Peltier Cooler Air Conditioner? Old Ford F-250?
February 7th, 2012 . by admin
Hi, I have an ’89 Ford F-250, 5.0L V-8. Love the truck, great gas mileage, and super capable. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have air conditioning (rolled off the factory with only a heater).
I’m thinking of grabbing a few Peltier coolers from amazon ( each), and using a couple big heatsinks in the air ducts for a cheap air conditioner. I have an old heater core that doesn’t have any leaks, which I could put in front of the radiator to cool the hot side of the peltier coolers.
I know it will require a lot of electricity, but fortunately instead of changing the belt pattern, Ford just put an idler pulley where the AC compressor would be. I could probably replace that with a high amp junkyard alternator (from a newer truck) for like to power the coolers (and even charge my camper batteries).
Any ideas / concerns / tips I could use would be greatly appreciated, as well as a link to any similar projects. I’m very electrically and mechanically inclined, so that isn’t an issue. It also seems like a pretty interesting project.
Thank you very much! Summer’s only a few months away and a black truck in the Mojave Desert isn’t very fun.
Keep in mind I do plan using multiple coolers, anywhere from 5-10. That would be the reason behind a dedicated alternator.
Peltier coolers won’t been nearly powerful enough to make a noticeable difference. You have to keep in mind that automotive AC systems are powerful enough to cool a small house. The system used in the Suburban for example has enough cooling capacity for a small 3 bedroom house.
It’s an interesting idea, but not a practical or effective one.