Cool - Celebrating Simplicity (& Seven Wonders Book)
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 08. 8.05
Caveat. This is a meandering post. It all began when Tipster Lee S. proposed we do a post on swamp coolers and suggested we look here for an explanation on how they work. I’m not an experienced swamp cooler user, so decided it best not to fudge a formal review (please follow Lee’s provided links above though). But what immediately stuck me was the simplicity inherent in the idea and how the concept resembles the earliest refrigerator used in Australia. The Coolgardie Safe also harnessed the evaporation of water to transfer heat and create a cooling effect. It became a cultural icon and is on display at the Powerhouse Museum. The Coolgardie, in turn, reminded me of that gorgeous ...
... little book, Seven Wonders: Everyday Things for a Healthier Planet, put out by the US NorthWest Environment Watch. One of its slim chapters, is devoted to the humble ceiling fan, which author John C Ryan suggests can make a room feel about 9 degrees F (5oC) cooler, with only 10% of the electricity normally sucked up by an air conditioner. Often we lazily look to technology to provide answers to our woes, but it need not always be the sort that has umpteen knobs, buttons and flashing lights. There is also 'appropriate technology'. Why use a mallet on a mosquito when a fly swat will do the job as easily and more elegantly. Simple can rule over complex. (Read this excerpt chapter from Seven Wonders on the glorious simplicity of the most efficient form of transport ever invented - the bicycle.)
wow warren, i'm touched ...and glad to have started that serendipitous thread...
And the book looks amazing! have just requested a copy from yet one more "time honoured tool" (the library!) while gizmos are fun... appropriate technology is way cool
..ok i gotta add: swamp coolers are cool (pun sorry), but more gizmos and more knobs... and most importantly more production...
in the spirit of appropriate technology -- and since most people without Air Conditioning have those round oscillating fans-- here's a little tip for anyone who's sweltering these days....
some tubes with caps (pvc is obviously not as cool as copper) some velcro, and fill the tubes up with this blue gooey stuff shove the first set into the freezer.. .when they're good and cold velcro them onto the froint of the fan and shove a second set in the freezer. switch them every 4-6 hours... you will feel noticably colder and using much less energy than it took to make (and then operate) a swamp cooler. not to mention DIY is F-U-N!!!