Cooling System Saves Money On AC

2011 - Volume #35, Issue #5, Page #33

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“I use an everyday lawn sprinkler to keep the roof of my house cool during the summer. I got the idea because my air conditioner wasn’t big enough to keep up,” says Roger Altman, an engineer/inventor who lives in rural New York.
  Altman calls his system PERC, which stands for Perimeter Evaporative Roof Cooling. “My concept will let the average handyman build a house roof cooling system for under $100,” Altman says. “Better yet, the person doing the work doesn’t have to climb on the roof to install it.”
  PERC uses conventional lawn sprinklers that are anchored to roof gutters and connected through garden hoses to a spigot fitted with a conventional on/off watering timer. A thermostat mounted on the top of roof shingles triggers water flow when the roof temperature reaches 110 degrees. Water is sprayed across the roof for 20 to 25 seconds so all of the shingles become completely wet.
  “PERC is basically an external air conditioning system,” Altman said. “As the water evaporates from the roof, the temperature of the shingles goes down 40 to 50 degrees and remains below 110 degrees for about 20 min. Then the system triggers the sprinkler so the cycle can start again.”
  Altman says that for every gallon of water that evaporates from a roof, about 8,000 btu’s of heat are “sucked away”. That evaporation reduces the air conditioner’s workload by 50 percent, which saves quite a bit of money on electricity. If a new AC is purchased to work alongside the PERC, capital costs are reduced by about 40 percent.
  “This isn’t like watering a lawn, where the sprinkler stays on for a long time to put an inch of water on the grass,” Altman points out. “The concept here is to just get the shingles wet enough so water begins to trickle down the roof. That only pumps a few gallons of water, then the system is off for 20 min. It doesn’t take hardly any power to operate, and the savings are substantial. He figures the net savings on a 1,000 sq. ft. roof would be around $220 annually if the PERC system was used for 50 days.
  “Keeping the exterior of a roof at 110 degrees or less lowers the attic temperature by 20 to 30 degrees. That in turn keeps the house cooler, because heat isn’t radiating through the ceiling into the home,” Altman says.
  People can learn how to build Altman’s system by going to his website and then downloading plans. “This system works well for homes, and should be adaptable for buildings with livestock,” says Altman.
  Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Roger Altman (ph 315 215-4013; BPRIBPRI@gmail.com; www.tips4toughtimes.com).

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Cooling System Saves Money On AC BUILDINGS Miscellaneous “I use an everyday lawn sprinkler to keep the roof of my house cool during the summer I got the idea because my air conditioner wasn’t big enough to keep up ” says Roger Altman an engineer/inventor who lives in rural New York Altman calls his system PERC which stands for Perimeter Evaporative Roof Cooling “My concept will let the average handyman build a house roof cooling system for under $100 ” Altman says “Better yet the person doing the work doesn’t have to climb on the roof to install it ” PERC uses conventional lawn sprinklers that are anchored to roof gutters and connected through garden hoses to a spigot fitted with a conventional on/off watering timer A thermostat mounted on the top of roof shingles triggers water flow when the roof temperature reaches 110 degrees Water is sprayed across the roof for 20 to 25 seconds so all of the shingles become completely wet “PERC is basically an external air conditioning system ” Altman said “As the water evaporates from the roof the temperature of the shingles goes down 40 to 50 degrees and remains below 110 degrees for about 20 min Then the system triggers the sprinkler so the cycle can start again ” Altman says that for every gallon of water that evaporates from a roof about 8 000 btu’s of heat are “sucked away” That evaporation reduces the air conditioner’s workload by 50 percent which saves quite a bit of money on electricity If a new AC is purchased to work alongside the PERC capital costs are reduced by about 40 percent “This isn’t like watering a lawn where the sprinkler stays on for a long time to put an inch of water on the grass ” Altman points out “The concept here is to just get the shingles wet enough so water begins to trickle down the roof That only pumps a few gallons of water then the system is off for 20 min It doesn’t take hardly any power to operate and the savings are substantial He figures the net savings on a 1 000 sq ft roof would be around $220 annually if the PERC system was used for 50 days “Keeping the exterior of a roof at 110 degrees or less lowers the attic temperature by 20 to 30 degrees That in turn keeps the house cooler because heat isn’t radiating through the ceiling into the home ” Altman says People can learn how to build Altman’s system by going to his website and then downloading plans “This system works well for homes and should be adaptable for buildings with livestock ” says Altman Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Roger Altman ph 315 215-4013; BPRIBPRI@gmail com; www tips4toughtimes com

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