Vanagon EuroVan
Previous messageNext messagePrevious in topicNext in topicPrevious by same authorNext by same authorPrevious page (April 1995)Back to main VANAGON pageJoin or leave VANAGON (or change settings)ReplyPost a new messageSearchProportional fontNon-proportional font
Date:         Mon, 10 Apr 1995 13:36:59 +0500
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         wigley@server.uwindsor.ca (Neil Wigley)
Subject:      Re: swamp coolers

>The thing I've seen is attached either to the driver's side or the >passenger's side window, and is a metal cylinder. One fills it >with either water or water and ice, and it cools by evaporation >in non-humid climates, and can, I'm told, reduce interior temperatures >by about 20 degrees F. They were made by companies like Firestone >here in the us in the 40s or so, and are now speciality items >seen at swap meets, etc, and VERY expensive. I've been quoted >prices as high as $350, which I of course refused to pay. I >AM curious about these water bags, or soaked canvas things. Does >someone care to make an ascii? > >/martha

There are two things being mentioned in this exchange:

1) the swamp cooler (i.e. evaporative cooler) accurately described by Martha above, and

2) the desert water bag, made of burlap, shaped like a 5 kg bag of rice, with a handy rope to attach it to the front bumper. Soak it in water, fill it, and drive fast on a hot day in low humidity: evaporation takes place and cools the water inside the bag. Not unlike the canvas covers for GI canteens.

The first mentioned worked okay at best, but only in low low humidity (like Tucson, where much of the housing is cooled by similar devices). Car air conditioning is infinitely superior. I doubt that one of those suckers would do much to cool a vanagon; certainly a white paint job would do as much good.

Neil Wigley

Neil Wigley U of Windsor <wigley@server.uwindsor.ca>


Back to: Top of message | Previous page | Main VANAGON page

Please note - During the past 17 years of operation, several gigabytes of Vanagon mail messages have been archived. Searching the entire collection will take up to five minutes to complete. Please be patient!


Return to the archives @ gerry.vanagon.com


The vanagon mailing list archives are copyright (c) 1994-2011, and may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the list administrators. Posting messages to this mailing list grants a license to the mailing list administrators to reproduce the message in a compilation, either printed or electronic. All compilations will be not-for-profit, with any excess proceeds going to the Vanagon mailing list.

Any profits from list compilations go exclusively towards the management and operation of the Vanagon mailing list and vanagon mailing list web site.