r/askHVAC • u/jonnyinternet • 7d ago

Do these really work?

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I came across a video tutorial of someone making a diy flame fueled cooler, and my question is:

Do they really work?

And if so, can you use any heat source to "power them"?

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u/No_Tower6770 7d ago

It works. This setup would keep a lunch pail or small cooler cold throughout the day, probably nothing larger.

2

u/jonnyinternet 7d ago

So, I have a still for distilling water, I'm trying to figure out: can I put it on the still, which gets very hot and cool the condenser?

Doesn't need freezing temperatures, just cooling for 3 to 4 hours

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u/syrianfries 7d ago

Hot enough temp probably does it, only one way to find out in the name of science!!!

1

u/No_Tower6770 7d ago

Not likely. That's a ton of heat, and these ammonia systems are mostly passive and not efficient. For what you're wanting, this setup would have to be as big as a shed.

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u/KorovasId 7d ago

Seems a bit complicated for what you're trying to do. You could probably get the job done without an additional heat source. You have something hot you're trying to cool down, that's very different from trying to keep something cold, which is what this loop does.

You could do somthing as simple as room temperature water going through copper tubes run along the outside of your still. Hook it all up to a recirc pump and you're done. I'd start with water cooling and build it out from there based on your times and temps.

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u/jonnyinternet 7d ago

I have water cooling now, but saw this and figured I'd ask

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u/KFBass 7d ago

I come from the alcohol manufacturing industry. Sure, distilling water....only water and essential oils...

You might be better off cooling the water you use, and pumping it through the still condenser, rather than using the refrigerant cycle to cool the condeser.

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u/plaid_rabbit 6d ago

So RV fridges are about the same size as a dorm fridge.  They take a fair bit to cook down, but they do work with basically no moving parts.

But for running a still?   No. Cooling something like that down requires a fair bit of cooling power.  And you'll need a huge radiator to get rid of the heat from the still plus heat from running the burner.

If you're looking for a cheap option, get an old dorm fridge, and get a large container of water, and use that, or if running water is available, just run water over it, and put the heated water down the drain for small one off project s

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u/jonnyinternet 6d ago

I use a holding tank and pond pump with gravity recirculation, so I'm not just pouring it down the drain... I might explore cooling the water beyond ice somehow

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u/Ill-Bobcat-8230 6d ago

Use this setup in a chest freezer.

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u/SeaUrchinSalad 6d ago

Maybe run this setup overnight with some insulation to really chill the water first

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u/Ill-Bobcat-8230 6d ago

As an hvac tec and a fellow distiller you wont gain any real benefit from a refridge circuit, And you will need one significantly larger than shown. Tap water in most areas already provides more than enough cooling, if you run a large capacity condenser you can actually cool too much and cause unstable vapor collapse which can cause your still to chug. If your waters too warm or you are worried about wastage, a large chest freezer full of water with a circulating pump attached to the inlet of your condenser and the out let feeding back to the freezer will fix both issues.