Marc Perkel Designs Alternative Air Conditioner

[<===Foolsgold]

Marc Perkel Designs Alternative Air Conditioner



I have developed an alternative air conditioning system that works even in the hot summers of Gilroy. I hope to get the attention of PG&E who should love the idea as well as other local inventors.

To summarize how it works, I use 360 concrete blocks to store the coolness of the night air and then blow it into the house in the day time when it gets hot. I’m time shifting the coolness of the night into the daytime.

Additionally I have drip lines in the concrete blocks so I’m using wet concrete. That increases the thermal mass and it provides evaporative cooling which greatly increases the cooling power of the system. The hotter it gets the better it evaporates water. Think of it as a personal cave.

Gilroy California is a small town about 25 miles south of San Jose California. Gilroy is somewhat known for the hot summer days setting records for the area. But at night the temperature usually drops in the range of 55-60 at night. This isn’t something that would work in Georgia, but west of the Rock Mountains it’s ideal.

The system was very inexpensive to build. It uses simple controls – no computers – and it works pretty well. Runs off a standard thermostat, a hose timer, and another timer to run it at night to coll it off from 12 midnight to 6:00 am. Had to use a couple relays to activate the fans and 2 damper valves. it uses about 12 gallons of water a day.

Because it uses just fans and water the electrical draw is far lower than an air conditioner. It also saves power at the hottest part of the day when PG&E really needs people to save power. This system works up to about 105 degrees. If I had used bigger ducting and 500 concrete blocks it would work all the way up to 110 degrees. that’s how hot it got here this summer in Gilroy. It is not August and only hard to use the air conditioner for 3 days this year for 1/2 hour a day.

If this system were incorporated in new construction it would save enough power so that PG&E could build less power plants to take care of peak capacity. Hoping that PG&E is interested in green alternative energy systems that save a lot of electricity.

More Pics: http://ctyme.com/pics/aircond/

http://www.dvorak.org/blog/2012/08/0...r-conditioner/

[Goldhedge]

Believe it or not, this is not new tech. The glass industry uses the same concept to heat glass ovens.

The only difference is there are two of these units side by side. Masons lay fire bricks in a similar pattern in both.

There are two huge fans on the end of each unit. The other end faces the glass pool. Gas is fired up in one unit and the fan blows the heat from the bricks into the 'U-shaped' pool of molten glass. The hot air hits the curve, comes back around and goes out the second unit and heats the second units bricks. Then they switch the gas flow about every 15 minutes and the fans reverse the process.

They are able to recycle the heat via the fire bricks heating up.

[andial]

I hope to get the attention of PG&E who should love the idea as well as other local inventors.

Hoping that PG&E is interested in green alternative energy systems that save a lot of electricity.

Talk about being naive. He will get the attention he seeks from PG&E though.

[Voodoo]

He certainly didn't really use any new ideas. Thermal mass is a pretty simple concept and like he states this really will only work very well in desert like areas which have much larger temperature swings than most areas. My biggest concern / though would be how long will it take to grow a nice batch of black/green mold, fungus, and all kinds of other nastiness in that environment. Nice and damp with warm air circulating though the whole lot.

[southfork]

Utility and energy companies have no interest in conservation of power and oil, they make money by people using more, the green bs they spew is only to get government handouts.

[andial]

My biggest concern / though would be how long will it take to grow a nice batch of black/green mold, fungus, and all kinds of other nastiness in that environment.

Yeah, I was thinking that also.

[anotherdave]

It might be even more efficient if you used eutectic salts.

BTW, did you know that the original inventors of the air conditioner were three Jewish gentlemen? You will find their names on the front of every air conditioner made: Norm, Hi, and Max.

.

[Lugnutzpop]

Nothing more than an evaporative cooler right. They use those in Arizona all the time. I've sold some very large one to a brewery in the Dominican Republic about 10 years ago. Efficient technology, but NOT new.

-L

[gnome]

Nothing more than an evaporative cooler right. They use those in Arizona all the time. I've sold some very large one to a brewery in the Dominican Republic about 10 years ago. Efficient technology, but NOT new.

-L

Well, it's an evaporative cooler plus a thermal mass.

Nothing revolutionary. I have thought of using concrete block in this manner myself, but wouldn't want the thing wet, as others have mentioned, because of the mold.

I would keep the swamp cooler and the thermal mass separate. Perhaps install a fan and evaporative medium between the thermal mass and the house.

It would also be possible to increase the thermal mass with ordinary sand, soil, rocks or gravel as long as you still have a good amount of surface area for the air to contact the thermal mass before entering the house.

[andial]

BTW, did you know that the original inventors of the air conditioner were three Jewish gentlemen? You will find their names on the front of every air conditioner made: Norm, Hi, and Max.

.

..........