Ok, Maybe I'm hanging out here on this branch all by my monkey self but I'm seriously looking at creating an absorption chiller system either using ammonia or the lithium bromide. My goal, use waste heat or this damn heat wave we are having (and will continue to have if global weirding causes me to roast my chestnuts off) to drive an electric-less cooling solution for my house and for possible food storage but more likely air conditioning. So that being said, has anyone tried to DIY or know of a packaged product that could condition a 1200sq. ft ranch style home? TIA.
I have some experience with lith bro. What I've never seen is an absorption unit that would run without pumps, meaning needing power. The coefficient of performance isn't too favorable especially in small units. You have to have waste heat to make them run economically. One might think of a sterling engine running off a tracking solar concentrator for starters on the power end of things. Not gonna be cheap, and I'm not convinced that climate heating is a long term trend that would make it pay off. You might also consider the sterling to run a genny with enough snort to charge batteries via a gennie so you could have cool air when the sun sets. Lith bro works well in the multi hundred ton capacity with waste steam. I know nothing of ammonia other than I'd rather not have a leak. Lith bro is funny stuff, it'll shrink leather right on your foot and curl your toes. Don't ask --
Get some 3 inch heavy wall pipe and weld it so it looks like a radiator without the fins. Bury it below frost line. have the one open end come up and weld flange to accept solar pump(TINY). Run through cleaned bigrig radiator that is either A). fit to hole in side of house B). in a window opening. Tie to other end of pipe system. Run water through it with bacteria killer of choice. Anti freeze if chance of freezing in area. In summer, blows cold, and hot in winter!
Greenebelly's idea above works for air ducting as well. Just lay a big enough pipe to allow reasonable air volume to flow at a reasonably low speed. Bury it below the frost line and it puts out air at a fairly constand 50-some degrees. Cools the house in the summer time, and in the winter time it provides inputs to your heater system that ar efar above the outside air, so it requires less heating. It's much the same principle as an earth-sheltered home taking advantage of the earth's temperature. For completely passive heating and cooling, you can either use a solar chimney (black pipe, encased in glass heats the air inside, causing it to rise and draw more air from the underground system) or use a roof turbine vent: Roof Turbine Vents
Here's a link that has a LOT of different info for being self sufficient. Pole Shift Survival Information The air conditioning section has an intriguing plan of burying approx 450' of 4" thin wall schedule 20 sewer pipe, and connecting to your existing HVAC. Of course the length of pipe will vary with the ground temperature zone you are in. The bottom line is you can have the cooling capacity of a 3 ton AC unit with only a blower motor, not needing the power hog compressor unit. Its cheap and maintenance free also. One additional modification to the plan would be to install a drain at the lowest point of the line to pump out accumulated moisture as a dehumidifier.
