Well, It's been awhile since I blogged but I have been busy and there hasn't been much to report.
The weather has been very kind to us. We've gotten some gentle rain as well as very nice weather especially in the afternoons.
Since it has been warming up a bit I decided to get the Swamp Cooler ready in the Greenhouse.
I have a small Mastercool portable Swamp Cooler that has a bad motor, and since it will cost as much to replace the motor as buying a new cooler, I have let it sit. Well, after reading up on a site from Australia about making a Solar Powered Swamp Cooler I decided to do it.
I bought a Solar Exhaust Fan kit from Harbor Freight, It includes two 12 watt solar panels, and the mounting brackets, and a Charge/thermostat, and a 1.2 amp fan (about 6" in diameter).
I also bought a 12 volt bilge pump to supply water to the cooler pads. After removing the motor, and the wheels off the bottom, I removed the grill and louvers and replaced that with a piece of 1/2 inch plywood with a hole large enough for the fan, cut with a saber saw. I installed the fan on the plywood, and the plywood on the front of the cooler. I had some blocks set up at the side of the Greenhouse and set the cooler in place and traced the fan on the plastic wall panel with a sharpie. I then cut out the hole in the wall and matched the cooler with it. I installed the Solar panels on top of the Wrought Iron Fence next to the Greenhouse and ran the wires inside.
On the inside wall, I installed the Charging Unit/thermostat, and a small tractor battery, and wired everything as directed in the instructions. I also placed the 12v bilge pump inside the cooler and plumbed it to water the pads. I wired it to the same terminals as the fan on the thermostat so both will kick on at the same time when the temp. rises in the greenhouse.
I ran a 1/4 inch copper water supply line from the Garden spigot to the float in the cooler.
Then came the big test..... It all worked just as planned. The air coming into the greenhouse is nice and cool (humid too) So when it gets hot I hope that the temp. will be controlled....
The telling thing will be if the Solar panels will keep the tractor battery charged when the cooler is not running...... It'll need enough juice to run at night when it is still hot. Only time will tell.
If I have to recharge the battery every so often, I guess we'll know that the panels are not supplying enough juice...... They're only 12 watt panels, I guess I could replace them with 45 watt panels if need be...... But I'm hoping this will do the trick.
So, that is what has been taking up my time.... I'll write more later with a Solar update. Bob
The weather has been very kind to us. We've gotten some gentle rain as well as very nice weather especially in the afternoons.
Since it has been warming up a bit I decided to get the Swamp Cooler ready in the Greenhouse.
I have a small Mastercool portable Swamp Cooler that has a bad motor, and since it will cost as much to replace the motor as buying a new cooler, I have let it sit. Well, after reading up on a site from Australia about making a Solar Powered Swamp Cooler I decided to do it.
I bought a Solar Exhaust Fan kit from Harbor Freight, It includes two 12 watt solar panels, and the mounting brackets, and a Charge/thermostat, and a 1.2 amp fan (about 6" in diameter).
I also bought a 12 volt bilge pump to supply water to the cooler pads. After removing the motor, and the wheels off the bottom, I removed the grill and louvers and replaced that with a piece of 1/2 inch plywood with a hole large enough for the fan, cut with a saber saw. I installed the fan on the plywood, and the plywood on the front of the cooler. I had some blocks set up at the side of the Greenhouse and set the cooler in place and traced the fan on the plastic wall panel with a sharpie. I then cut out the hole in the wall and matched the cooler with it. I installed the Solar panels on top of the Wrought Iron Fence next to the Greenhouse and ran the wires inside.
On the inside wall, I installed the Charging Unit/thermostat, and a small tractor battery, and wired everything as directed in the instructions. I also placed the 12v bilge pump inside the cooler and plumbed it to water the pads. I wired it to the same terminals as the fan on the thermostat so both will kick on at the same time when the temp. rises in the greenhouse.
I ran a 1/4 inch copper water supply line from the Garden spigot to the float in the cooler.
Then came the big test..... It all worked just as planned. The air coming into the greenhouse is nice and cool (humid too) So when it gets hot I hope that the temp. will be controlled....
The telling thing will be if the Solar panels will keep the tractor battery charged when the cooler is not running...... It'll need enough juice to run at night when it is still hot. Only time will tell.
If I have to recharge the battery every so often, I guess we'll know that the panels are not supplying enough juice...... They're only 12 watt panels, I guess I could replace them with 45 watt panels if need be...... But I'm hoping this will do the trick.
So, that is what has been taking up my time.... I'll write more later with a Solar update. Bob
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