Solar air conditioner is too good to be true

comments from our community

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  Posted by gpsmap295 Fri Mar 6, 2009 5:21pm PST

  So you cant use gray water??

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  Posted by Butch D Sat Mar 7, 2009 8:34am PST

  To GPSMAP::: interesting idea, couple of thoughts, is the AC capable of handling grey water, would it need to be filered (cost) and the water management folk are coming down hard on the secondary use of grey water. After all it is Grey for a reason... other than dealing with these issues, good idea, reuse, reuse, reuse

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  Posted by JosephR Sat Mar 7, 2009 8:40am PST

  For those who live near bodies of water, it's just a matter of running the water from the source, through the air conditioner, and then return to the source. Geo-thermal heat pumps have worked this way for over thirty years!! This is VERY green since nothing is wasted!

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  Posted by A. J. Sat Mar 7, 2009 8:41am PST

  Why not re-cycle the water

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  Posted by caveman Sat Mar 7, 2009 8:44am PST

  One of the most efficient ways to cool a house in dry climates has allways been swamp coolers that use water. This sounds like a big improvement on an old idea.I might want to buy one.

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  Posted by Chuck R Sat Mar 7, 2009 8:53am PST

  Can Some one Please tell me how much of my house electricty solar panels would actualy run if i went solar. and who do i contact to get prices. THANK YOU

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  Posted by Elyse Sat Mar 7, 2009 8:55am PST

  I agree with the water reuse. I live on a lake and could easily draw from the lake and then recycle the water. This is a great idea. The article writer is blind to where this could be a very green product. Anyone know what one of these costs?

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  Posted by Darryll Sat Mar 7, 2009 8:58am PST

  I am sure that this technology will find a perfectly Green place in the market! One shouldnt write it off as "worst of the worst" as has been mentioned, if you have plenty of clean water available otherwise going to waste (some factory situations come to mind) then i am sure this could have a postitve place in the market.

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  Posted by Darryll Sat Mar 7, 2009 8:58am PST

  I am sure that this technology will find a perfectly Green place in the market! One shouldnt write it off as "worst of the worst" as has been mentioned, if you have plenty of clean water available otherwise going to waste (some factory situations come to mind) then i am sure this could have a postitve place in the market.

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  Posted by Bill Sat Mar 7, 2009 9:04am PST

  This appears to be a variation of the "swamp coolers" that have been used in desert areas for many years.It's actually a humidifier.It draws hot dry air in and passes that air through a media pad that is wet this can lower the air temperature by as much as 12 to 18 degrees.They ONLY work in DRY, repeat, DRY climates. They actually work quite well when used properly They need clean potable water,the softer the better.It's your choice. Stay cool.

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  Posted by David C Sat Mar 7, 2009 9:04am PST

  This is just a glorified swamp cooler! All swamp coolers use only a fan and a valve to control the water flow. The big power user on true A/C systems is the compressor. This is not an air conditioner and would only be suitable for use in very dry western states. This is just another case of someone trying to jump on the "green" wagon.

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  Posted by Notayuppie Sat Mar 7, 2009 9:09am PST

  Caveman is right - it sounds like a glorified swamp cooler, which, I might add, recirculate a lot of water and only replace what evaporates when it is in use.

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  Posted by jeff Sat Mar 7, 2009 9:16am PST

  cant recycle the water, it is evaperated, hence the cooling

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  Posted by SuperDaddyColorado Sat Mar 7, 2009 9:29am PST

  Please note that most electricy is generated by steam turbines which use tremendous amounts of water. Including some solar plants, geothermal, and of course all coal plants. Water is renewable. If you want to complain about water waste. You should know that most municipal water supplies lose about 40% to underground leaks.

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  Posted by Shane C Sat Mar 7, 2009 9:36am PST

  Can You Say Water Harvesting? If you can, you are already half way there to making this idea work. If you get 1" of rainfall, over a 1000 sq ft of roof area, it will produce 600 gallons of water. Run this into a cistern and use this cleaner water and a simple sears whole house filter to run the swamp unit on the roof. Gather storm water from the street in another cistern to water your plants. You won't run the unit year round. Most likely, only in the summer time 3-4 months out of the year. If it's too humid, this unit wont work. Cut on your AC then. But for all other times where it's hot and dry, then this unit will work. I'm sure more water evaporates out of a swimming pool or a fountain per day than this thing would use. If you really want a good cooling effect, on top of the cistern install a tower like a chimney for a wind scoop, as the wind blows across the top of the wind scoop, it will drag the warmer air away from the water below (hot air rises), producing an almost freezing effect in the cistern below. From there you could run a geo-thermal slinkey of water tubes and install a heat exchanger to use the cool water to pull heat from your house. Or you can pump that cold water into the evaporative cooler on the roof thus making the system much more efficient. The only people who would be sad about this invention is the power company, and right now they are looking to do a 47% rate hike. People won't be able to afford to cool their homes with that sort of power increase. I would buy stock in this company for this reason. Consider when a womans pregnant and the house is hot, the man of the house will either go broke trying to keep it cool or suffer wrath worse than death by not doing anything about it. Any arguments about 'green' or too expensive will just not be good enough. The water problems in a city are caused primarily by pavement over everything. The water tables don't replenish themselves so they have to drill further and further or deeper and deeper outside of city limits.

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