Have you ever notice how it’s often cooler near a lake on a hot summer day? Especially if there’s a slight breeze? It’s not just the breeze, you are feeling the air cooler because of the water evaporating. When evaporation occurs, water absorbs all the heat from the surroundings and take it with it.
Cool air in a bucket
What if you can put that to work for you at home and save some money on air conditioning? Simple evaporative air cooler can be easily built in less than an hour. You will need a bucket, some water and a cheap fan. Once you get the concept and get some practice, it is possible to scale it up to something that might replace your A/C altogether.
Step by Step DIY!
Switching water buckets in and out can get tedious. If you feel confident you can make some modifications to get a more automated evaporative air cooler. In this case, wicking material, water pumps, and float shut-off valves were used.
Check this one too, it is solar powered!
How much money could you save?
A 6000 BTU air conditioner running 10 hours a day costs about $1.06 per day, at 19 cents/kWh. If your summer is about 4 months long, that’s about $120. Maybe not much on the short term, but if you scale to a bigger project, in the long run, it can make a big difference.
