Homemade air conditioner for you coup?

[aart]

@aart, the video you embedded isn't a swamp chiller/cooler. You should try one of those things in the video and report back to us if it actually make the temp drop any in an average size room.

Fixed my vernacular error. Too humid here to bother.

They're called swamp chillers because it can make it as humid as a swamp indoors.

Makes sense!

 

[EggWalrus]

Fixed my vernacular error. Too humid here to bother.

Makes sense!

I hear you!
Down here we have moisture coming off the Gulf nearly all summer. it's oppressive even if you've been here your whole life. Right now it's 9am, and 85° @ 91% humidity. It's supposed to go to 95° today and tomorrow. I hate this 100°+ heat index. So it gets pretty hot & humid up in Michigan? The one time I was up there was in winter and I nearly froze!

 

[aart]

So it gets pretty hot & humid up in Michigan?

Oh, Yeah. We just had a couple of stretches with 100-105 heat index.
Doesn't ever last too long tho...3-4-5 days at most, then we get a couple-few days break.
Been nice the last week or two, much cooler tho still humid most the day and all night.
Happens enough to be very grateful I do not live in the south.
The cold and snow...eh, I'm used to it, used to enjoy the snow gleefully.....easier to warm up than cool off

 

[EggWalrus]

Oh, Yeah. We just had a couple of stretches with 100-105 heat index.
Doesn't ever last too long tho...3-4-5 days at most, then we get a couple-few days break.
Been nice the last week or two, much cooler tho still humid most the day and all night.
Happens enough to be very grateful I do not live in the south.
The cold and snow...eh, I'm used to it, used to enjoy the snow gleefully.....easier to warm up than cool off

Yep! You can always put on more clothes when cold, but when you strip down to nothing and you're still hot, you're just S.O.L.!
I used to love summer down here as a kid, but now I can't even stay outside more a few minutes in this hellish heat.

 

[TXChickenFarmer01]

TXChickenFarmer01, I think there are lots of opinions on how to deal with heat and the birds - some opinions are very strong

My opinion is not all that strong, but I still went with the AC (which is considered extreme by some)

the down sides of AC are : when do you turn it on? when do you turn it off? how can the birds acclimate to the heat when they sometimes get AC and sometimes not?, and of course the expense, but since I could afford it at the time, I got one for the coop that I can use in emergencies now

I wonder if the expense is all that bad, though, if you can afford a small unit, because once you have it, it only costs the electricity to run it for a few hours, when needed, and it works! whereas other methods would require money, too, even if it is just freezing water in your freezer all the time, and they often don't work, so you spend even more in the end

with the AC, you do also have to be careful to clean the filter often, as the dust from the birds can clog up the intake - I do it every time I run it or every other time - just take the plastic filter out and dump the dust in the bin and brush it off before putting the filter/screen back in

I have had my little unit for six years now and it is still working fine since I don't use it that much and keep it in the basement most of the year - I have it out now and use it when I feel like the birds are under stress from the heat more than usual, mostly in the evening between 4 pm and 8 pm to give everyone a chance to cool down and get the humidity out of the coop for the night on bad nights

took it out of the basement and put it on the coop during the "heat wave"-on-the-East-Coast weekend because I also had one very sick bird and needed to treat for parasites which caused more stress on the same, exceptionally hot day

see my pics here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/the-heat-can-i-do-more.1256822/#post-20166189

I completely agree with all you said. We use it when it's above 100. between 100-103 just on low to somewhat cool the coop down so they have somewhere to go and they do a good job of hanging out for a bit and then heading out and rooting around. When it's 104+ that's when we have it on from around 12:00 until just before bedtime at a slightly higher setting and they tend to hang out in the coop more to stay cool. I don't think it necessarily affects their ability to adjust to the heat because at those temperatures they're likely to die of heat stroke if we didn't have it. Ice (in 2-liter and gallon form) and ice water only go so far to cooling then down. When it's 108 (which it was for 4 days straight here) that might not cut it and I'm not willing to risk it. In the mid to high 90s we just do ice and ice water and they do just fine.

To me it's well worth the investment. Our chickens are backyard birds and as much pets as they are egg layers so it's well worth the investment to us. Like you said, the electric bill isn't drastically affected by it so as long as you can stomach the initial cost (ours is a 5,050 BTU GE unit we got at Lowes for $129) then I think it's well worth it.

 

[JennyfGriff]

I liked the idea of a carcass made of wire around the box could. Frankly speaking, I am not such a master as you, and for me, such inventions are simply an unattainable level. I was fortunate to buy several air conditioners on Black Friday at a perfect price at discounts. I installed them in 3 rooms and just put a fan in the chicken coop. I found a company on the Internet aircon servicing https://www.airconservicingsingapore.com/ specializing in maintenance, repair, and cleaning of conditioners. So that at any time, I can turn to them for help and not be left without cold air or heat. I was surprised by their low and affordable price.