Making Energy Out of the Hot Air from Cooling Systems

Remember Ray Saluccio, the guy who started EarthSure Renewable Energy and invented the solar dumpster? When I talked to him a few months ago, he mentioned some new renewable energy products in the works. And like with the S.E.E.D.S. solar dumpster system, Saluccio is taking something that contributes to urban blight and turning it into a source for renewable energy.

Yesterday, EarthSure announced Saluccio’s latest invention; WindAir. It’s a system for reusing the exhausted air flow from central air conditioning condenser units and transforming it into renewable energy. And anyone who grew up in a house with central air knows there’s a lot of hot air there to be captured!

The WindAir™ system uses the warm air flow from the exhaust of a traditional air conditioning unit and drives it into a secondary fan turbine system. This secondary system has an electric-generating mechanism that transforms the wind flow into free, clean, renewable energy which is then inverted into the electric meter of the home or office building.

EarthSure says that using this method, enough electricity can be produced to turn the air conditioner into a “sub-power station” and offset the increased energy load from the unit. The converter can be retrofitted to an existing unit or incorporated into a new unit and is scalable from home use to commercial uses.

The company says that the secondary fan turbine not only saves consumers money and creates clean energy, but it also addresses the strain that summer air conditioning use puts on the power grid by adding energy into that grid rather than creating a surge of use. At the same time, it is designed to absorb some of the noise from the units and to protect them from rust and debris.

Saluccio anticipates that the cost of the WindAir, which is still in development and patent pending, will be under $1,000 and provide a 38% savings on the cost of running a central air conditioning unit, paying for itself in 3 to 5 years.

It’s a cool way to save money, run your air conditioner guilt-free and create energy.