primitive goes "old fashioned" with air conditioning

[franksolich]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1093382

Oh my.

no_hypocrisy (23,704 posts)

Old fashioned "air conditioning" -- Does this work?

You take a block of ice and put it in front of a fan and the icy air cools you but with a limitation: you have to stay in one place. This isn't likely to cool the room.

I only have a fan and am not interested in getting an air conditioner. I was told this might be a compromise.

Have any of you tried this?

PoliticAverse (4,012 posts)

1. It is certainly better than a fan alone...

http://curiosity.discovery.com/question/how-ice-block-cooling-work

Downwinder (5,441 posts)

2. Can you still get block ice?

^^^that was franksolich's question too.

PoliticAverse (4,012 posts)

5. Yes but it's no longer delivered by horse and carriage...

http://www.iceexpress.com/ezpickup.html

Downwinder (5,441 posts)

9. It was always cooler to go sit in the Ice House.

hlthe2b (42,092 posts)

3. That's the principle behind evaporative coolers ("swamp coolers") that still remain very viable

alternatives or supplements to A/C in NON-HUMID areas of the country--especially the west. They work quite well in lowering temp about 10-12 degrees as long as the humidity is low.

So yes, the principle does work...

JayhawkSD (173 posts)

7. Actually. that's not quite accurate

Swamp coolers work with water at ambient temperature, which is allowed to evaporate. As the water changes from liquid to vapor the "latent heat of vaporization" required to accomplish that is absorbed from the air and thereby cools the air flowing over the evaporating water. Air flowing over a block of ice is merely being cooled by the cooler air surrounding the ice, by a process called "adiabatic heat transfer." The ice is sufficiently cold that the localized effect is noticeable, but significant cooling of actual air mass is a great deal less than that accomplished by a swamp cooler.

It does indeed require low humidity, or the water will not evaporate. Air passing over a block of ice will be pretty much equally effective (or ineffective) regardless of humidity, because evaporation is not involved.

Star Member hlthe2b (42,092 posts)

8. thank you...

However, apparently, simply throwing some ice into the water within a portable evaporative cooler's water reservoir, can allow both principles to be at play? Sorry-- my year of college physics was some time ago.

Regardless, my point remains. This can be an effective means to affect, at least some local cooling effect.

TreasonousBastard (19,300 posts)

4. It works, sorta, but raises the humidity...

and, since some heat is released by melting the ice, it could make the place a little hotter after the ice is gone.

FWIW, my grandmother had a fan with an "ice cage" on it just for this, but she never used it.

Little Star (9,441 posts)

6. This guy has some pretty good suggestions.....

His Blog is called:nothingtobegainedhere:

Most of my life i’ve spent without air conditioning. When i was growing up we didn’t have it because the air conditioners were to expensive, then when we could finally afford one we rarely used it because it made the light bill so high. Even to this day i only have one air conditioner in the bedroom. Over the years i’ve found three ways to stay cool, three ways to Combat Heat, i call them the Poor Mans AC.

1 – This one came from my grandfather. When things got really bad he would get a bucket or a pan or a foot soaker and fill it with ice and cold water sit on the couch and stick his feet into the bucket or pan or foot soaker and make his feet cold. When your feet get cold the rest of you is sure to follow.

2 – This next trick i learned while working as a production assistant in the film biz-mess. Get a bowl or empty water bottle fill it with ice water and ice. Take a facial skin astringent like Sea Breeze and pour some into the bowl or bottle with the ice and water and mix it together. Take a bandana or a dish towel and soak it into the mixture. Take the bandana or dish towel and wrap around the back of your neck. You’ll go from overheating to deep freeze in a few seconds. The Sea Breeze opens the pores of your skin and the ice water seeps into your pores and cools you down immediately. Whenever you feel hot, wet the bandana or dish towel and wrap it around your neck or tie it around your head. (WARNING: This works so fast it might give you brain freeze like when you drank a cold drink too fast.)

3 – When i was a kid i learned about pressure points on the body and when all else failed and you needed to get cool before you got heat stroke we would get some ice and put it on the inside of our wrist, which is a pressure point and it would immediately cool you down. Other pressure points are the temples, the jugular, the inside of your elbow, behind your knee and of course your feet. If your feet are cold the rest of you is cold, just think about navigating the deep corner snow ice slush puddles of February when you wanted to wear those boots that lack the necessary insulation but looked really cute with that outfit.

The heat is serious business. It’s life or death out here in the heat and the stupidity. People die from prolonged exposure to this kind of heat and it can be prevented. These three tips or tricks will not only keep you cool but they could also save your life. It’s also a green alternative to running the AC all the time. This has been a Public Service Announcement of Nothing To Be Gained Here and it has been suggested in some quarters that this is not enough. Well then GET OFF THE STREET and into somebody else’s AC!

http://nothingtobegainedhere.wordpress.com/2011/07/31/combat-heat-the-poor-mans-ac/

Curmudgeoness (7,660 posts)

10. I assume that your end result is to keep cool without a/c. Your suggestion of using ice (I would even just use ice cubes in a shallow bowl) sounds like it might work and I might try that----just experiment with it, you will know soon enough if it works. Why listen to us???

I do have one thing that I do whenever the heat gets too high and unbearable. I have a piece of fabric (from an old percale sheet), and I wet it, then put it around my neck. The material that I use seems to matter---towels do not work, t-shirt material does not work, but sheet material does. As soon as it gets warm, I take it an flip it in the air (just needs one flip) and it is instantly cold. I will wipe down my arms, legs, face, feet, whatever, and keep flipping it to cool it. It really works for me. In fact, I am using my fabric right now.

And a window fan turned on AFTER the sun goes down will really cool a room off. That is how I am able to sleep. The night air really is cool. I used this even in Houston in the worst of the summer when the a/c went out for a week and I was fine---at night.

NMDemDist2 (48,117 posts)

11. folk lore has it that in Arizona's deserts before AC folks would wet sheets and hang in open doors and windows, or create a 'wet sheet room' on the porch so that any airflow would be cooled and humidified

especially in the evening when it was time for bed. I bet the same principle would work with a fan blowing though a wet sheet

RebelOne (24,079 posts)

12. Many, many years ago, I lived in South Florida and did not have A/C.

But I had a cooler that you put ice into and the fan in it blew the cold air out. Just like your "air conditioning," I had to sit in front of it as it did not cool the room, but it cooled me.

[Undies]

Thank the Lord for 4 tons of COLD central air pouring out from those slotted vents in the ceiling.  My willingness to sit around with my naked feet submerged in a bucket of ice water is low.

[JohnnyReb]

7 layers of linen cloth and piss in it/on it...hey, that's what the Arabs did.

[Ballygrl]

[youtube=425,350]zR9CA8lJGvs[/youtube]

[Ballygrl]

[youtube=425,350]lm0e2TwvXfQ[/youtube]

[GOBUCKS]

Get a bag of crushed ice.

Duct tape it on top of your head.

Problem solved.

[Chris_]

[youtube=425,350]zR9CA8lJGvs[/youtube]

Wallah.

[Carl]

JayhawkSD (173 posts)

Lurking DUmbasses,ever notice that the only ones on your island that appear to have an IQ above room temperature have a low post count?  

[Freeper]

They shouldn't be using AC anyway, it contributes to global warming.

[Paul Heinzman]

This reminds me of when my wife came up with the theory that we could save money on our electric bill by burning candles instead of lightbulbs.

[Freeper]

This reminds me of when my wife came up with the theory that we could save money on our electric bill by burning candles instead of lightbulbs.

I don't know if burning light bulbs is a good idea. 

[Chris_]

They put out misting fans at the junkyard on really hot days.  They work pretty well.  I'm tempted to put one in the garage.

[Randy]

I don't know if burning light bulbs is a good idea. 

It's pure hell to get them lit!   

[Freeper]

It's pure hell to get them lit!   

You think that's hard, try lighting one of those nicotine patches. 

[franksolich]

They shouldn't be using AC anyway, it contributes to global warming.

The old primitive "do as I say, not as I do" spiel.

I could never figure out why the primitives don't have franksolich on their "most admired list," given my bird-like carbon footprint.

[Bad Dog]

I wonder if somebody had a mole, if they could talk them into jamming ice cubes up their butts?

[LC EFA]

Evaporative cooling is fine for some climates.

It doesn't work so well when the air is already nearly saturated.

If i wasn't such a tightass and ran my AC more than once or twice a year - I'd run it on the de-humidify setting as it makes a far more noticeable difference to the apparent temperature.

You think that's hard, try lighting one of those nicotine patches. 

I thought you were supposed to chew on them things.

[thundley4]

The DUmmie could cool their whole house if they seal it up real good, and then use dry ice in front of the fan instead of regular ice. 

[Undies]

The DUmmie could cool their whole house if they seal it up real good, and then use dry ice in front of the fan instead of regular ice. 

Dangerous advice.  Remember, really clueless idiots troll here.

[thundley4]

Dangerous advice.  Remember, really clueless idiots troll here.

   Future Darwin award winners?  I use to play with dry ice all the time at work, but they started using liquid nitrogen for their needs instead. 

[docstew]

The DUmmie could cool their whole house if they seal it up real good, and then use dry ice in front of the fan instead of regular ice. 

For maximum effect, they should lay on the floor.

[franksolich]

The DUmmie could cool their whole house if they seal it up real good, and then use dry ice in front of the fan instead of regular ice. 

I'm not sure if closing off the house during the day is a good idea, although admittedly I never tried it.

As you know, this is an old place, and has but a window air conditioner for the bedroom. 

The rest of the house depends upon air flow from all four directions (good windows and screens here), assisted by several floor fans.  It helps, but it can still get stifling hot, even though the house is WIDE open.

I've been told that there's practically no insulation between the roof and the inside of the house, which would explain the heat indoors during the summer, but it doesn't explain the low heating bills during the winter.

I dunno; this summer's been Hell, the hottest in my own lifetime (apparently part of a naturally-caused natural climatic cycle that has nothing to do with man; it's been going on for, oh, a few tens of millions of years, this natural cycle).

So, I keep the windows and doors open, the fans rotating, drink plenty of liquids, eat very little solid foods (digestion causes the body temperature to rise), dress minimally during the day (t-shirt and gym shorts), and at night when no one's here sleep with nothing on, but man, it's going to be November before I'm cool again.

[thundley4]

I'm not sure if closing off the house during the day is a good idea, although admittedly I never tried it.

As you know, this is an old place, and has but a window air conditioner for the bedroom. 

The rest of the house depends upon air flow from all four directions (good windows and screens here), assisted by several floor fans.  It helps, but it can still get stifling hot, even though the house is WIDE open.

I've been told that there's practically no insulation between the roof and the inside of the house, which would explain the heat indoors during the summer, but it doesn't explain the low heating bills during the winter.

I dunno; this summer's been Hell, the hottest in my own lifetime (apparently part of a naturally-caused natural climatic cycle that has nothing to do with man; it's been going on for, oh, a few tens of millions of years, this natural cycle).

So, I keep the windows and doors open, the fans rotating, drink plenty of liquids, eat very little solid foods (digestion causes the body temperature to rise), dress minimally during the day (t-shirt and gym shorts), and at night when no one's here sleep with nothing on, but man, it's going to be November before I'm cool again.

Frank, my advice about using the dry ice was strictly for lurking DUmmies, not humans.   

I don't think our house has very good insulation either, but it seems to hold the heat of the day in long after it cools off outside at night.

[seahorse513]

I cannot have AC in my house..There is something about the chemicals(freeon?) that affects my breathing. and we only have a handful of hot days here in Maine, it seems hardly worth it to me...

[GOBUCKS]

I cannot have AC in my house..There is something about the chemicals(freeon?) that affects my breathing. and we only have a handful of hot days here in Maine, it seems hardly worth it to me...

If coolant is escaping into the air, the air conditioner won't be working for long.

The only thing coming out of an air conditioner is cool air - which I guess could affect some people's breathing.