Fuel for Thought

AC Not Ready For Prime Time

The original plan for my auxiliary air conditioner powered by solar panels called for three solar panels—one short of my current arrangement. I went ahead and built everything without adding the third panel, and it works—barely. And after real world testing, it obviously won’t be conquering Laredo. This is what it looks like so far.

5000 Btu window air conditioner mounted in a foam board box that moves condenser intake and exhaust air through the side door. I partitioned the inside of the side door body, so intake and exhaust air come and go through opposite ends of the door. It’s sort of a temporary mess of a set up inside the door. I’ll post photos of that part when it proves to be the final set up. Condensation from the evaporator coil drains through a small funnel set into the floor under the unit.

Priority for now is power to the system then I’ll work on tuning the parts. Chances are this experiment will be a failure, but all will not be lost, because I already have very big improvements for winter comfort with the added insulation and power.

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