Cool A Room Without AC

As I started to build my garage/woodworking workspace, I realized that the heat here in Southwest Florida would be an issue. The biggest problem is my breaker box or load center is at 90% capacity, and I only have a 15 AMP run to the garage! That means that the most common option of installing an air conditioning unit on the wall and or a split unit is out of the question. I mean, I can probably get away with one of those portable units, but sill, not 100% sure if that is the answer. Besides, a portable AC unit can easily run me $350 to $700.

If you search the internet for “How To Cool A Room Without AC,” you will discover some fascinating ideas. These range from an ice cooler with a hole and a fan to evaporative cooler air conditioners and even more practical options like a whole house fan. I have decided to take an experimental approach with the possibility of achieving success while keeping the project super cheap! To accomplish this, I have decided to break the project into two parts. One is the implementation of a hot air extraction system, also known as a whole house fan. Although not very popular nowadays, these hot air extraction systems have been around since the turn of the century and the early days of electricity!

Given that everybody is trying to save energy nowadays and the fact that they are readily available at Home Depot, Lowe’s, and even Walmart, I am surprised that Whole House Fan Systems are not more popular! I can only guess that the price tag is an issue. That is because the average cost of one of these units or kits is north of $1500. I find that insulting and unfair since these are nothing more than a fan (sometimes thermostat controlled) and an air vent! The objective is to collect the hot air near the ceiling and extract it into the attic. That accomplishes multiple factors.

1. Removes the hot air in the top 12 to 18 inches of a room, making the room feel considerably colder.
2. At a grand scale, it can replace the hot air within the entire house or property, accomplishing the same but for the whole house, not just a room
3. Even if the air being pump into the attic is not cold, it is colder than the attic air. That accomplishes two things. It helps your central AC be more efficient and considerably adding years to your roof.

As I said before, my goal is to figure out how to cool a room without AC, and when I say a room, I mean my garage workspace. I may consider the whole house fan thing at a later day, but first, I need to make sure that this will work for my particular property. That is because whole house fan systems are typically installed in two-story properties and or attics with more than six feet of clearance. My attic is barely four feet. With that said, my approach is conservative and cheap from a financial point of view.

My approach to “How To Cool A Room Without AC” will consist of building a fan shroud that holds four 120MM (4 inches)  computer type fans. These fans have a current consumption of about 3 watts and can move about 90 CFM of air. That means that I have about 360 CFM of air movement. That worked quite well, but as I said in the video two to three times that, would have been much better! I will probably end up upgrading the fans at a later day!

As to the fan shroud, it is nothing but a box, and, as I said in the video, a flat sheet or board would more than suffice for the application. The “shroud” box has a lip on the outer perimeter and a second one on the inside. The outer one serves as a clamping surface for a second ring to sandwich the drywall ceiling. The inner one serves as a lip to mount the fans. I also mounted a switch to be able to turn this thing on and off. I don’t think it will be a good idea to pump super cold air into the attic the one or two days our temperature drops to the 30s.

As for power, I am using an ECO-WORTHY 100 watt solar panel to power this project, which provided more than sufficient power. When it was all said and done, I have to tell you I am quite amazed at how well the principal of the design works. Yes, I could have gone with larger or more CFM fans, but the temperature difference when the fans are on and off is quite noticeable. I have also been able to log a substantial drop in electricity consumption in the four or five days I have had the system operational.

The next step is to build a cooling system without AC for our project is to build an evaporative cooling system. Several people have advised me that an evaporative cooling system may not work, given the high humidity in South Florida. Still, given that the property is facing east-west and that we are relatively close to the gulf, I think there is enough airflow to mitigate the added humidity. However, I have a second option to execute if the evaporative cooling system ends up being a flop! So, stay tuned, and I hope that you find you follow the Cuban Redneck DIY Channel not only on YouTube but also on social media!