Portable AC Part 1- The “What”

A major source of inspiration and a resource that would provide great guidance towards my portable AC unit is the following video: 

The initial need for me to personally do this project is due to how hot my apartment can get in the upcoming summer months, where temperatures often exceed 90 degrees and on occasion surpass 100 degrees Fahrenheit.  While my roommates have bought other sorts of smaller AC units such as window mounted ones, I have not. I seek the gratification of personally making my own “AC unit” rather than buying one, and can further my understanding in various engineering principles such as Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer, which are arguably my two least favorite and least desired principles so far in my engineering career. I can further advance my knowledge as well as utilize my current knowledge in order to optimize the performance of the AC unit. This includes optimizing and perfecting the insulation and other factors that may lead to melting the contents inside the cooler, as well as optimizing the output of the AC unit correlated with the inputs. 

In my aesthetic exploration I had a few options to go to, but I ultimately decided to chose a modern aesthetic so that the unit could be utilized in any indoor environment without standing out too much.

While I purchased paint, I quickly ran out. I will need to do one last paint run until I feel I can be happy about the outcome of my product.

I chose to go with white for the paint as it would match the lid and the outlet vent. Additionally, white matches most of my furniture and will fit along with the majority of interior designs. Upon acquiring a final layer of white paint, I believe the biggest standout of the project will ultimately be the large black intake. I debated painting this white as well, but I believe a little bit of contrast will be necessary for the unit to not have a poor aesthetic.

A major influence to this aesthetic, painting white for the modern aesthetic is based off of this image:

Other artistic visions and aesthetics I explored involve relating it to a car or an industrial like unit.

Ultimately, I believe these aesthetics would have invoked greater creativity, however it was unfit for the environment I wanted my unit to be presented in. The car aesthetic with the cooler designed like a racing car livery would stand out in any environment and an industrial like unit may look out of place in an interior environment.

A main vision for the project was to keep it easily portable. This has been enabled by keeping the handle on the cooler.

In order to act as a portable AC unit, the unit followed basic heat exchanger principles. Air would be taken in utilizing a fan mounted on the top of the cooler, entering a ice-filled cooler. Then air would circulate and exit out of a vent on the opposing side of the cooler that air was taken in from. Additionally, all holes created would need to be thoroughly insulated to provide the best outcome.

As shown above, the intake hole is placed on the opposite side of the outlet for maximum air circulation

The outlet vent has major indications towards the desired aesthetic. It is very flush and clean, modern looking and is also white, which would match the ultimate desired aesthetic.

Ultimately, for artistic value and in order to ultimately meet my final aesthetic, I will need to acquire another layer of white paint to finish the intended modern vision. I am not the biggest painter or artist and I bought an insufficient amount of paint.

Sources:

diy modern and very cool cooler