Re: [VAC] Air Cond for Dreamers details

["Dr. Gerald N. Johnson" <geraldj@xxxxxxxx>]

In my search, I found lots of references for residential gas powered air
conditioning on up to industrial and office building sizes. We know
there's the smaller units for RV and residential refrigerators. The RV
propane air conditioner is just a matter of scaling and packaging. The
larger units were using both the rotary engine and the flame heating
techniques running mostly on natural gas, though more than one propane
page proclaimed they'd work just as happily on propane with only slight
(I presume orifice and pressure for flame and mixture for internal
combustion engine) adjustments.

Probably Servel has the most experience, and I wish their US web page
was working and as complete as their Italian web page. I can't see any
reason why the product isn't already in use in some part of the world.
It should be because the energy density of LP or other liquid fuels is
far greater than solar energy or gas fuel which makes LP or other liquid
fuel far more useful when traveling in the outback.

Though, for me, I'd learn to live with the heat and would work on
minimizing the solar heat gain of the A/S, then add a very effective
vent fan to cool it at night, then button it up during the day to stay
as cool as possible. It might take another layer of aluminum spaced from
the original skin to cut the solar gain. Aluminized windows, a shade
pavilion, things like that.

I have another camper that is rotting and the refrigerator works, but
the cabinet is cracked (and fiber glassed). It likely would be a
candidate for conversion to an air conditioner. I accidentally switched
it from LP to AC instead of off one summer and let it run a month before
I was back to its spot with the door open. Seemed to have survived, cost
two or three times the electricity of a conventional AC powered
refrigerator in the adjacent barn, but then the door was wide open...
Adding a fan to circulate the cool air should be most of what it would
need to become and air conditioner. Maybe only 1500 or 1800 BTU.

Every time I've looked at alternative energy, its always worked out
better to improved the energy consumption before building the solar
collector (though I built one about 1974) or the solar power air
conditioner. Without doing anyting for house insulation a 192 square
foot solar collector barely had a detectable effect. One gallon of LP
saved per sunny day all winter was hardly a dent when the old furnace in
an uninsulated century old farm house burned 1500 gallons a winter.

The same thing can be applied to an A/S for air conditioning. The A/S
isn't poorly made, just its made for use and ventilation in moderate
climates. Needs double or triple pane windows, insulation inside the
door and likely other places throughout. Needs MORE insulation
everywhere, less air infiltration. Maybe that mirror polish is important
in minimizing solar gain.

Its sure that the direct approach of 10 amp battery charger (if there's
power for that, why isn't there AC to run the A/C?) and 96 watts of
solar panels with any amount of batteries isn't going to run a
conventional A/C in the boonies. So smaller A/C (or none), with better
insulation and thermal control are needed to meet the cooling task. I'm
more comfortable when hot than when air conditioned so I'd live without
the air conditioning.

Gerald J.