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Life off the grid in the SW Texas desert. An experiment in sustainable living. NUMBERS AT THE END OF EACH BLOG POST: temp at 8PM,high temp,low temp,rainfall,wind conditions(CalmBreezyWindyGusty). YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/c/TheFieldLab Daily live streams at https://www.youtube.com/thefieldlab/live
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9 comments:
A DIY swamp cooler project that actually works. I came up with this design I call "The Pepino" right after I moved out here and "discovered" it gets really hot it the desert in the desert. At the time, the only commercial 12 volt swamp cooler available was almost $1000. Swamp coolers are not rocket science and this video series will show you how to build one that actually works for about 100 bucks. Keep in mind The Pepino is only effective for a small space and these only work in areas of low humidity. When the project is completed, I will include a full parts and source list. News Theme by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/.
As a 40 year owner of the Mahan Hunt Camp on the Terlingua Ranch - I want you to know JOHN IS TELLING YOU THE TRUTH - It gets blazingly hot here - especially in the summer. But in the fall & winter - when we normally visit to hunt - the climate is much more moderate most of the time. But our children & grandchildren always have to come out when school is out in the summer - WHEN IT IS VERY HOT! Fortunately, my smart Dad let the Federal Rural Electrification Corp. run a power line right to our cabin - back when it was FREE! So we have a regular window air conditioner in our Travel trailer & one in our Regular Cabin. These units will also keep one from frying during the summer months. When these things are saving your life during the Terlingua summers here - you don't really care how much electricity they burn!
You might want to check out what the wet bulb temperature is out there during the hottest summer periods. With a conventional 120 VAC swamp cooler, you can usually get your cooled air down to within 10 degrees Fahrenheit of the wet bulb temperature. So, if the wet bulb temperature was 60 F, you should be able to have cool air at 70 F. I seem to remember that Mr. Wells had some real-time side-by-side Pepino temperature readouts in some earlier TFL blogs. I was impressed.
Blazing hot? Well put. :-) Oh, yes, when I came here I thought I had died and in my new life reached Hell, it was so hot. In San Antonio they find people dead in their homes from the heat. And remember in the old days there was no air conditioning. Adobe buildings helped.I could go without air conditioning and fans when I was young. I used fans by age 60. And after that I caved in to air conditioning. I walked into a 100 or more year old ADOBE home here on a hot day and it was so cool and nice. The walls seemed a foot thick. When it was 107 every day in San Angelo when I was 19, I did not even perspire. Now, it's buckets when I mow. I try to be careful.
I certainly agree with Margery Bills that our tolerance for the Texas summer heat - changes over the years. I grew up in the steamy humid hot summers near Houston - in Tomball, Texas (aka. Oil Town USA) . We had an air ventilation system in our home - but the only air conditioning we knew of - was the Movie House which was so cold you always wanted a long sleeve shirt. As a 14 year old Boy Scout we made a great trip from my home town to Carlsbad, New Mexico in July in a school bus - without any air conditioning! If anyone noticed the heat - they simply rolled down the nearest window to increase the ventilation in the bus. But alas, like Margery - my tolerance of Texas summer heat has disappeared as I aged. And at 81 years of age, no longer exists.
Lol. Yes, that is true Mr. Mahan about the air conditioning. I had to wear half sleeved dresses and take a sweater just in case to work. :-)
Cool, I'm looking forward to your DIY Pepino series.
You might do a prequel; roughly, "with only X amount of electricity, I'm able to cool a 140 sf room down from oppressive 100 to about 80. And I did this for $100". If I had a full AC from the grid running to my place of course I would have used a small cheap air conditioner from Home Depot"
I know you've discussed; but "new viewers" might need the Hot desert off the grid 101 part first..
(something about why this gizmo is your best solution)
John I would like you to see what Baldasare Forestiere did about gardening in heat: http://www.forestiere-historicalcenter.com/Undergroundwonders.html
A really surprising thing he did was use grafting to produce 4 or 5 fruits from one tree. Don't be alarmed over the 40 years part haha; he made a hundred rooms, fancy grottos, etc. etc.
Mandy
grannygeek44@gmail.com
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