Ice Battery A/C Efficiency

Status
Not open for further replies.
Shannow

Shannow

Joined
Dec 12, 2002
Messages
43,888
Location
'Stralia
With all the HVAC threads, though that I'd add another.

I'm moving in just under a month, and thus am back in the realms of having a mortgage, so with the opportunity of having someone else's money to spend, and having a pact with my wife that this is the house that we retire into (15 yearsish), we have been considering all things.

Electricity is currently 30c+/KWh, and with energy trends in Australia clearly isn't going to get cheaper. Off peak is around 10c, but clearly going to rise as the peak gets iunverted.

Solar is on probably 1:10 roofs in the district, and you get around 8c feed in tarriff, but we are a working family, and so would be generating the best while at work, and sucking it the hardest in the hours coming home from work.

My employer sells Tesla Power Wall 2, and another Aussie system "Redback", which combines batteries and time of use controllers...e.g. at the point that you are about to start exporting, it can switch on a hot water service for example, or a washing machine/clothes drier.

In my machinations, I've come across this...
https://www.ice-energy.com/



If you have access to off peak/solar, you freeze the "ice battery", then use the stored cold when you need to, either through direct access, or as the cold sink for an existing A/C system.
 
Because it's a storage system, the freeze cycle can be slow and steady, not needing to peak like the home A/C needs to be when you get home.
 
Turtlevette,

gas appliances (other than heaters, stoves and hot water) aren't all that common down here...that being said, the recent gas price hikes (4.30 to $10+/GJwholesale) have made natural gas more expensive than diesel or unleaded on a price per unit energy basis.

New place we are looking at augmenting gas with wood.
 
I've never lived in a house with A/C, so it's probably not something that we will get with Oz having the world's worst power prices...unless I can Jerry Rig a set-up with a couple of old chest freezers, copper pipe, and a tractor radiator and some panels.
 
Is the water that turns into ice treated with anything? I was always under the impression that water itself is rather corrosive so it needs additives in a closed loop pumped system, but what additives would permit the water to still turn into ice?



And turtlevette - here's something to watch..
 
Originally Posted By: Reddy45

And turtlevette - here's something to watch..


It's an absorption unit, just like RV's refrigerators are.

I've always wanted to build a wood-fired one!!!!!
 
Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
Anyone know what an "Ice Bear" might cost?

Probably a lot more than you'd save during the life of the unit. It may be worth in commercial AC like the video said but not in residential. They have been trying to come up with inventions over the years to reduce the AC power bill whether it's solar, heat recovery units etc and nothing has really worked.
I think going with a base simple unit is the best choice period.
 
Neat idea, but for residential use, all I see is two systems to worry about instead of one.
If your previous house never had AC, than I would not spend time worrying about AC costs, because you can always limit how much you use.

Another trick I often do, since we also have off peak rates, is to cool down the house at night to about 70F and raise the temp for the day to about 80. Everybody has a better sleep in a cool house and the AC doesn't kick in until around noon to maintain 80 during the day.

Also, IMO, the money is much better spent on the best house insulation and windows, rather than chasing those high efficiency units.

Another also, one of the, or perhaps the most green solution, provided you have the property for it, is to have trees around your house/property providing constant shade.
 
Last edited:
IMHO your money would be better spent on superinsulated house. You can set the ac down at night, better for sleeping, then switch off while at work. Your solar can power the hot water and you can wash a load of clothes. If you are well insulated the temp will increase very little. When you get home your house will still be cool. Then you can let it rise during the high power. Clothes can be dried during the night.

There are split ductless systems with very high efficiency, that would be a good choice for you. This way you only spot cool the rooms you are in.

Rod
 
I guess that if there was some simple thing one could do to reduce the running cost it would be in the next residential unit because it would really help sales. Why wouldn't a manufacturer put something in the system that would reduce running costs 26%? Given two equal systems which one would you purchase?
 
I was going to weigh in, then realized more information is needed. You don't have A/C now and the new house won't have it either, correct? Not at all familiar with your climate. Thus anything I add is just shooting in the dark.
 
Originally Posted By: sleddriver
I was going to weigh in, then realized more information is needed. You don't have A/C now and the new house won't have it either, correct? Not at all familiar with your climate. Thus anything I add is just shooting in the dark.


The area is around 85 miles inland as the crow flies on the Eastern side...lows in winter range from -8C (18F) to 100-105F in summer.

Electricity is about 30c/KWh, so the concept of cooling a place (when we've never had anything bar a swamp cooler before) is a bit foreign...but it's the last place we are moving to before the kids move out and I retire (15 years lord willing).

Will have a mortgage for the first time in a while, so was looking at what capital I could sink for the long term...e.g. solar is available, but I'm struggling with the working family concept of producing and shipping it out at 8c, then buying it back at 30c when we all get home.

So looking then at storage, or something like the redback system my employer sells that runs stuff for you when the sun is shining (washers, driers and the like)...

The linked product looks to me to make some sense in a market like ours.

Just shooting the breeze...I don't think it's even available in Oz.
 
Hanging clothes to dry could save you on dryer usage and save your clothes in the process.
grin.gif
 
We're in Australia...nearly everything is line dried.

I frown on drier use, but sometimes it's a necessary evil
 
It's a pretty good idea for a problem we never used to have but do now- Time of Use pricing. I'd imagine you can cobble something like this up economically sans the sophisticated logic control system. Does the Ice Bear system use a separate circulation loop exclusive of the ice volume or does it pump the melted water? The former would make more sense than the latter. The circulation fluid could be a glycol solution.

The conventional refrigerant pump system would be operating at a higher efficiency during off-peak hours, when it's cooler as well which is an efficiency bonus.
 
I don't understand how you are able to sleep in the heat. I thought au is a hot place. At least get a small window unit and have it blow on your bed. We're not comfortable unless the bedroom is less than 60deg.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

E
Ryobi Batteries
2
Replies
23
Views
847
ecotourist
OVERKILL
Nothing is cheaper than mine to mouth coal
Replies
17
Views
600
OVERKILL
PandaBear
Plug in hybrid to power homes during peak hours?
Replies
11
Views
633
y_p_w
Jackson_Slugger
The Solar Eclipse & The Path to Totality
3 4 5
Replies
94
Views
2K
4WD
Shel_B
Storing Flashlight Batteries (A, C, D cells, etc.)
Replies
13
Views
593
SHOZ
Back
Top