2 for 1 idea...

[joehank]

We all know that water absorbs more heat than air( you know what I mean), right?
So there I was, got a chance to go off base last night and went to a japanese restaurant. Oriental design throughout, bamboo, etc. Well hanging from one wall was one of those waterfall type displays. This one was about 2 feet wide and 8 feet tall. Water came from top and smoothly went down a sheet of glass. At the bottom was a stainless steel trough that I'm sure went to a small resevoir that pumped the water back to the top.
You all see where I'm going with this right? What if.....you could replace that glass with something that absorbs heat, like for instance a sheet of metal painted black. You then have it hang into maybe a rubbermaid tote or something, with a pump in it. Pump goes to a chiller ( yep thats the expensive part of this idea, sorry), and back to the top.
The 2 for 1 is that while its cooling, it's also adding humidity right? What do you all think? If somebody out there is bored and looking for a project, and has a chiller and a pump laying around, this could be a good afternoon project.

 

[joehank]

ok then...

 

[Cort]

It would need to be very cold to cool the room. Cooler the water the less it evaps.

Could be done, but would take much more power than AC and humidifier.

 

[Confuten1]

That design already exists to cool with a few design mods; 1st way smaller than that is needed to cool, 2nd there is a fan drawing over said water flow, 3rd insted of flatglass like surface, it uses a corse mesh like material that allows better air flow as fan draws cooler air from it.

Its called an evaporative cooler, i love them and use one to supplment my regular AC . Only real draw back to these things is the cooling effectiveness decreases and the rooms RH rises. I see a cooling drop off after the room reaches 60-65rh.
Confu...

 

[Confuten1]

^^^ ohh i firgot to metion the best part, it doesnt need a cooler only a small pump and fan motor. It uses very little electricity, very cost effective. Imho, every grow room( in most climates) should have one!

Confu...

 

[ttystikk]

Confuten just spoke to my comments about how you're building what amounts to an evaporative cooler- but there is more to this idea, as well;

First, waterfalls are well known to generate negative ions, which in turn are well known to improve people's mood. I wonder if it does the same for plants?

Second, if the water sheets down the glass, you will get a cooling effect but not as big a one as you might hope- surface area is too small, since the back is solid. So instead, run a drip emitter at the top of a tall tube and let water droplets fall all the way down. At the bottom, cut open a sizeable hole for the air that's being cooled as it drops through the tube to escape, pump the leftover water back to the top to drip again, and voila!- not only do you have an evaporative cooler, but it runs without a fan! It grabs air from up high- like near the ceiling indoors- and then emits cool, humid air at the bottom.

All these ideas help raise humidity while reducing temps. This is less helpful in a sealed room since it will quicly raise the humidity to the maximum level- and then stop cooling. In open settings however, it can be just the thing to keep plants cool and hummidity up where it belongs.