[Guest]

Hi All:

___Someone posted in a thread yesterday or the day before that they use a spray bottle of water to keep cool w/out using the A/C. I’ll be damned but I tried it this afternoon and it worked! I picked up a 16 oz. spray bottle, filled it with H2O, and was spraying it every 3 - 5 minutes. The evaporation kept me relatively cool in an 87 degree F temperatures and bright sun until I hit the cold front ~ 2/3 the way home when the temps and weather turned to < 75 degrees F and overcast. All the while the Fan was at 4 bars and the windows were closed for maximum fuel economy during the first 60 miles of that drive.

___If someone knows of the thread or the person who posted the information, let me congratulate them as it is a great and practical idea for us Insighter’s pushing the Insight’s fuel economy envelope!

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes

 

[Guest]

Hi All:

___I found it! It was James that posted this info in the third from last post down as shown here.

Though in really hot weather I use the old evaporative cooler trick before I get in: take a spray bottle of water and squirt steering wheel & seat.

___I wasn’t spraying the seats and steering wheel however; I was spritzing my arms, top of my head, shirt, and pants.

___James, thank you.

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes

 

[Tim Maddux]

Wayne, I forget who mentioned it, but it's standard operating procedure for me with friends driving through Baja in a VW microbus.

You can get even more evap cooling by holding a wet towel out into the airstream and then wrapping it around your head. However, this might have a bad effect on your mpg

 

[figgy]

I just found at Target a solar powered fan thing that slips onto the window and ejects hot air from inside to the outside. I used some better weather stripping to block the rest of the window gap (what they gave was pretty bad). It doesn't move a lot of air, but it is a great idea and may prove itself.

it is designed for use when parked, but it doesn't block view, and I will try it driving as well.

Has anyone seen these anywhere else? Things like them?

I was thinking of taking the idea and making the air ejection system we talked about it another thread (like ejecting air out the back end).

The solar power seems pretty good, so it isn't hitting the battery.

One could either eject out the back, or suck the hot air off the overhead area of the interior and shoot it out a side window.

Anyone done more of this as discussed previously?

p.s. It weighs next to nothing.

 

[james]

Yeah, that was me. Actually I learned it when I used to drive Cats down in the San Joachin valley, in the days before they had air-conditioned cabs. Could get just a bit toasty when the thermometer hits 110 or so, and the heat from the big diesel is blowing back towards you. So you started the day with about 5 gallon jugs of water, and kept pouring it on yourself...

 

[Guillermo]

I have this static cling tint sheet that blocks about 90% of the light.
I put it on my side window on sunny days and I get instant shade.
It helps keep me comfortable on sunny days without using the A/C or a least using the A/C a lot less.

 

[Holicow]

Yeah, that was me. Actually I learned it when I used to drive Cats down in the San Joachin valley, in the days before they had air-conditioned cabs. ....

I bet A/C would just kill the mileage on one of those :wink:

A/C is a subject that has recently become important to me, given the current weather. I am trying different settings to see what works as a compromise between max comfort and max MPG. I think it will just take some attention while driving, but that's OK with me.

 

[windmill]

I just found at Target a solar powered fan thing that slips onto the window and ejects hot air from inside to the outside.

That is a great idea !!
Why don't you glue solarpanels on your roof and rear window to power the airconditioner of the car, it runs on 12 volts right ?

 

[Guillermo]

A/C uses something like 5 or 10 HP.
It does not run on 12 volts!!!!!

 

[Billy]

Hi Windmill; Guillermo is exactly right......12 volts will only run the indicator lights, switches, and a relay of the AC system. The backbone of the system is the compressor, made by Sanden of Japan. It is belt driven and indeed takes several horsepower. It cycles on and off using a clutch. The other major components of the system are the condenser (looks like a radiator) and the receiver/dryer. Including fluid, the whole thing weighs about 39 pounds; and adds about one thousand dollars to the price of the car........Billy

 

[Insightful Trekker]

<snip>

Has anyone seen these anywhere else? Things like them?

I was thinking of taking the idea and making the air ejection system we
talked about it another thread (like ejecting air out the back end).
<snip>

Briefly discussed in this old thread:

http://www.insightcentral.net/forum/vie ... 7ab9ca6e38

I'd like to see your active solar mod for cabin cooling when parked.

Please keep the group informed!

HTH!

 

[figgy]

Solar window vent system

I need to post pictures of all these things.

Yesterday I did my 212 mile drive to SLO with the dog who starts to have his brains melt over 81.5 degrees cabin temperature by my thermometer at the radio head.

I ran with two of the solar vent things in the passenger window and the fan blasting at full blast (4 bars) AC off. The start was around 9 am with partly cloudy with 60s temps and that gradually climbed as the drive went on and the sun began to heat up the cabin. The outside air temp gradually went up into the 70s over that time as well.

GOOD NEWS:

When on the highway with the fan at 4 bars, the solar vent things had their fans spinning and it definitely was venting air out without killing aerodynamics - but venting more from inside air pressure and not so much from the solar cells powering the fans. There was increased wind noise, but not such that it was intolerable.

Finally, cabin temp climbed to 81.8 degrees and right on cue the doggy bio-thermometer started to pant and look like he was going to pop a gasket, so I had to resort to opening the driver's side window.

I ended up with 86.2 mpg for the door to door trip, which is a lifetime best. With OEM tires, I usually get 80 mpg. I had tires at 50 psi, average speed around 60 mph for the door to door experience.

BAD NEWS:

The solar fan things are supposed to work to vent heat when parked. When the car was parked today all day with them facing west, I came back to it in the late afternoon and at first wondered why there were so may birds chirping inside the car. Further inspection found that one of the fan units wasn't turning at all and the other was singing like a sparrow in love with a condor.

VERDICT:

The concept of venting through some aerodynamic means is a good one. The execution of it with cheap plastic solar fan things make with $0.01 parts is rather limited.

I'll try to put some pictures up to show them and then work up a home-brew version of same.

p.s. Someone in a silver Insight passed me just S of the 85/101 junction. I followed them for a while, but wanted to go for some good trip mpg and backed off after a while. Who were you!

 

[Guillermo]

Keep in mind that military tests have proven that humans can handle heat much better than almost any other mammal.
We have the ability to sweat and high temperatures that we find "uncomfortably hot" can easily kill a dog!!!!

 

[LoNOx 1]

I stopped at the local Walmart a few days ago to get an accessory fan to run instead of the AC on days it was slightly warm. Instead of a traditional clip fan that plugs into the outlet I bought a 12v LED Flex Fan for less than $5.00.
It has a 12 long flexible arm so it can be positioned many different directions.The motor has a single row of LED's and a couple of small batteries that power them when the fan is spinning. The LED's change patterns and colors.
It's well worth the $5 to "play" with. It has nerf blades that move a lot more air than I expected.
The company has a website of other accessories:
http://www.winplususa.com

At Walmart it's called "COOLERS" and is neon green and yellow.
NO, I'm not affliated with this company. I just thought it was "neat" and effective.

 

[lakedude]

I just found at Target a solar powered fan thing that slips onto the window and ejects hot air from inside to the outside.

That is a great idea !!
Why don't you glue solarpanels on your roof and rear window to power the airconditioner of the car, it runs on 12 volts right ?

People get the features of hybrid cars mixed up. I believe that the Prius does in fact have electric AC but the Hondas do not. My Civic has electric PS as does the Insight.

 

[Insightful Trekker]

AFAI remember Figgy shelved the solar window vent idea, too noisy and didn't fit well. He then did a comprehensive solar powered interior exhaust fan mod and posted at his site.

The solar powered A/C system has some drawbacks. First off you'd need many square feet of high efficiency panels. You'd have to build a big "umbrella" to fit over the car to mount these. But even without the expensive panels you'd be several degrees cooler with the first needed step of this mod since you'd always be driving around in the shade.

 

[figgy]

I was recently remembering how cars used to have vent louvers down by the footwells which you could open with a pull-rod so that air would flow directly into the footwells. This was unfiltered, and now cars have nice things like pollen filters for cabin air, but it is a mod I am pondering.

We could make a little scoop or something and then put louvers than can open/close to bring the air into the cabin area. The vent system doesn't bring enough air in to really purge the hot air inside, and even opening the windows doesn't really clear it out. Something that scooped it up and pumped it in low down would do the trick.

That, combined with the rear solar fans pushing it out in the back, should purge the hot air pretty fast without killing mpg like wide open windows or AC - as long as outside air temps are less than inside, of course.

 

[Resist]

I am amazed at how cheap all you people are being about not using A/C. If you are never going to use it, you might as well remove it and save on the weight. We are only talking about a few bucks worth of extra gas on a trip here.

It reminds me of the story of a person discovered dead in the desert and his canteen had water in it. He was conserving water to the point that it caused his death from dehydration.

You have A/C use it when it's hot, for christ's sake!

 

[figgy]

I use AC sometimes on the downhills, or if the dog's tongue is the size of a dinner plate.

If one were to put rocks in the car and splash water on them, if it weren't for the dog, it would be a good way to loose 10 lbs on every trip - just like a sauna. Too bad rocks are so heavy.

 

[james]

"I am amazed at how cheap all you people are being about not using A/C."

It's not being cheap, at least in my case. The problem is that it takes 10-20 miles of driving for the A/C in any car I've seen to get the temperature down to a comfortable zone. In other words, if I leave work on a hot July afternoon and turn the A/C on full, it's just about cool as I'm pulling into my driveway :-(

If I can use a spray bottle of water, have some solar-powered vent thing, or just open the windows and let the air blast through, I'm that much closer to being comfortable sooner. And if it saves a little gas to boot, all the better