The Deadly Heat

[wyatta4]

Maybe how much use stock A/C will get from me wont be so bad.. a couple months out of the year.. Just gotta find all the parts for it for a fair price...

[cfg83]

wyatta4 -

What is your average time in your car in the heat?

An el-cheapo method is a fisherman's vest (lots of pockets) + cooler bag ice-pack bottles. That works if you have a commute of under an hour. More than that would require a cooler + more ice-packs.

That doesn't work for your back because the hard ice-packs can injure you in an accident. You can, however, use a squishy gel-pack solution :




CarloSW2

[PaleMelanesian]

How much heat are you talking about, and how much of the year, and how long a drive? How deadly is it?

[wyatta4]

Its only about 2 or three months out of the year. Not deadly, just uncomfortable. and I have a passenger some of the time so personal cooling methods aren't going to cut it..

[ecofreak]

Pry a peltier unit+heatsink combination from any electrically cooled cooler, and stick a fan in front of it for an easy A/C. The peltier unit uses no freon/yuck stuff, it functions by getting cold on one side and very hot on the other. If you heatsink the one side, it dissipates the heat, and thus has net cooling. Most units are to be found with the heatsink attached (that is, if you pry it out of something sold as a cooler) but you could easily buy a PC heatsink unit from any computer parts supplier.

That said, there is much to be had in PC cooling supplies. I wonder if anyone would make an AC out of them, as the supplies all draw from a PC power supply, which in turn could be attached to a normal outlet, which could have power drawn from any obtainable solar panel.

[larrybuck]

There is more info on the Dirt cheap cooling help post in this same section.

Aside from that, there's no magic cheap cure. I have a CRX also!

When you mentioned sometimes passengers; I instantly read picky female!

The humidity in Idaho is nothing compared to back east. I think you could go with dual from behind fans aimed at each seat, and just try to toughen up!

The best body configuration that lends itself to natural cooling would be a small PU w a sliding rear window. They do wonders!

[larrybuck]

There is more info on the Dirt cheap cooling help post in this same section.

Aside from that, there's no magic cheap cure. I have a CRX also!

When you mentioned sometimes passengers; I instantly read picky female!

The humidity in Idaho is nothing compared to back east. I think you could go with dual from behind fans aimed at each seat, and just try to toughen up!

The best body configuration that lends itself to natural cooling would be a small PU w a sliding rear window. They do wonders!

[redneck]

Originally Posted by wyatta4

Also another idea would be one of those portable A/C units somehow wired to my car..

You mean like this...???





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[ConnClark]

Originally Posted by ecofreak

Pry a peltier unit+heatsink combination from any electrically cooled cooler, and stick a fan in front of it for an easy A/C. The peltier unit uses no freon/yuck stuff, it functions by getting cold on one side and very hot on the other. If you heatsink the one side, it dissipates the heat, and thus has net cooling.

Actually they have a net heating effect and are not very efficient. From an actual data sheet I got these values. To remove 28.3 Watts of heat from the cold side you need 52.7 Watts of electricity and need to dissipate 81 Watts of heat on the hot side with a temperature difference of 71 degrees C.

[CigaR007]

Originally Posted by redneck

You mean like this...???





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Major aerodynamic penalty though !