From Bangladesh comes the project of making a DIY air conditioner using simple recycled plastic bottles: to refresh the rooms without electricity!
In Bangladesh, the situation is not easy: in the hot season, temperatures can easily reach 45° C, and over 70% of the population lives in barracks built in sheet metal, near industrial area or in the countryside. Homes could become real ovens!
Eco-cooler
But if it’s true that the need is the wisdom, in this country has been experimented Eco-cooler, a conditioning system that does not require electricity to function and is obtained from common garbage, such as plastic bottles and used cardboard.
The idea was born in Dhaka, from the minds of some employees at Grameen-Intel, a company that provides IT solutions to entrepreneurs in rural communities. The invention has been transformed into a open, royalty-free design so to auto-fabricate the air conditioning system.
How does it work?
The system is born for housing still too far from the passive air conditioning rules and has been able to lower the temperature up to 5°C.
The idea follows the same principle that changes the air temperature when blowing with the open (hotter) or semi-open (cooler) mouth. The bottles work the same way: the larger end takes the outside air and the pressure variation in the passage through the neck cools the air. To this you must add the “speed” effect of the air due to the bottlenecks (or funnels): in the inlet the bottles receive a certain amount of air which is accelerated from the funnel shape and increase its speed, and hence the cooler interior effect, in other words what in hydrodynamics is called Venturi Effect.
Where does it work?
But do not get too excited! For it to be effective first of all it’s necessary that there is air speed and therefore… wind! In this way, more air will enter the bottles and stronger, faster it will dissipate the heat inside the home. In addition, the fact that the walls are made of sheet steel makes the internal temperature rise higher than the external one, making this ventilation system necessary just to equalize the temperature.
This can hardly happen in a brick house!
DIY
However, if you want to experiment, Eco Cooler is simple and does not require more than 3 steps:
- Get a piece of cardboard the same size as the windows in your home and used plastic bottles cutted at the bottom.
- Drill the cardboard so as to insert the bottlenecks into the openings.
- As the video explains, design is really simple!
In an interview with Mumbrella Asia, Syed Gousul Alam Shaon, managing partner and creative director of Grameen-Intel, said: “After the initial tests, the projects were put on-line so they could be downloaded for free by everyone. Raw materials are easy to find, making Eco-Cooler a convenient and environmentally friendly solution. ”
If you want to know more here are some videos selected for you:
Eco-Cooler | Grey Dhaka unveils world’s first zero-electricity air cooler made from plastic bottles
COMO REFRESCAR TU HABITACIÓN CON UN ECO COOLER CASERO * how to cool a room free
This article originally appeared on:
http://inhabitat.com/this-amazing-bangladeshi-air-cooler-is-made-from-plastic-bottles-and-uses-no-electricity/
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