Will this commercial AC unit keep the potatoes cool?

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In this video, we're embarking on an exciting experiment to see if renting a commercial air conditioning unit can effectively cool our potato cellars. This method has never been tried before, so we're venturing into uncharted territory. We'll walk you through our thought process, the selection of the AC unit, installation, and our monitoring setup. Watch as we test this innovative solution and find out if it can maintain the perfect temperature for our potato storage. Will it work? Join us on this journey and see the results firsthand. Don't forget to like, subscribe, and hit the notification bell to stay updated on our progress and other farming experiments!
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Опубликовано:

8 сен 2024

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Комментарии : 81

@jamesfranks545 Месяц назад

You might consider checking some of the military surplus sales/auctions. When I was in the Air Force we had units bigger than that one you have there that could literally cool airplane hangars as well as heaters of the same size. Most of them had their own diesel engine onboard. We used to send them all the time to surplus auctions when they developed some sort of problem or just got to a certain age. Probably could pick some up pretty cheap and have them refurbished. That stuff usually sells in lots like 4-6 at a time. Just a thought.

@RockyMountainFarmer Месяц назад

That would be a good idea to find one for cheap. Thanks for letting me know.

@boolman2951 Месяц назад

You should insulate that supply duct going in if possible. Youre probably losing atleast 10-15 degrees of cooling. If you can get that return closer to the target area you will also see some better cooling.

@RockyMountainFarmer Месяц назад

Not a bad idea.

@aricgoetz910 Месяц назад

Here in northern Michigan the potato barns are usually burried in the ground

@RockyMountainFarmer Месяц назад

I’ve never seen one like that

@jamesfranks545 Месяц назад

@@RockyMountainFarmer Thats how cellars used to be. Actually the dictionary definition of Cellar is "bellow ground".

@aricgoetz910 Месяц назад

@@RockyMountainFarmer they have dirt mounds down both walls from floor to ceiling height and all that's seen above dirt grade is the roof

@tuberNunya Месяц назад

@@RockyMountainFarmer In North Dakota Cellars are under 4 feet of dirt. Stays 50 degrees year round without fans.

@LynnKorte-ve4qf Месяц назад

I would punch through the poured concrete wall and add metal intakes that are mechanical closeable and loovered for attaching the large cooling hoses,as you you most likely need it again on and all the cellars in the future sometime surly ,one should just be prepared and you dont need the stress in how to handke

@RockyMountainFarmer Месяц назад

That would be nice

@waylonhartwell Месяц назад

If you can get yourself a used commercial rooftop unit, you could install it on top of the building that moves the air around. It won't be as fast at cooling the air down as that unit, but it would help to keep it from getting that warm again

@RockyMountainFarmer Месяц назад

That would probably work and would probably be a lot cheaper

@alfredomarotta6604 Месяц назад

Thank you for another great video, always enjoyable, interesting and informative.

@RockyMountainFarmer Месяц назад

Glad you enjoyed it

@preciousplasticph Месяц назад

Look at shore power cooling units for aircraft. Like mil surplus. There are ground carts that are portable and used to cool aircraft on the ground. I serviced them before

@RockyMountainFarmer Месяц назад

That sounds like it would work

@GarryBauman4444 Месяц назад

Just have to redirect the water from the dehumidifier side to a separate cooling circuit and spray it on the radiator on the hot side

@RockyMountainFarmer Месяц назад

That would probably work

@PraxZimmerman Месяц назад

We use 40' container sized ones for emergency cooling in datacenters. Thing's got like 32 of those tubes snaking all through the building. Nightmare to work around.

@RockyMountainFarmer Месяц назад

That sounds crazy

@angus4202 Месяц назад

ive always wondered what those things were when they were outside massive projects arround town i always thought they were some big dust supression system hope this works out

@RockyMountainFarmer Месяц назад

It seems to be working OK, but not quite as good as we had hoped

@feelinggroovy913 Месяц назад

Have you contacted Industrial Ventilation for a proposal to get your storages set up for next season? That xfmr sitting on a pallet is definately not UL listed. Just call IVI and get your storages done right.

@RockyMountainFarmer Месяц назад

This is just a temporary unit hopefully for only two or three weeks. This is the first time in almost 20 years that we’ve had to even run refrigeration.

@operationscomputer1478 Месяц назад

wrap those entry points in towels to properly block the gaps and increase efficiency

@RockyMountainFarmer Месяц назад

That would probably work pretty good

@alexdrockhound9497 Месяц назад

you can get big high density Styrofoam panels or graphite filled Styrofoam panels for insulation on the inside of the building.

@alexdrockhound9497 Месяц назад

theres a company called big sky insulation in bozeman montana that custom cuts foam like that.

@RockyMountainFarmer Месяц назад

The buildings are filled with foam on all the walls and ceiling

@SPUDHOME Месяц назад

That would work great for maybe next year, or the year after

@brucelee64485 Месяц назад

Good thing that you could source a transformer. The diesel fuel costs alone to feed that generator 24/7 would be enormous! Who has to pay for the extra cooling? You guys or the processors since they have been dragging their feet about getting the taters out?

@RockyMountainFarmer Месяц назад

We pay for it because we don’t want another rotten cellar.

@hamfam8320 Месяц назад

I eat meat and potatoes as my staple diet, it’s for auto immune. Keep up the great hard work!

@RockyMountainFarmer Месяц назад

Thank you! Will do! Glad you enjoyed it

@amossnowdaharleyman9179 Месяц назад

If unit is 12500 CFM my guess is 30 ton unit. If evap temp is set at 33 degrees (to avoid coil icing) it may work.

@RockyMountainFarmer Месяц назад

It’s working fairly well, not quite as well as we had hoped And yes, it is a 25 ton unit

@amossnowdaharleyman9179 Месяц назад

@@RockyMountainFarmer what is the unit discharge air temp please?

@jimpolk Месяц назад

Sure hope that works.

@RockyMountainFarmer Месяц назад

Me too

@ryanevans7049 Месяц назад

love the video. Just curious if you know or recognize the name Byron or Jeff Evans

@RockyMountainFarmer Месяц назад

I’m glad you enjoyed the video. Those names sound familiar.

@Thermoelectric7 Месяц назад

How does the ventilation system work normally, is it designed to pull outside air through those humidifier pads and exhaust the air out of the cellar once its been through the potatos, or is it designed to just recirculate the same air? If it's made for outside air normally, you may be better off removing those panels around the pipes on the cellar and fan side, so you still get the volume from the cellar fans moving through that control room, and the AC just tempers what it can. Blocking off those doors if the cellar fans still have access to outside air may limit the airflow enough that it's still drawing in outside air, although going by the temps, it didn't look like it.

@RockyMountainFarmer Месяц назад

It can recirculate when it needs to

@michaeldrussel2216 Месяц назад

What temp was the cellar before you got everything hooked up?

@RockyMountainFarmer Месяц назад

Before we got everything hooked up, it was 61 and after a day it dropped it to 59

@LynnKorte-ve4qf Месяц назад

I bet it ll work but it wont be cheap to operate,.Most farmers have to dry down there grain crops and thats not cheap as well running drier fans.But whats a guy goin to do to maintain your crop of $$ potatoes ? If you dont you will be washing it all removing rot and I know that can set a guy back for sure even more adding labor as well as crop lost. you could proberly cut those steel doors and add hose intakes in them that you can close up when not force cooling so to make it nore friendly to use and set up,or just cut holes in the walls and add closable hose intakes so you can stll use the doors to get in and out then,,it ll work !!! As your dad as well is surely concerned

@RockyMountainFarmer Месяц назад

We have to do what we can

@erickaufman1851 11 дней назад

Would lot of dry ice set in front of fans work

@RockyMountainFarmer 11 дней назад

Probably just harder to handle

@stephenkennedy9322 Месяц назад

Why cant you use irrigation pipe inside storage on ceiling spraying 38° well water on potatoes ? Run fans water 💧 drain out tunnels if not use trash pump

@RockyMountainFarmer Месяц назад

The potatoes cannot get that wet if they do, they will rot And there’s no well water irrigation. All the irrigation around here is from surface water and it’s like 60 to 70° water. Even well water is 55°.

@Frank-mn9qi Месяц назад

Are your potatoes sold at a contract price,or market price on the day you move the potatoes .

@RockyMountainFarmer Месяц назад

The price is contracted.

@AF-gn6yf Месяц назад

how about growing something on the celler that covers it in leaves to block off the sun?

@RockyMountainFarmer Месяц назад

I’m not sure what

@ApolloniusFink Месяц назад

Solar panels. The roofs of your cellars are big enough for dozens of kilowatts. Ask a structural engineer first.

@johndantice2577 Месяц назад

Any need for the distilled water being produced?

@RockyMountainFarmer Месяц назад

I guess we could save it, but we don’t really have a need for it

@Thermoelectric7 Месяц назад

It's not distilled, you'd have to filter it before use as it'll contain any mold etc that was in the air. Not worth worrying about

@newporg6887 Месяц назад

..how much did the processor try to rip you guys off for the rotten potato's that were their fault..

@RockyMountainFarmer Месяц назад

They only paid for what we could deliver

@newporg6887 Месяц назад

@@RockyMountainFarmer Thought they were contracted?

@acesonflush346 Месяц назад

@@newporg6887 unfortunately you're always at the mercy of the processor or shed that you sell to. Depending on the prices year to year they are either really generous and want your spuds as soon as possible or they push it off for as long as they can, pretty much punching the farmer in the gut at times.

@mrktanarchist Месяц назад

Why is your Set Point still at 45? Should have bumped it up to at least 50° a long time ago you could have gotten at least some run time at night.

@RockyMountainFarmer Месяц назад

It does run at night to try to get it down to 45

@AlienX511 Месяц назад

Well that generator are good for nothing might as well sell it. Generator main job are work asap as you pull out it which it failed

@RockyMountainFarmer Месяц назад

True

@Arham7cheema Месяц назад

You should make cold store instead using ice blocks because this face too much loss by rotten potatoes

@RockyMountainFarmer Месяц назад

We tried using ice and it didn’t work very well

@Arham7cheema Месяц назад

Hope that it work well

@SPUDHOME Месяц назад

Are you first generation spud grower? You act like these situations you have never heard of. I guess the spud buyer should have sent you to growing spud school. Then you would have learned. But the buyer probably didn’t know he was dealing with a city slicker.

@RockyMountainFarmer Месяц назад

I am a fourth generation potato farmer. And the last time we had to use your refrigeration was 20 years ago. This problem really doesn’t happen very often.

@SPUDHOME Месяц назад

@@RockyMountainFarmer and the spud buyer forgot to tell you about global warming?

@RockyMountainFarmer Месяц назад

That’s wasn’t the problem

@SPUDHOME Месяц назад

@@RockyMountainFarmer but you are angry at the spud buyer because they won’t buy your rotten spuds.