Redneck Evaporative Pool Cooler
- Thread starter johnw
- Start date
What are these strange numbers being used by someone in Houston? Don't you know that you should start seeing ice on the surface at 31 degrees?
red-beard
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Yep, the poster I was replying to is from Canada.
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This is new to me. So by simply modifying the eyeball return to make a makeshift mist/fountain of sorts will cool the pool? What is the mechanism behind the cooling?
jark87
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- Jun 5, 2011
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You’re looking at it. Nothing but evaporation! There is a section on this forum about cooling your pool.
As my 7th grade science teacher taught me "evaporation is a cooling process". The time in the air and total surface area of the droplets will dictate how much evaporation you can get for your climate. You normally want good air time (spray height) with medium sized droplets. If your droplets are too large (think of a hose on full blast) you reduce your total surface area for evaporation. If you spray high with tiny droplets, the wind will blow half the water on your pool deck. If you design one, spray as high as possible while keeping all the water droplets landing in the pool even with a little wind. Numerous spray holes will help but will also reduce your pressure and total spray height.
If you live in a humid area, you could probably only expect to see a reduction in pool temp of 5 degress. If you live in Phoenix, you will get much better results but will be constantly adding water to your pool. Mine reduces temp by about 5 degrees which isn't a major difference but is the difference between the feel of bath water compared to a hot tub. My wife and son also like the fountain for tranquil sound and to play in while swimming.
Thanks for that. I live in SEVA so it is definitely humid. I think the pool temp is currently around 92, which is borderline uncomfortable to me.
TheDeuce
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Ironically I'm a hybrid. I drive in metric, look to outdoor temperatures in metric, weigh things in pounds, and measure our indoor and pool temperatures in Fahrenheit. I drive 110 on the highway, keep our house at 72 degrees when the outdoor temperature is 21 degrees, get excited when I lose five pounds but buy four litres of milk at a time.
It's a confusing life up here.
m.
- Jul 17, 2019
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The rules state you cannot speak metric system, if the thread title starts with Redneck. 
TheDeuce
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The rules state you cannot speak metric system, if the thread title starts with Redneck.
My pool is 340 hogsheads. How many wheelbarrows do I need to heat it?
m.
Is there any mechanical downside to using the hose bib at the pump? Is it open all the way? Do the pool returns still have enough pressure to circulate with the fountain running this way?
I don’t mind running a hose across the deck if it means more head and better pressure.. when I tried to install 2 basic fountains on the return lines I had to plug 3 other returns to get reasonable distance from the fountains - and it still seemed far less than others I’ve seen posted. Not to mention it threw a VSF priming alarm, that I’m still not sure how to clear..
If this method prevents me from plugging all the other returns I think it would be worth it.
I don’t mind running a hose across the deck if it means more head and better pressure.. when I tried to install 2 basic fountains on the return lines I had to plug 3 other returns to get reasonable distance from the fountains - and it still seemed far less than others I’ve seen posted. Not to mention it threw a VSF priming alarm, that I’m still not sure how to clear..
If this method prevents me from plugging all the other returns I think it would be worth it.
red-beard
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My Aunt still measures her weight in Stone. Give her any other number and she has to convert. I've lived all over the world and still know that 50 is frig'n hot!!! Worst I've experienced was 52, in Pakistan. Not far away, a small town's name loosely translates as Hades.
TheDeuce
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In the winter of 2018-19 I broke my personal record when I went snowmobiling in -67 degree Fahrenheit weather. Funny thing is that it didn't seem much colder than 40 below. Once you get much past 30 below it all feels the same.
m.
red-beard
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TheDeuce
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No beer or wine for me. They have as much as 8-10% alcohol.
I have a 40% minimum.
m.
This made me laugh out loud and my wife asked what I was laughing at. I said "oh just something on the pool forum" and I got a really puzzled and creeped out look.The rules state you cannot speak metric system, if the thread title starts with Redneck.
What is the equivalent term in Canada for redneck? Just asking...
TheDeuce
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Andrew_D
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Yup, I'm the same!
1/2 metric, 1/2 imperial.
Farming here is even more fun: miles and acres. Pesticide rates are measured in L/ac. Sprayers are set up in usgal/ac and psi. Grain is bought/sold in metric tonnes (vs us tons)...... but we still convert to bushels!
Andrew
1/2 metric, 1/2 imperial.
Farming here is even more fun: miles and acres. Pesticide rates are measured in L/ac. Sprayers are set up in usgal/ac and psi. Grain is bought/sold in metric tonnes (vs us tons)...... but we still convert to bushels!
Andrew
Wouldn't it be easier just to have a white pool so it doesn't get so hot? From July to September it's usually around 95 - 105°F and the pool never goes above 85°F.
You live in what is called dry heat. Your pool is going to have plenty of evaporation without having to spray water into the air. People who live in hot/humid climates will not get the same natural evaporation so the pool temp will slowly keep climbing until you hit water in the mid 90's. My pool water was at 93 when I put in my fountain a few weeks ago. The dew point will dictate how much evaporation to expect compared to water temp and when your water temp is 85, you will get a lot more evaporation when the dew point is at 55 vs at 75 degrees.
Also, the water is going to absorb almost all the solar energy before it gets to the bottom of the pool. A white surface would make no difference and even if it were to reflect a tiny amount of sunlight, it would be reflecting it back into the same 3-8 feet of water the sunlight passed through originally.
