Cooling BTU's

[ineffableone]

Originally Posted by addicted56

Bob,

I like the idea of a huge tarp over the yurts during the day. I should go to the excess equipment yard and pick up some of our camoflauge netting and rig a way that I can unroll/roll it up like you see on R/V's. That would make a huge difference and be nice when the kids want to be on the deck in the afternoon. The trees provide great shade but only before 10 and after 6 in the summer. In the winder we have shade almost all day at least on one portion of the deck.

Rather than a tarp, you might want to look at surplus parachutes.

For example you can get a 28' white parachute for $120 It would almost completely cover your 30' yurt's roof and is already round is shape. Being white it would reflect the sun rather than be heated by it. Russian White Parachute - 28'

Just be sure to leave at least a foot of space between your roof and the parachute/tarp for air flow.

[addicted56]

I found a container full of surplus woodland camouflage the other day. Cut the lock and it was probably sitting in that container since our first deployment in 2004. It is going to the dumpster or to DRMO if they will even take it. The container was so old it leaked and everything is covered in

moisture

and probably mold.

Might make good concealment from the flight line we are under as well. I figure I can run a cable to trees on either side, throw in some grommets and a rope on each side and we could easily pull it over and back if we wanted it off. Maybe 20' up so it felt more like the canopy of a forest instead of netting.

Glad to hear that for the most part 36 BTUs was not overkill. It was in the teens for a couple of days this year but I don't mind using a small space heater in the small yurt, and we have a wood stove in the big yurt for those days. Sounds like they should all work quite well.

[hierony]

Not really the time of year for cooling anymore, but there is a way to have solar-powered cooling. It's called Adsorption Chillers--works on basic refrigeration principles but the cooling power comes from adsorbing water onto/into an adsorbent (usually zeolite), with the required energy/heat coming from solar (heat). There should be a commercial product somewhere; there have been several well-documented large-scale industrial applications--a school or such in Germany or Zurich I think.

If you're more DIY, this place has some good links as a starting place.

[addicted56]

Originally Posted by hierony

Not really the time of year for cooling anymore, but there is a way to have solar-powered cooling. It's called Adsorption Chillers--works on basic refrigeration principles but the cooling power comes from adsorbing water onto/into an adsorbent (usually zeolite), with the required energy/heat coming from solar (heat). There should be a commercial product somewhere; there have been several well-documented large-scale industrial applications--a school or such in Germany or Zurich I think.

If you're more DIY, this place has some good links as a starting place.

I will have to check it out. I think the fridge in most of your campers runs the same way. Uses the propane heat in the same cycle. Trust me there is plenty of it. We just generally undersized in the small yurt. The 2 ton in the 30' yurt seems plenty even in regards to

heating

when it is really cold but we have a fireplace as well. The 1 ton in the 24' yurt just can't cut the mustard though. Works its ass off all night and if it is to hot or to cold it just can't keep up.

Insulation

on the floors and walls and even roof are just no match for that those temps.

[hierony]

Yup, very similar to the propane fridges.

I reread some old notes--It was a school & neighboring dance club in Munich, Germany that had ZAE Bayern make an industrial zeolite

heating

& cooling system driven by communal steam heat. I have a copy of the summary paper if anyone wants.

D. Tchernev did a lot of work on heating/cooling with zeolites. The above-posted webpage has a link to an excellent summary of his zeolite cooler. Unfortunately, he puts 1 ton of cooling power as requiring 1 ton of mordenite in a panel 200 sq ft (~14'x14'). Not something I'd consider a small, cheap DIY project... Might make a good small supplement to your 1 ton unit though.

Out of curiosity, how air-tight are your yurts? Did you ever do the shade-cloth/parachute thing? This company has two cool sunshades and interesting suggestions. Are the evening/nighttime lows cool enough to just do a massive forced air-swap?