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Evaluating the effectiveness of the ‘eco-cooler’ for passive home cooling

Bunker, Aditi ; Lundgren Kownacki, Karin LU ; Sarker, Sudipa ; Bari, Rahmatul ; Sarker, Malabika ; Buonocore, Jonathan ; Geldsetzer, Pascal ; Revstedt, Johan LU and Bäringhausen, Till (2024) In npj Climate Action 3.
Abstract
Constructed with used plastic bottles, the eco-cooler has been widely adopted in resource-poor communities in Bangladesh and other countries. We tested the eco-cooler under controlled conditions using a scientific wind tunnel in a climatic chamber. In our tests, we used seven eco-cooler designs in 27 climate conditions typical of Bangladesh (temperatures of 40 °C, 35 °C, and 30 °C; humidity levels of 70%, 60%, and 40%; and wind speeds of 4.0 m s−1, 2.0 m s−1, and 0.2 m s−1) in 92 experiments (N = 7686 measurements in 87 short experiments and N = 23,428 measurements in five long experiments). We found no significant temperature reductions with eco-cooler use, except at low wind speeds, where... (More)
Constructed with used plastic bottles, the eco-cooler has been widely adopted in resource-poor communities in Bangladesh and other countries. We tested the eco-cooler under controlled conditions using a scientific wind tunnel in a climatic chamber. In our tests, we used seven eco-cooler designs in 27 climate conditions typical of Bangladesh (temperatures of 40 °C, 35 °C, and 30 °C; humidity levels of 70%, 60%, and 40%; and wind speeds of 4.0 m s−1, 2.0 m s−1, and 0.2 m s−1) in 92 experiments (N = 7686 measurements in 87 short experiments and N = 23,428 measurements in five long experiments). We found no significant temperature reductions with eco-cooler use, except at low wind speeds, where temperature reduced by up to 0.2 °C. In theoretical calculations extending our empirical findings, the greatest temperature drop was 0.85 °C at 4.0 m s−1 with a 40 °C static air inflow temperature. However, this temperature drop did not extend beyond the nozzles of the bottles in the eco-cooler. The eco-cooler did not work effectively as an indoor air cooler. (Less)
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author
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
npj Climate Action
volume
3
article number
94
pages
9 pages
publisher
Nature Publishing Group
external identifiers
  • pmid:39497685
ISSN
2731-9814
DOI
10.1038/s44168-024-00165-7
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
b2630bd6-73b8-48ce-b369-86b2b1626fbd
date added to LUP
2025-01-15 13:57:40
date last changed
2025-04-04 14:32:08
@article{b2630bd6-73b8-48ce-b369-86b2b1626fbd,
  abstract     = {{Constructed with used plastic bottles, the eco-cooler has been widely adopted in resource-poor communities in Bangladesh and other countries. We tested the eco-cooler under controlled conditions using a scientific wind tunnel in a climatic chamber. In our tests, we used seven eco-cooler designs in 27 climate conditions typical of Bangladesh (temperatures of 40 °C, 35 °C, and 30 °C; humidity levels of 70%, 60%, and 40%; and wind speeds of 4.0 m s<sup>−1</sup>, 2.0 m s<sup>−1</sup>, and 0.2 m s<sup>−1</sup>) in 92 experiments (<i>N</i> = 7686 measurements in 87 short experiments and <i>N</i> = 23,428 measurements in five long experiments). We found no significant temperature reductions with eco-cooler use, except at low wind speeds, where temperature reduced by up to 0.2 °C. In theoretical calculations extending our empirical findings, the greatest temperature drop was 0.85 °C at 4.0 m s<sup>−1</sup> with a 40 °C static air inflow temperature. However, this temperature drop did not extend beyond the nozzles of the bottles in the eco-cooler. The eco-cooler did not work effectively as an indoor air cooler.}},
  author       = {{Bunker, Aditi and Lundgren Kownacki, Karin and Sarker, Sudipa and Bari, Rahmatul and Sarker, Malabika and Buonocore, Jonathan and Geldsetzer, Pascal and Revstedt, Johan and Bäringhausen, Till}},
  issn         = {{2731-9814}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{11}},
  publisher    = {{Nature Publishing Group}},
  series       = {{npj Climate Action}},
  title        = {{Evaluating the effectiveness of the ‘eco-cooler’ for passive home cooling}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s44168-024-00165-7}},
  doi          = {{10.1038/s44168-024-00165-7}},
  volume       = {{3}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}