convert dehumidiafier to AC???

[A6D9]

From what I understand a dehumidiafier has 2 coils....1 that cools the air to condense the moisture in it, and the other to "reheat the air" before it gets thrown back into the room.

If I was to blow air thru only the cold coil.  would that not cool the air?

and as for the "heat coil"  could i not put that in a bucket to catch the water dripping off the cold coil to keep it cool so it does not heat my room up and then basicaly have a portable AC unit that all I need to do is periodicaly empty the water tub?

or am I missing something here?

I understand this is not RE related, but it is darn hot out these days and well you are all the most crafty and smart problem solvign people out there.

[Gordy]

It can be done. But forget the submerged "heat coil" unless your willing to hook it up to your house's water supply, and have cool water constantly running through the coil. The unit will remove heat from the air and move it to the water, but after a short period the non flowing water in the bucket would be heated to the point that the freon in the system would not lose enough heat to keep the "cold coil" cold.

You could rebiuld the houseing,

1. Starting twords the front cut large holes to let the cooled air out of the top and sides.
   
2. Then add an insulated wall to seperate cold side and hot side.
   
3. Then cut another large hole to let air into the "heat coil"
   
4. You will need to add another fan to the unit, to blow across the coil you isolated from the original fan.
   
5. You will need to replace the humidistat ( I think they call it) that sences the humidity and turns the unit on and off, with a thermostat to controle the temp.
   
6. Now you could mount the unit in the window, or make a plug to fit the window and hook up some of that insulated flexable ducting that furnace installers use.
   
7. Don't forget the cold coil needs to drain the condensate away.
   
   

So yes it could be done. But depending on your $$$$ situation would it be worth messing with? Also is the unit your starting with big enough to do the job and be worth it?

Gordy

[A6D9]

well here is my situation...I"m living with my parents and they hate the look of those window AC units.  they don;t want anythign out of the house.

and I allready got a dehumidiafier from a yard sale a few years back for $2.

works real good as the cold coil is allways nice and really cold.

My thought was to position the hot coil in the water that the cold coil makes.  and every so often just empty the tub and replace with tap water,  if I need to every so often place a forzen bottle of water in the water to cool it, that would be ok for me, i could rotate 2-3 bottles every few hrs.  

I'm only looking for maybe 2-3 weeks a year.

the rest I can bear the heat...

but in theory as long as the water is "cool" enought it should work right?

the old dehumidiafier i have now fan is busted so I'll be needing to get a fan back there was thinkign of just a reg old floor fan.  somethign cheap.

I'm looking for function and cheap..lol  

thank you for your advice allready  been a great help to get the wheels turnign in my head.  as for the humistate control.  I plan on just wirring it to a switch as I only want it for a 10 minutes to cool down fast and then turn it off.   make sence?

[TomW]

A;

Seems kind of dumb to me. My last window AC cost a whopping $69 and has been in use almost 5 years. Unless it has an outside part I think you will find it will actually cause the room to gain heat.

Hardly worth much time modifying something that is not meant for the use. I won't go on because it is your Diary and I prefer not to toss cold water on it.

Just an opinion.

Cheers.

TomW

[A6D9]

i appreciat your concern and i agreee 100%  but i can;t put a window unit..so why not?

and i might learn something right  

[Chagrin]

A BTU is the amount of energy required to raise a pound of water 1 degree F.

Now, assuming you stuck the dehumidifier into a 50 gallon barrel with room temperature water (70 degrees?) and changed it every time it hit 100 degrees, you'll get 12450 BTU out of it (1 gallon water = 8.3 pounds). You'd be changing that water quite frequently.

Of course the system will have its own efficiencies, but you get the idea.  

[elt]

All our windows are funny and don't hang those inexpensive window units so we have a "portable" AC unit looks like a big dehumidifier with a drier vent hose on it. The hot air goes out the vent hose; we do have a little window adapter that sends the air outside right through the screen so nothing sticks outside.

This particular unit has a little injector that sprays the condensate out with the hot air exhaust so it only collects in its drip pan if it's really, really humid but others need to have a drip pan emptied. (But that's no more water than a humidifier would make...)

This type of AC unit might work for you, google "portable air conditioner" or, if you can convert your humidier to work with a vent hose, let us know!

Hope that helps,

- Ed.

[A6D9]

I'm going to try it, now that i know it is possibly.  maybe not feasable but it only cost me $2 for the old thing and I"ll take lots of pics when it done to show you all if you wish.

I think it'll work fine with the frozen bottle idea.  i mean all i want is 15-30 minutes before bed, so i figured 2 bottles would do.  freeze one as the optjher is cooling the water...

and the water comign off the condenser cil..is it not cold? or at least colder, after all some times some ac units ice up...so that should help keep the water cooler by havign that water drip in the tub...

I'll try to start tonight and might have it done by summer 2010...lol

anybody have any advice feel free to post it.

[ghurd]

I also believe there would be an overall gain in heat with the frozen water bottles.

The water was frozen in the home freezer?  The heat from the room is being put in the freezer. The freezer moves it to the kitchen air. It went from one room to the next.

Plus the 2 motors making heat to move it.

I just replaced my window unit for $89 (5K BTU). Its a 'GoldStar' from Circuit City.

About half the unit is inside.  It does not stick out past the siding.

I'll get a photo if it would help convince them it's not so bad.

G-

[Chagrin]

Did I not do a sufficient job in mathematically demonstrating why this would not work?

[Nando]

You do not need to put it out of the window.

Make a duct for the exit air to fit to the window size area and the box on the floor or on a table next to the window.

Use of the water NO !!

Since it is for just a few weeks, make the box out of heavy card board.

Nando

[A6D9]

your math was right...but i still was bored and wanted to try it...sorry didn;t mean to insult.  

but i did it tonight...and it worked like a charm....it works perfectly...still need to make it look pretty and put it all on casters to roll from room to room for future...but for now it is hiden in my closet and i turn it on for about 30 minuts qand it cools the room right nice before bed...

as it is now i got no thermostat or anythign all i got is on/off.

not worred bout it for now will work on it over the coming days.,

as for heattign the water...it does do that...but the water that drops from the cold coil helps keep the water cooler...and I'm going to be putting ziplock bags of big ice in the water when it more a permanent set up.

so i got a nice AC unit for free....and it is portable to any room i want....only flw is i need to "load it" with ice...

doens;t bother me all that much tho for the little I"ll use it.

going to try to get some fake wood paneling to make it look prety..I'll get picture in the coming days..

when i tried it tonight i used no ice just water worked like a charm for over 2 hrs.

but the 3water did get hot...started at 10 degrees celsius and ended up at 25ish...

but the room was super cold...that my glass of water right in front of the air being blows started to form ice crystals...

[jonas302]

Excellent work sometimes you need to just do it the worst thing that can happen is it fails your out 2 dollars lol It would obliously be better to use an ac unit but it wouldn't work in your situation I have one of the portable units picked up in the off season for around 80 and they are pretty inconspicous I didn't understand the math response as we have no idea the btu of his unit Keep up the experimenting

[Countryboy]

What is the REAL problem?  Is the problem that the room is hot, or is the real problem that YOU are hot?

If it's that hot, why bother trying to put the hot coil in cool water, when you can just stick yourself into the cold water?

Or, use a spray bottle to mist yourself, and have a fan pointed at you.  The water evaporating from you will cool you down.  (Ever get out of a pool soaking wet, or get out of a shower, and a hot breeze feels cold?  Same principle.)

[A6D9]

the real problem is whn i get ready for bed I enjoy sittign on my laptop for an hr or so before beddy bye.

but it is far too hot to do anything in my room,

So this solution is for a quick way to cool the room and then get to sleep.  once I"m a sleep I could care less how hot it gets.  it's gettign to sleep i need a cooler environement.

I agree a cool shower would help the situation, but still leaves me with a hot room.

The room is only 10 feet by i think 8 or 9 feet   so it's not going to take allot.

Last night all my testign was done in my basement about 30 feet by 40 feet, and it cooled it down in less then 45 minutes.  so I figured this should work nicely for my room.

Yes the water gets warm.  but it'll have all night to cool back to room tempature and if I need to , I can add those frozen bottles of water.  but i don;t think I'll need to.

all i need now is some sort of container that 1 foot by 1 foot by 6-8 inches hight?

any suggestions?

I was leanign towards styrofoam coolers...cheap and i can cut to size.

but I"m allways open for better ideas

thanks for your patience and whoever thinks I"m dumb for doing this.  I"m sorry you feel that way, but this "machine" works perfect for my needs and it was cheap.  So I"m exstaticaly happy.

Pics to coem soon

[JamesJackson]

Personally, I say 'way to go!' You're thinking outside the box (so to speak).

That's great! You will discover and learn along the way.

Regards,

James

[jonas302]

Also check out the rubbermaid tote section for a water container

[A6D9]

thanx for the "way to go"  

I'm very happy with the results...