Over the last couple of years, I’ve consulted with numerous individuals seeking a means to cool their tent or foam board shelter at the Burning Man Festival and other venues where gasoline is not available for individual use. So what does it take to cool a small shelter for days on end when the only thing available is ice? Answer: A big cooler, power pack, solar array and controller, insulated vinyl ducting, and special bezels that can be installed in the wall of a tent or hard-sided shelter.
Since cooling duration is wholly dependent on ice, you need a minimum of 40+ lbs of block ice to go all day in triple digits. I suggest at least a 100 Qt. high-quality ice chest for your Frankencooler, powered by a Bioenno renewable power pack with integrated solar controller connected to a small solar array. This setup will give you uninterrupted cooling in the hottest temps, as long as you feed it ice.
A flexible, insulated duct attached to an in-wall bezel at the bottom of the tent/shelter feeds cold air, while another in-wall bezel at the top of the structure carries return airflow to the inlet side of the Frankencooler. This setup effectively works the same as your home central AC unit. It goes without saying that a foam board shelter is easier to cool than a tent, and available kits make this the way to go, IMHO.
If you are going to spend days in blistering heat, don’t settle for a impotent fan or evaporative swamp cooler to keep you comfortable, build a genuine ice-fueled air conditioner utilizing the patent-pending Frankencooler design and enjoy the most effective off-the-grid cooling on the planet.
Burning Man sounds fun but I am more interested in my burning van. I think the compressor went out and it would cost mucho dollars to replace. I would rather go the ice route. Do you have any updates on the Blow Box; maybe a price estimate? Regards.
Hello Rod,
I just completed the plans but am still sourcing a few last components. This package will be much more complete than my others and finishing costs will be low.
Price will be somewhere around $325 – more expensive than I intended but faster, easier, and cheaper to build than anything else I’ve come up with, plus it works really well.