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Water Timer Question

super99

super99

Well-known Member
Farm Show paper, Vol. 35, No.5, 2011 issue, page 33. Cooling System Saves Money on AC. This guy mounted a lawn sprinkler on his gutter with a timer and waters his roof 20 to 25 seconds and then it shuts off for 20 minutes and then recycles. Sounds great, save on AC cost. Says to go to his website for more info. More info amounts to, Buy my book for $100 and it will tell you where to buy parts to set it up.
Does anyone know where you can buy a timer that will run water for that short of time and length of pause, then restart? I looked at water timers on Google, nothing that fits this bill. I would like to run 1 minute and off 20 minutes then run again. Your supposed to be able to set this system up for about $100. Any ideas?? Thanks, Chris
 
I have bought timers at places like W.W. Grainger, Inc. that have plastic inserts that do the work and you can add as you choose. They are two different colors and lengths and one flips the on switch and the other the off so you can put pairs wherever you choose.

Problem with timers is that they are run off household power and if your power company drops your power, your timer will be off schedule proportionally. We have Coop power and they are frequently shopping for the cheapest power so there are quite a few switch-over interruptions which, over time, can add up.

Mark
 
On saving AC power, the main power consumer is the compressor and the higher the head pressure the more electricity it takes to pump the freon.

Had a friend with a swimming pool which needed a heater to keep the water usable.

He gets a roll of 3/4" soft copper and runs his high pressure liquid line from the condenser through it to cool it off. The pool water from his circulation pump that did go through his heater, was diverted and sent through the new tube to cool the condensed freon liquid, heating the water in the process.

This lowered the temperature of the liquid fed to the expansion valve and lowered the temperature of the gas entering the evaporator.

Since the evaporator and condenser have roughly a 30 degree fall and rise, the evaporator was cooler, the gas leaving it was cooler, the inlet to the compressor was cooler, the inlet to the condenser was cooler so the head pressure was lower and the power required to cool the house dropped as did his light bill.....and he didn't have to run a heater on his pool.....which, if you have one, still needs some heat in the summer.

Mark
 
Sounds like geo thermal cooling to me. Useing the pool water to cool.

My excess heat from the air conditioner is used to preheat the water for the hot water heater.


Gary
 
Very easy solution. Use two modest $20 timers in series. This allows one to shut off the time, and thus go for the one minute run time. You will need to rewire the second one of them so the timer motor runs from 120 all the time, and is not connected to the input prongs of the second timer, but is connected to the source 120. On time can be easily adjusted. A water solenoid from a dishwasher or clothes washer will work on that output to control the hose to the sprinkler. Jim
 
Get a timer like this and a water valve that is controlled by a solenoid.

However, Just thinking off the top of my head but do you plan on using the spigot? Seems to me that would be a serious waste of water and a deal ki11er if on a city/rural water line.

Now if you're thinking recycle by collecting in the gutter to pump on the roof then you just need to add a pump.
Timer
 
They make industrial cycle timers Omron is the one I'm familiar with, it'll allow you to set a control circuit to run so many minutes on and so many off. Used to buy the timer for about $20 and the base was $5. Try WW Grainger or McMaster-Carr
 

Gary, I would like to see your preheat set up if we make it back up there again.

KEH
 
We did the interior finish on a bar last winter. The liquid waste from their taps are known to rot out drain lines. Omaha requires water to run into the drain for 2 minutes, every hour (if my memory serves)! Plumber just used a residential lawn sprinkler timer.
 
Thanks for the reply's. We have our own well with a 80 gallon pressure tank, so water isn't a problem. So, what I need is an electric timer and a electric shut off valve, makes sense, I was just thinking of something on the water hose that you plugged in and set the time you want. I'll look into this deeper and IF I get it going, I'll post the results. Chris
 
Before you go to that much work, take a look at the insulation in your attic. if it is well insulated you are not going to gain much, especially with shingles over a wood deck. If metal with little insulation and ventilation under it, cooling the roof will help a lot.
 
You are looking for an ebb and flow timer. They are used in hydroponics. That should help you narrow your search down a little on google. Be warned though, if you are googling at work, just about all hits on the subject will be from sites specific to growing dope.

You can get (or have a timer built) that will do your required on for 1 off for 20 fairly easy but thats an electrial timer. If you go with an electrial timer, you need a pump and then after the water is on the roof, either recycle the water back to where it started or refill your tank with a simple stock tank float valve.

Finding a timer that operates a water valve with your needed specs will be difficult unless you are willing to build it yourself. If you do find one, post what you find, I am looking for one that has similar specs as your needs (on for 5 min, off for 30).
 
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