling - how to ?

From: "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 13 Apr 1997 18:29:40 -0500

> Gene - I remember an article (Home Power?) - that used a chimney to
> create negative air pressure in a home - a second stack with a sheet
> metal funnel and wind cock kept pointing up wind - there was an
> evaporative cooling mesh in the throat of the stack and a PV fan to help
> it draw (with the help of the chimney on the opposite side of the house)
> - I even think that the duct ran underground for a while to further cool
> the air - (and presumably condense some of the vapor out).

We've done something like this for years. We have a large attached
greenhouse covering the south side of our home. In the winter we draw
the heat into the house and it provides about half of our heat. But,
during the summer we reverse things and vent out the top (~20' up) of
the greenhouse. Since the greenhouse is sealed other than the top vents
this then draws air into the greenhouse through the 1st story windows in
the house that open into the greenhouse. The house is kept closed except
for drawing air up through the basement which is cool air. The net
result is cooling of the entire house and greenhouse to a very
comfortable level such that it is much cooler indoors than outdoors. At
night we open the house (bedroom) windows to let the air come in there
as well and since the thermal mass in the greenhouse is still warm it
continues drawing for a while.

Another way of cooling I've always wanted to try is with our spring. Our
water supply is a spring about 150' vertical above the house. Our
bathroom tends to be extra cool in the summer because of the mass of the
water in the water tank and toilet tank. The water coming in is about 45
F. The sprin produces much more water than we use. Someday I would like
to try running it through coils that would condense water out of the air
and cool the air in the house. From there I would run the water perhaps
out to the barn or something. But, the current system works well enough
that this would just be for the fun of experimenting... 8-)