Tuesday, March 27, 2012

close but no rain...













Some guzzlers dumped around me but nothing at TFL.  Got my order of new swamp cooler pads - soon it will be time to put the Pepino II back into operation.  Working up some movable shade for the courtyard (and its not even hot yet) and looking into some 12V misting systems like this one to help control temperature and humidity...  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbScr3EKWjo  70,89,53,0,B

17 comments:

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

like this Floopy/burro pic there in yur porch....and the magnificent background distance N0-rain pic, typical of the Big Bend..WONDERFUL

Rita B. said...

so THAT's what was in the BIG box. you and CARL will need that pretty soon. is Floppy photo-ready or what? that little burro is too cute! hope Beatrice hangs around.

Unknown said...

Hate to sound like a nay-sayer but I worry that only those plants that are very heat-tolerant will survive over the summer. Also, my two-cents on your Pepino padding--I've tried other kinds but nothing ever worked quite as well as good old aspen. I think the looseness of the weave may have had something to do with it and also its absorbency and inclination to hold water longer. That little Pepino is your life line!

Miss America said...

Since I've been away for a while, could you please recap your projects and progress over the past year? It would help to envision the big picture. Last I heard you were working on your house. Is much more now. Thanks.

Miss America
please remember Benita Prayer Circle

Indyanny said...

love your happenstance animals...such a miracle.

Off Grid R and D said...

John,
Looks like Mr Floppy has taken over your porch and anything else around.
I went to canopycool.com and it was a site linking to other sites? You got a better link?

John Wells said...

hmmm...the link to Canopy Cool worked yesterday but now it doesnt...so I posted a link to a youtube video.

Quixote Kid said...

I made a portable misting system for our Terlingua patio last summer. It was disappointing.

Basic plan: I picked up the misting tube/misters from a kit at Lowes or Home Depot. Connected it to a 2 gallon sprayer. Added water and pumped the sprayer = portable misting system.

the problem that I found was that the misters dump too much mist, if you sit under them you get drenched. It did cool the patio, but so would dumping a bucket of water over your head.

I hope you have better luck than I did.

Bob from Athens said...

Used some of those misters a couple years ago Problems were that they used a lot of water and like the kid said if you sit under them you get drenched while someone a few feet away didn't get very cool. Another big problem is that they tend to plug up a lot and that was on city water. Don't even think about using pond or run off water.

D. B. Day IV said...

nMister + fan = cool in Texas

The fan, of course = electricity.

The industrious Field Lab Chief Engineer, Mr. Wells, will have to solve that equation.

rj said...

High pressure plus small orifice equals good mister

Just Me said...

Part of the mister equation is getting the right combination of mister and pressure with filters for the water. Rainwater from a roof (as opposed to pumped off the ground) should create little to no salt buildup to clog the mister nozzles. Check dripworks.com for a variety of system parts.

Gene Adcock said...

John, Am curious as to how you manage the swamp cooler. Does the blower fan use a lot of your elect.?
And are u using dc voltage for that?
G.A. in Springfield MO.

Anonymous said...

Gene,
John has good info on the swamp cooler here: http://www.thefieldlab.org/fun.html
But when you get time, you should start reading his blog from the beginning. You'll laugh. You'll cry. You' be inspired.

Gene Adcock said...

@The Flying Fig - Yeah, I found John about the time he was putting siding on the house. Inspirational sure enough. Think I learned about him from a feature writing on Komando.com, but his blog is right up on top in my "Bookmarks Toolbar"
Judging from the fun I get from following TLF, hope John gets much blessings too. "to be younger!"

Allen Hare said...

Evaporative and mist coolers work out your way because of the very low humidity. They don't work so well up here in Big D. I know you'll get the right combination of parts and ingenuity to get a system up and running in the greenhouse.
Yes, I do believe Mr. Floppy has Occupied The Porch. You may have an insurrection on your hands there, John.
For newcomers, it is time consuming, but helpful and informative, to go back to the beginning of this blog, and read it straight through. You will learn so much!