• M. Kamakshi Kanchana

Availability and affordability have led to small size homes in urban India. Economically weaker and lower-income families live in houses measuring 250-500 Square feet. Inadequate ventilation and steel or cement sheet roofing make these houses very uncomfortable during the harsh summer season. Summer average daytime high temperatures are in the range of 35-45 degrees Celsius. Providing essential utilities to affordable low-cost houses is a very important aspect of making these dwellings liveable. Ensuring the health and comfort of the occupants is the key parameter for any design. Designing low-cost cooling systems for such houses poses many challenges. Non-availability of uninterrupted electric supply and very small sanctioned electric power to homes pose additional design constraints. Desert (swamp) coolers and table/ceiling fans are extensively used in most houses. Desert coolers are noisy and make the rooms very humid. Noisy and humid rooms are uncomfortable and pose a health risk to the elderly and children. This paper proposes a low-cost indirect evaporative cooling system that can effectively address the issue of noise and humidity. The design is based on a simple heat exchanger, fans, water pump, and ducting. The system utilizes the drop in night temperatures effectively. The unit is placed outside and cool air is circulated in the house using a low-cost duct system. A prototype is built and results are reported. The entire design is based on locally available material. Detailed drawings are given so that similar units can be assembled with locally available components.

Desert cooler, duct cooling, Indirect Evaporative cooling, low-cost home utilities, swamp cooler.

"Low-Cost Indirect Evaporative Cooling Systems for Low-Cost Homes", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.10, Issue 1, page no.e610-e615, January-2023, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2301483.pdf

"Low-Cost Indirect Evaporative Cooling Systems for Low-Cost Homes", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.10, Issue 1, page no. ppe610-e615, January-2023, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2301483.pdf