DIY Heat sink for west facing split A/C. Simple but effective. Have a look

[Subcenter2009]

Dear friends,
I built this heat sink for my west facing 1 ton AC four years ago. It is sheet metal covered by 2 layers of red oxide and that covered by 2 layers of Aluminium paint.
It does 3 things:
1. The silver paint reflects the sunlight into space.
2. The fan cools the Heat sink.
3. The sunlight does not hit the Split AC.
There were a lot of trees in the west facing property but they were cut down to build flats hence exposing my 6 year old AC to the afternoon sun.
I find it very effective. And it is simple to make.
It cost me less than 500 Ruppees.
Hope it is enlightening to you...
Yours,
Subcenter2009

 

[Subcenter2009]

Dear friends,
I built this heat sink for my west facing 1 ton AC four years ago. It is sheet metal covered by 2 layers of red oxide and that covered by 2 layers of Aluminium paint.
It does 3 things:
1. The silver paint reflects the sunlight into space.
2. The fan cools the Heat sink.
3. The sunlight does not hit the Split AC.
There were a lot of trees in the west facing property but they were cut down to build flats hence exposing my 6 year old AC to the afternoon sun.
I find it very effective. And it is simple to make.
It cost me less than 500 Ruppees.
Hope it is enlightening to you...
Yours,
Subcenter2009

I would like to point out that the Heat sink covers only half of the AC. It is designed to not obstruct the flow of air in any way and I found that it was enough to position the deflector a little ( approximately halfway) above the AC and yet shield the whole AC from the afternoon sun. The AC remains at room temperature regardless of the intensity of the sunlight.
It also prevents rain water from falling on the AC.
The aluminium paint has not rusted even after 4-5 years of use.
This really increases the performance of the AC and saves a lot of Power.
Hope this is an interesting read for you folks..
Yours,
Subcenter2009

 

[avidyarthy]

Excellent idea and execution ....... would be very effective too.

 

[anuragn]

Excellent effort & fabrication too.
But I do not see any tubes coming from and returning to the AC, passing through this device so that it can extract heat from those and then release that heat into the atmosphere via conduction & convection.
I would rather call it a sun shade to protect the AC from direct sunlight.
But anyway, good that it helps cool down the AC.

 

[rishiguru]

So simple. So effective. Great DIY effort Subcenter2009.