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Originally Posted by EcoCivic
Good ideas, thank you! Reducing the refrigerant charge will reduce the compressor's power draw, but I'm not sure doing so would be beneficial since the compressor has to run longer when the system is undercharged. Longer cycles are more efficient if the system is designed for it, but I would think undercharging the system would reduce its efficiency.
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My idea is that the cycles don't really matter as much as the efficiency when the compressor is actually on. If the compressor is pumping too much refrigerant, its efficiency is reduced a lot. With reduced refrigerant charge, it is almost as if the compressor is spinning slower. You have more frictional losses from having to run the compressor more, but the gas cycle itself becomes more efficient. I know, not the best solution...it could be worse.
One idea I came up with for retrofitting a car with no A/C is cooled seats. Some people have modded their stock seats with air channels and fans, but you can also get an aftermarket fan cooled seat pad, and then add a heat exchanger with something so you can cool down the air. An inefficient way to do it is a Peltier cooler. You don't need that much cooling power to actually lower the air temperature to the point where it feels comfortable since the air flow is really slow.
Another way to do it is to use a duct on the car's stock vents and blow it through your seat, and then underdrive the pulley. Since your body is being directly cooled instead of the cabin, you don't need as much cooling capacity.
Yet another idea along the lines of reducing cooling capacity is a mini 12V compressor unit that blows directly on you or through a seat cooling pad. Alternator power is not efficient, but you would be drawing far less power overall compared to the original compressor.