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submitted 3 days ago by Azuth to c/nostupidquestions@lemmy.world

I've searched around and mostly seen people create custom radiator builds attached to their water supply, but that's beyond my skill level and I'm not sure if linking it directly to the water supply via piping would violate the lease or not. Are there any solutions a bit more DIY that I could take advantage of?

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[-] TimewornTraveler@lemm.ee 9 points 2 days ago

we're literally on the precipice of water wars

[-] s_s@lemm.ee 15 points 2 days ago

Start a car detailing business. Use the water to wash the cars.

Use the money from new, low-overhead business to do anything you want.

[-] ArcaneGadget@lemmy.world 135 points 3 days ago

Almost no matter how you do it, it's going to be a horrible waste of good drinking water to try to extract cooling from the temperature of the water. If you are in a dry climate, make a DIY swamp cooler. Otherwise shell out for a small AC unit.

Also; using your free lease-included water for stuff like that, is probably the quickest way to no longer have water included in your lease...

[-] intensely_human@lemm.ee 3 points 3 days ago

So if

  • Using water this way is a waste of water
  • Using water this way will end the policy that permits this use case

Does that mean the fastest way to end the waste is to go ahead with this plan?

[-] ShepherdPie@midwest.social 4 points 2 days ago

Only if that was your sole use of said water otherwise you're just going to pay more for all the water you'd normally use.

[-] MadBob@feddit.nl 8 points 2 days ago

If the actual problem is that you yourself are too hot, cool yourself instead. A trick I've picked up working in kitchens, where it's very fucking hot indeed, is to wet your nape and forearms regularly. You can wear a wet hat too. Doesn't really take advantage of the unlimited water but it gets you there.

[-] Bye@lemmy.world 102 points 3 days ago

Use the water pressure to power a turbine generator, then use the electricity from that generator to run a window AC unit

[-] BeatTakeshi@lemmy.world 29 points 3 days ago

What a waste of water that would be. Pressure comes just once

[-] BackOnMyBS@lemmy.autism.place 24 points 3 days ago

Pressure comes just once

unlike your mom. ha! gottem

[-] evranch@lemmy.ca 9 points 2 days ago

Gut an AC from the dump. Replace the condenser with a tube in tube heat exchanger, using your cold water as a heat sink. Brazed plate HX if you're feeling rich. Replace the cap tube with a TXV for better load tracking. Recharge with R290.

T Sure this is even further beyond your skill level but is the best possible way to use a source of cold to chill your apartment. You can locate it anywhere convenient, not just by the window. You could likely get a COP over 5 and be discharging the water in a fairly modest stream at around 30-40C.

[-] Thorny_Insight@lemm.ee 40 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Wouldn't be too difficult to jerryrig a system which does that but because it's going to be a huge waste of water I feel morally obligated to not even give you any ideas. Invest in a split AC system instead. They make ones for windows as well.

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[-] Wahots@pawb.social 5 points 2 days ago

Just get a window AC if you have the right type of windows. Otherwise, a dual hose portable heat pump from costco or other reputable source.

[-] LostWanderer@lemmynsfw.com 58 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

A swamp cooler would potentially be a solution; those could be used in conjunction with your ready access to water in order to keep your home cool! Sadly, this is not great for areas of the world which already have high levels of humidity in the air. I don't know if it would work well for you based on not knowing your climate. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evaporative_cooler

Swamp coolers only really work if humidity is low. If it’s already humid then any drop in temperature is negated by the increased humidity.

Honestly I get the most “cooling” by putting a dehumidifier in front of my fan. Dry air will feel a lot cooler than super humid air.

[-] meekah@lemmy.world 9 points 3 days ago

Dry air will allow more sweat to evaporate, providing the cooling effect right on your skin instead of in the air you blast at yourself. It's basically the better swamp cooler.

[-] Nikls94@lemmy.world 4 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

My in-laws swear on their swamp cooler, meanwhile I am gasping for air because of the sudden change in humidity.

Seriously, we got their old apartment and everything just feels wet. The wardrobe has a weird smell, but it’s built into the wall and part of it, and I just spent the first year to get it all dry. It’s still not completely dry. All thanks to this swamp cooler 🐂💩

I get it cool by opening the windows at night and keeping the air circulating with fans everywhere.

[-] TunaLobster@lemmy.world 15 points 3 days ago
[-] rekabis@lemmy.ca 16 points 3 days ago
  1. Find a pair of vehicle radiators that are as close to a box fan in size as possible.
  2. Zip tie them to either side of the box fan. As the fan blows: it will draw air in through the “second radiator” and blow it out through the “first radiator”.
  3. Hook the out of the first radiator to the in of the second using flexible hoses. Cheap garden hoses might even fit.
  4. Hook other hoses to the in of the first radiator and the out of the second.
  5. Run water on through the first radiator, out of the second. This makes the most efficient heat transfer possible.
[-] PM_Your_Nudes_Please@lemmy.world 12 points 3 days ago

This is exactly what I was going to suggest. Use the water to cool the radiators, and use fans to push hot air through the cool radiators, cooling the air in the process.

This is basically what AC does on a much larger scale. It uses refrigerants, a compressor, and some basic physics to cool the radiators, but it’s still the same basic concept.

[-] rc__buggy@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

I don't think a box fan could cool one entire 20x20in automotive radiator, let alone two.

fan -> plenum -> radiator would probably work best. The plenum only needs to be a few inches long, it's just to direct the entire square of the fan over the entire square of the radiator. Cardboard and caulk would work.

It's a low efficiency heat exchanger.

[-] zephr_c@lemm.ee 33 points 3 days ago

Take a cold bath?

[-] Hikermick@lemmy.world 40 points 3 days ago

Get a kiddie pool, fill it, soak your feet in it

[-] somethingsnappy@lemmy.world 7 points 3 days ago

One of the best feelings in my life was returning to camp, consolidating coolers, and plunging my feet into the water in the leftover water in one of the coolers.

[-] intensely_human@lemm.ee 6 points 3 days ago

One time I took some instant release adderall and some MDMA and played Burnout Revenge on my friend’s playstation.

[-] Glowstick@lemmy.world 37 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Is there a reason why you can't get an air conditioner? There's tons of valid reasons why it wouldn't be an option, I'm just wondering what your situation is. Because nothing is ever gonna work anywhere close to as good as an air conditioner. If you can afford even the smallest air conditioner then it'll beat every single diy method in most situations

[-] peopleproblems@lemmy.world 31 points 3 days ago

Bottle it, sell it for profit, use the profits to buy a better place to live?

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[-] ironsoap@lemmy.one 21 points 3 days ago

As a kid I used tubes, a box fan, a cooler, and bucket with a siphon to cool me down.

You could easily set that up with just the water from a sink and some hardware store parts.

Search for 'diy fan cooling tub copper coils' as a start.

As an example: Homemade AC - The "Copper Coil" Air Cooler! - (Simple "Box Fan ...

Copper coils have the best thermal efficiency, but plastic tubing would also work.

[-] db2@lemmy.world 15 points 3 days ago

Get an actual radiator instead of making coils and attach a box fan to it. It's something I was always going to do but never got around to.

Also give consideration to saving at least some of the water to use as "gray water". If you're not familiar with that, it means water you can use for many things but not for eating or drinking.

[-] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 6 points 3 days ago

Pretty sure this guy is an engeneer.

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[-] slooopy_potatoe@lemm.ee 7 points 3 days ago

Depending on you humidity, you could look into building a swamp-cooler. Sounds weird but works pretty great.

[-] penquin@lemm.ee 17 points 3 days ago

Why not buy a portable AC?

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[-] trolololol@lemmy.world 4 points 2 days ago

Spray water in front of a fan. Way faster than forcing heat exchange through air to metal.

The reason it works on Winter is that the temperature difference is about 50C or more. On a hot 35C day it would mean the radiator is at most at -15C.. And that's why you'll prefer to stand in front of the fridge that has 6C than a radiator that may run at best 15C water inside.

[-] PenisWenisGenius@lemmynsfw.com 5 points 3 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

If you have a way of getting unlimited free ice (unlimited free cold water also works), you can run it through a radiator. Get a radiator of any kind, get a water pump and find a way to run the water in the bucket through the radiator. Put the radiator in front of a fan. As long as there is cold water running through the radiator, it will produce at least some cooling. Just don't think you can create ice in the same room you're trying to cool, a fridge generates more heat than the cold it produces. This barely works whenever I have to do it but it is better than nothing and it can make a difference if you just need the room to be a little cooler so you can sleep.

The entire problem with this is that ice or cold water is a really shit form of cooling and the only thing that's any better is.. Compressor a/c. Peltier plates look good on paper but once you hook them up to a heat transfer system, you'd be surprised how useless 500 watts worth of peltiers are for transferring heat. Swamp coolers only work on the desert. Ammonium nitrate can generate cold when it gets dissolved into water but the only way to make a sustained cooling system out of that involves boiling the water to get the ammonium nitrate back so you can reuse it so fuck that.

Alternatively, scientists invented some kind of metal that gets cold when you bend it but good luck figuring out how to make that.

[-] Sabata11792@ani.social 2 points 3 days ago

Wouldn't the radiator form condensation, and make a mess?

[-] PenisWenisGenius@lemmynsfw.com 2 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Water does condensate on the radiator but not enough to make a mess, at least when I do it. Emptying the water and replacing it with fresh ice so it will be cold again is the part that makes a mess, so lay down towels if that is a concern.

[-] nexussapphire@lemm.ee 6 points 3 days ago

I don't know how big your apartment is but why not a window unit. It's probably the most efficient way to cook your apartment down short of redesigning the building.

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[-] pe1uca@lemmy.pe1uca.dev 7 points 3 days ago

Could you get a fountain?
Specially if it spreads the water like rain, it'll help cool the air around, you'd just have to change the water every so often.

If where you live is not very humid you could investigate into swamp coolers.

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[-] MeanEYE@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago
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this post was submitted on 05 Jul 2024
145 points (90.5% liked)

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