Hi. We have a place in the Victorian Alps powered by micro-hydro and solar. Long story short: in the middle of summer, when it's in the 40's, we're making 800w to 1kw when the sun is shining, enough for a very low-wattage a/c unit to help one room get through the day. Trouble is, it's nearly impossible to find the power draw in watts of a/c units. Even the retailers have to break a box open and read the darn things. Energy efficiency, BTUs, etc. are indeed important...but watts is too. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to find the lowest wattage a/c unit available in Oz?
Air Conditioning off grid
(12 posts) (9 voices)-
This link shows a very comprehensive discussion about solar powered air conditioning:
http://entropyproduction.blogspot.com/2005/10/solar-thermal-cooling.htmlThermally driven air conditioners could have some advantages. However the limitation is actually getting rid of the heat at the other end of the process.
Posted Saturday 1 Aug 2009 @ 3:10:29 am from IP # -
Sunshine
Memberjeffe01,
Airconditioners with inverter technology are the most efficient.
I find that Airconditioners usually have a maximum current rating, so if you ahve the maximum figure in amps, then you can work out the max power usage.
e.g. my unit is 9.1 amps, so using P=VI, the the power= 240v x 9.1 Amps= 2184wattPosted Saturday 1 Aug 2009 @ 1:38:32 pm from IP # -
ghostgum
MemberIf you are in the Victorian Alps, then at 1000m above sea level, the temperature will be 6-9 degrees cooler than the plains, or about 31-34 degrees C. For this, you don't actually need an air conditioner (at least you don't if you like warm temperatures). Controlling radiant heat (shading over windows etc., radiant barrier in roof) is the first step, if you haven't already done it.
In Victoria, the really hot days have dry air, so an evaporative cooler would also work with the available power, provided you have enough water.
If you have the available space, and are allowed to dig, then a long air pipe buried 2m under the ground will allow you to pull in slightly cooler air.
Posted Sunday 2 Aug 2009 @ 11:43:22 pm from IP # -
Anonymous
UnregisteredIn response to jeffe01. If you go to the Australian Government site http://www.energyrating.gov.au and surf your way to the air conditioning section. There is a column for the Energy input in KW. This will tell you what energy is required to run the various units. Generally retail stores do not have this information at there ready. Sites such as ours http://www.1stchoiceairconditioning.com.au do. I find that the more information that you can post for the customer the easier it is for both parties.
Posted Wednesday 19 Aug 2009 @ 8:05:55 pm from IP # -
Anonymous
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それがCMSになれば、全世界だけでなく、CMS あなたのブランドはこのサイト を知っ ている ビジネスブログ (<::>) “Hoang Yen” Welcome to us!Posted Wednesday 27 Oct 2010 @ 1:28:59 am from IP # -
Catopsilia
MemberAir conditioning off grid can cost real money, apparently.
"The amount the U.S. military spends annually on air conditioning in Iraq and Afghanistan: $20.2 billion, according to a former Pentagon official."
http://www.npr.org/2011/06/25/137414737/among-the-costs-of-war-20b-in-air-conditioningI wonder how much air conditioning the Australian contingent in Afghanistan costs?
Posted Wednesday 29 Jun 2011 @ 2:42:21 am from IP # -
Not actually electric (although if it has pumps it will need a bit of leccie) but these guys:
http://www.solarsatisfaction.com.au/mention this product:
http://www.eco-kinetics.com/solar-products-and-services/solar-air-conditioning.htmland also mention that the ANU are working on an Oz designed solar air conditioner:
http://news.anu.edu.au/?p=912Given that the ANU article was from 2009 the technology has probably been given / sold / stolen, to/by some foreign bunch. Seems to be the way.
The idea _sounds_ good (my kero fridge was fantastic, no moving parts wish I still had it) and one of the problems of a solar array is the excess heat produced in summer if it is sized for winter ......
but I have no idea if any of this really works.
Posted Wednesday 29 Jun 2011 @ 4:16:40 am from IP # -
Jeffbloggs
MemberAir-conditioned tents? I hope they have some sort of insulation in between...even an inflatable one would be better...
Gazmo
Thanks for the links..interesting. It would seem to operate on similar principles to the vortex tube:
http://www.newmantools.com/vortex.htmIt produces both heat and cold, but requires a compressor to achieve this. The question with the Solar AC system is how did they manage to construct a efficient solar thermal compressor?
Posted Wednesday 29 Jun 2011 @ 4:39:54 am from IP # -
Sorry, I have no idea how it works.
I assumed it was the same as an old ammonia fridge.
It looks very interesting, but its at the bleeding edge of technology in terms of its marketing which means for sure that both the risks and prices will be high.
Another thing that may be slightly applicable would be this:
http://www.sola-mate.com/
but the cooling would be available at night which would mean your excess solar energy would need to be stored which rather complicates things
Thanks, I'd never heard of that vortex tube thing before.Posted Wednesday 29 Jun 2011 @ 8:34:32 am from IP # -
There is an Australian academic and business group dealing with solar cooling.
http://www.ausscig.org/index.htmlPosted Wednesday 29 Jun 2011 @ 11:00:00 am from IP #
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