Don't have a lot to say right now other than its 103 outside according to the thermometer my neighbor gave me. At least I can keep up with the inside and outside temps now. I put one of the pumps that OGT brought to use by making a feed for the evap cooler so now I don't have to keep spraying the pad down with a spray bottle. (Plastic coke bottle with small holes drilled in the lid) The evap is working pretty good, but its still in makeshift condition at this time. May be that way for a while. The fans are running off of the little solar battery charger and the pump is running off of the inverter. Its holding at 96.6 in here for the time being.
Got out and took some pictures this morning while it was cool. The desert is greening up pretty good and a lot of blooming going on. Also one of the Yuccas is flowering so I got to pull off one of the peddles and try it. Wasn't bad raw and I think they should go good in a salad. Might be good stir fried to? I hear so. I'll have to try them with something else.
Pepper update. She snores (at 9 months old) Hate to think how she will be at 10 years old. ;)
ReplyDeleteAw hell we all snore! The pics are beautiful. Am glad it is only 96 deg!I like your tape! It's a dry heat...lol hell has humidity!
ReplyDeletefrann, what a swamp cooler (aka Evaporative cooler) does is evaporate water which raises the humidity by quiet a bit, but cools in the process. If you have sufficient air flow and insulation then even the humidity isn't bad. Problem here is that there isn't enough insulation and the sun beating down on the naked dungeon it won't allow this small swamp cooler to do its job. Highest I've seen it in here today with it working was over 100 degrees and the humidity was something like that of Houston. I didn't get it working until it was already HOT in here so tomorrow if I can get it cooling soon enough then it might hold its on, but not likely. I've spent most of the afternoon out in the sun in 105 degrees and it felt cooler than it was in here. Reason I did that was because until the sun was at enough angle to provide some shade it was in the sun or in here. I chose the sun. Now come tonight after the sun goes down it will freeze me out of here because there won't be the heat load from the sun and the 60 degree air coming out of it will just keep dropping as the outside temp drops. BTW I've already dumped about 7 gallons of water in the sump. That means about 7 gallons of humidity has gone through here.
ReplyDeleteAlmost be better just running a fan?
ReplyDeleteOGT, you nailed it. After it gets too hot tomorrow for it to do any good then it will become an exhaust fan only. I'll still have shade in here, but won't have the humidity. I'll also be able to keep the door open which will help to. Would be nice if I had a bunch of windows to open for cross ventilation, but this isn't the case.
ReplyDeleteCould you paint with a reflective paint? I bought a parashute for 40 bucks on ebay I use for shade. It covers my RV and makes a shaded porch!!
ReplyDeleteCan't paint it or modify it any way. The past tarp I put up for shade lasted about 30 minutes before the wind ripped it up. It got hot enough in here that the foam insulation started sagging so I had to all 2 more shock pole trusses and need to add one more before it gets so hot again. (Probably my next project.)
ReplyDeleteThe batteries and inverter only held up 15 hours with running the pump and later the fans to. Never the less I'm about to fire it up again and see how long it will hold its own while its still fairly cool and then I'll switch to ventilation only.
As for those who wonder what Pepper was doing in all of that. Sleeping under the falcon in the shade.
Follow the dog. Dogs know where to go to keep cool. Of course you can't get much done laying under the Falcon (grin).
ReplyDeletehow long before Pepper will be to big to get under the falcon?
ReplyDeleteDizzy-Dick, I was kind of thinking about jacking the falcon up so I could get under it. ;)
ReplyDeleteRN, she is already having to low crawl to get under it. She is growing like a weed. (And I heard she wouldn't be a big dog!) She already is.
110 degrees as I type this and its time to bail out of here and try to set up some kind of shade.
tuffnguy:
ReplyDeleteI assume you know that for a evap cooler to work properly there must be an adeqaute way for the water vapor to escape, such as through open windows?
See:
http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/home/heating_cooling/evaporative.html
Email me and tell me where you put the car key incase I get there and yer krispified. I hope not but sounds like yer in need of that motorhome or trailer.
ReplyDeleteI think I'd be at the Legion!
ReplyDeleteI know RVRover, I still have the ventilation hole at the top front of the dungeon. I'm only running on fan in the evap now and tonight after it cools down some will move the other fan back up there for exhaust. I was keeping the door cracked before, but there is just way too much heat load on this dungeon for it to do any good.
ReplyDeleteOGT just shoot a few buzzards. surely one of them will have the key by then. ;
frann, I'm doing ok. I setup a tarp between the clothes line and shower + another pole and have been hanging out under it with a wet towel. Not bad at all really. I just came in to check the blog, my site and email and am fixing to head back there again because its 107 in here and the ventilation sucks. Literally and figuratively. ;)
Pepper is in her usual spot under the falcon.
Can you place hay bales on top? It wouldn't be doing anything permanent to the container, but still give you some insulation from the sun. I would place some hay bales and then some reflective silver (like the car windshield stuff) pinned to the bales. That would take some of the heating off. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteCan't do it. Wish I could. The cost would probably be out of my range anyway though.
ReplyDeletehttp://tigerfoam.com/products.php
ReplyDeleteThis is more expensive than hay though. Glad you had the tarp to get under that and a little breeze and it will only feel like 100 deg.
Very messy stuff! Just Me insulated her building with that and had to wear a special suit to apply it. It also sticks like glue so I couldn't use it here anyway.
ReplyDeleteOn another note I found a good use for the second larger pump OGT gave me. To transfer water from the 275 gallon tank to my smaller 7 gallon jugs and 1 gallon jugs. Works great and only took about 5 minutes to transfer 12 gallons. :) thanks again OGT.
shoot that little pump transfers that fast? not bad for 10 watts. I was looking at a AC transfer pump today and it uses 2 amps 110 ac. says will transfer 325 gallons an hour , what do you think?
ReplyDeleteI started to buy an evap cooler pump in Alpine the last time I went, but backed out because of the high watt draw. Would have been overkill for what I needed anyway. That bigger pump transfers water plenty quick for what I need.
ReplyDeleteOnce I get something with more insulation I'll go ahead and build another evap and it should do pretty good. I just don't want to use something that draws a lot of wattage or AMPs.
I was in a place called The Palms Inn and it was 103 out side but felt like 80 inside. they had one of those old fashion swamped coolers mounted in the side of the wall and it was really blowin the air around in there. and the front door was left open. I wonder if that little generator would power a small AC store bought swamp cooler?
ReplyDeleteIf so, it would use about 1.5 gallons a day and would be that expensive and you might even be able to hooked it up to your battery bank at the same time and keep the bank charged. Just a thought
I just checked my battery charger and it only pulls 2.2 amps at 120 volts, but puts out 12 amps at 12 volts. The small genny should run it which should be about 4 times as much charging as that built in 12 volt charger in the genny. That does make it a little more useful because it should then run my shower pump and actually do some good charging the battery bank. Actually it would probably just keep them topped off. It still wouldn't be good for charging the bank because it would still take hours rather then minutes. It is however hard to start and yesterday morning when I tried I never did get it to start and gave up.
ReplyDeleteThe small store bought evap coolers are ridiculously high for what you get and I'd never pay the price for one. They are too easy to build for that. I may build a bigger one at some point.
For now its 106 in here right now and not too bad. I keep a wet towel around my neck and over my shoulders and back and that helps a lot. I couldn't put the shade tarp up today because there are occasional high gusts and almost no wind the rest of the time. Soon there will be shade in front of the dungeon and I'll move outside.
Hello Everybody :)
ReplyDeleteI think I am "home" for the time being ... I have been gone for a whole week. I went to Austin and San Antonio after I got back from Terlingua. I feel like I need to catch up on a lot of sleep!
Love the blooming flowers, Tffnguy, and I will email you soon :)
Hello Back MC, sounds like you've been racking up some miles on your little hot rod. ;) I went to BBMI to talk to the GM about the falcon national and was going to ask him if there were any job openings for you, but he wasn't there. I'll try again when I go back next time.
ReplyDelete*Pepper Update*
Her newest past time is chasing lizards and there are plenty for her to chase. Haven't seen her catch one yet though. I sure hope she doesn't run in to one of the slithering kind!
Help! I am trying to send you an email, and it's not working!!!
ReplyDeletethanks for the update - I didn't want to be a pest and ask! I was working with a 100 lb old yellow lab the last 4 days who lives inside and watched me. He was cool.
ReplyDeleteNevermind, I found another way to send it ... hope it went through.
ReplyDeleteAndy V, I'll update as I remember to. She has a special place that she picked out the day she got here and I have to keep going out there to retrieve stuff of mine that she takes out there. Not to mention some stuff that I have no use for! I couldn't live like that and she may become an outside only dog because of it!
ReplyDeleteGot it MC. ;)
AH! cool front coming in. Its dropped 12 degrees in here in about the last hour. :)))))))) Just 94 degrees in here now.
ReplyDeleteI thought you said you were probably more hard headed than Pepper was, sounds like she's winning that one. lol Glad to hear your getting a reprieve from the heat...
ReplyDeleteIt just dawned on me ... I "met" you a week ago tonight ... but I feel like I've known you much longer than that. A lifetime, maybe.
ReplyDelete((hug))
Dale I'm hoping I run across the first rattle bug before she does. (Not the hard way!) One of the guys down here say to defang one and let her play with it. He says they hit real hard and a dog won't mess with them after that? Now if I can just catch one and get that done without getting bit myself.
ReplyDeleteMC, must have been in another life, but I know what you mean.
Oh Lordy ... give me a heart attack ... de-fanging rattlesnakes is next on the agenda?
ReplyDeleteOy.
Oh, and I know you do ... it's in the eyes.
Well MC, if we could have found one while you were here then you could have helped me. I just might go in to the snake wrangling business and will be able to hire you as a snake trainer. Just imagine the $$$ to be made from training snakes to strike through a hoop! ;)
ReplyDeleteGet the dog inoculated with the rattlesnake vaccine. Heck, I want the shot too.
ReplyDeleteNot happening frann, That's just more $ to a vet since you still have to take the pet in for the same thing as you would IF they hadn't had it. Its a live or die situation for the both of us, but I'm a little more careful.
ReplyDeleteLooks like the cool is going to be short lived. Back to the triple digits on Monday and Tuesday. I'll take the cool while I can though.
ReplyDelete