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air conditioner driven by gas
- Thread starter COMAPRO
- Start date
In the Louisiana/Arkansas area, there used to be a regulated gas company called Arkla gas. I have left the area, and they have undergone numerous name changes, but when I was there, Arkla had a unit called the Arkla-Sevel (spelling on sevel?????) that was a gas driven absorption home air conditioner.
I was in several homes that had these units, and they always felt "clammy" because this unit did not have the lower evaporator temperatures of a R-22 Freon electric compressor driven unit which acted to dehumidify the air. (living in Louisiana is like living in a sauna)
The comfort level for air conditioned air at a reasonable temperature of 72F, let's say, is dependent upon about a 50% relative humidity. These homes had humidities that felt like 80=90%, cooler than outside, but not much more comfortable.
The answer would have been to have two air conditioning systems, one the gas driven for economy, (anyway, gas was much cheaper then) and a small electric one for dehumidification.
I have always been on the lookout for a hybrid type unit, that took the heat of compression of the freon system, and used that heat as a driver for an absorption unit. I haven't seen such a thing yet. If anyone knows of one, please post it.
Meanwhile, Comparo, I hope you can track down who this Sevel company that was teamed up with Arkla, and get the information you seek. I have seen them, but it was 30 years ago, and they were not real popular with the users.
RMW
I was in several homes that had these units, and they always felt "clammy" because this unit did not have the lower evaporator temperatures of a R-22 Freon electric compressor driven unit which acted to dehumidify the air. (living in Louisiana is like living in a sauna)
The comfort level for air conditioned air at a reasonable temperature of 72F, let's say, is dependent upon about a 50% relative humidity. These homes had humidities that felt like 80=90%, cooler than outside, but not much more comfortable.
The answer would have been to have two air conditioning systems, one the gas driven for economy, (anyway, gas was much cheaper then) and a small electric one for dehumidification.
I have always been on the lookout for a hybrid type unit, that took the heat of compression of the freon system, and used that heat as a driver for an absorption unit. I haven't seen such a thing yet. If anyone knows of one, please post it.
Meanwhile, Comparo, I hope you can track down who this Sevel company that was teamed up with Arkla, and get the information you seek. I have seen them, but it was 30 years ago, and they were not real popular with the users.
RMW
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