Redneck Air Conditioner

[Gunnyart]

I built one for October. My concern is the noise.

[DRT]

Just something to think about. If you use dry ice make sure you have plenty of ventilation. The off gas is carbon dioxide and in an enclosed space you can be looking at an oxygen deficiency pretty quick.

[shadow hunter]

Cool idea

[Colton]

I need to try this

[CBHunter]

Just something to think about. If you use dry ice make sure you have plenty of ventilation. The off gas is carbon dioxide and in an enclosed space you can be looking at an oxygen deficiency pretty quick.

X2

[KMO8204]

I built one of these the other day and got minimum results from it. I used a 5gal bucket, spray on insulation (since I could not find a styrofoam insert), 1gal frozen milk jug, and a 9" fan. I drilled out two 1 1/2" holes for it to blow out of. The air coming out was cool (not cold like the video) and I was disappointed at the amount of low flow that the fan was putting out of the 2 holes.

Thinking about trying it again but on an old 48qt cooler and hoping for better results.

We had a similar experience. I really think it's a humidity issue.

I've been experimenting with this all week. I didn't have very good results with the frozen gallon jug either (10 degrees cooler. Inside or outside, same results.) I tried cutting 1-3 holes in the top, cutting a hole in the bottom, and then I bought a 2 gallon bucket to sit inside the 5 gallon bucket. I cut 10 holes in it and ran PVC pipe through them and poured ice around the pipes trying to cool it. I put 2" spacers on the bottom of the 2 gallon bucket so the air could blow out the bottom hole. It was still the same.

Today, I poured the ice straight into the Styrofoam in the 5 gallon bucket. The reading went down to 49 degrees when it was 76. I took it outside (didn't measure temperature, but it was hot.) I was getting 59 degrees as a reading. The only issue is the ice melted in about 40 min. I only had half a bucket of ice today. I'm going to try a new bucket tomorrow with the hole in the middle and a full bucket of ice. Today the hole was on the bottom so all of the water ran out when the ice melted.

[35remington]

Awesome. Can you post pics? I'm having a hard time following.

[KMO8204]

Awesome. Can you post pics? I'm having a hard time following.

Yea I'll try to post pics tomorrow when I finish the second bucket. Of all the things I've tried, just pouring ice in the bucket seems to work the best though.

[35remington]

I'm going ranch tomorrow and that's what I'll try. Just interested in how the styrofoam played into your design.

[KMO8204]

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Leaktite-5-gal-Bucket-Companion-Cooler-3-Pack-211306/205186907

I bought these Styrofoam inserts that slide into the buckets. Its a 3 pack and I assumed I would use one to experiment with and then use the other two for my stands.

[DRT]

When we used forced air ventilation in confined spaces we often put ice in the blower hose to blow cool air into the space for the entrants. We had ice machines and an unlimited supply of ice and when you are in those areas with no air moving it helped a lot.

[JKaggie07]

Ive seen a similar design with dry ice and a 5 gallon bucket. I have an antelope hunt coming up in a few weeks and something like this could sure make it more bearable if it isn't too loud.

[KMO8204]

Ive seen a similar design with dry ice and a 5 gallon bucket. I have an antelope hunt coming up in a few weeks and something like this could sure make it more bearable if it isn't too loud.

I bought a smaller fan trying to eliminate noise. It has two settings. I think the "high" setting will be too loud while hunting, but the "low" might be ok. My plan is to get in the blind and turn it to high for a few min while I get settled to help cool it down and then switch it to low.

[pblaetz]

I saw a design one time with a divider in the center of the cooler. It sealed tight to the lid but had an inch or 2 gap on the bottom. The fan was on one side with the outlet on the other. This way the air was forced down through the ice to the bottom of the cooler, under the divider and back up through the ice to the exit. Allowing much more contact with the ice and lowering the temperature considerably.

[35remington]

^ that sounds cool. I think the problem with the 5 gal bucket milk jug method is what you just said: the air never really spends much time around the ice.