# Robert's Fog Chiller



## Fright Boy (Oct 1, 2014)

*I ran across this video yesterday and just knew you guys would find it interesting. This "chiller" doesn't use ice, it works off the theory that it is humidity that causes the fog to lay low, not by cooling it. Pretty cool concept and it appears to work very well. I think this could lead to some good conversation and possibly change the way we all think about fog "chillers".*

*Video Found Here*


----------



## corey872 (Jan 10, 2010)

Thanks for sharing! I believe that video pops up periodically and it is hard to deny he gets some good results! 

I gave this method a try a couple years ago. It was actually very fortunate as I found out my fogger had a blown fuse - but with plenty of time to replace it before Halloween!

Anyway, my overall take of the method - it does work but seems to need two critical factors for maximum effect: relatively warm and relatively dry ambient air. The relatively warm air means any slight cooling of the fog will create a substantial 'sinking' effect and the relatively dry air means any evaporation of the water is going to create substantial cooling. So when you try this in the dry summer heat, or even inside with an air conditioner pulling humidity out of the air and a relatively warm 72-74 degree room, it works great.

Unfortunately, at least for me, Halloween night is typically in the 40's/50's/60's with moderately high relative humidity. So the fog didn't want to sink much because the already cool night temps and there wasn't much evaporative cooling due to the already humid air... sort of a 'double whammy' - and the fog just floated away waist to head high.

So overall, if you expect to use in relatively warm/dry ambient conditions, it can produce good results. On a cool/humid night, it doesn't help much.


----------



## Fright Boy (Oct 1, 2014)

corey872 said:


> Thanks for sharing! I believe that video pops up periodically and it is hard to deny he gets some good results!
> Anyway, my overall take of the method - it does work but seems to need two critical factors for maximum effect: relatively warm and relatively dry ambient air./.../So when you try this in the dry summer heat, or even inside with an air conditioner pulling humidity out of the air and a relatively warm 72-74 degree room, it works great.
> Unfortunately, at least for me, Halloween night is typically in the 40's/50's/60's with moderately high relative humidity. /.../already humid air... sort of a 'double whammy' - and the fog just floated away waist to head high.
> So overall, if you expect to use in relatively warm/dry ambient conditions, it can produce good results. On a cool/humid night, it doesn't help much.


*I wasn't sure if it had been shared or not. I searched for "Robert's Fogger" and didn't find anything, so I thought I would share it in case. 
I live in the Mid South East, so our Halloweens are usually cool and very humid. Recently they have been warmer though, thanks a lot Global Warming. Sounds as if this would not work well for me either. Also, I wasn't that keen on buying a 20 gal fish tank, pond fogger and power supply. But if the results were to work for me the way they do in his basement, it would be well worth the investment. *


----------



## xredge (Aug 21, 2014)

I did alot of research on this also after seeing it years ago and the results were as corey872 said and alot of the same responses.

The humidity aspect he might have something to make the fog denser, but still need to make it colder also than ambient temperature for low lying fog.


----------



## corey872 (Jan 10, 2010)

You would definitely need the ultrasonic misters and power supply to drive it, but the fish tank is somewhat of an option. It could just as easily be some type of storage bin with lid, old cooler, or most anything else that would hold water. I used an old plastic witches cauldron for my testing. For my normal fog chiller, I use an old cooler, but then that becomes a storage bin after the big day is over.

I also believe I set him a comment on his video years ago and he replied - though not sure how well it shows up currently - but basically saying he could do away with the water pump, its power supply, the secondary container and all the hoses/tubing/wires for that set up by just using a float system for the ultrasonic mister. Then all you need is a container for the water, ultrasonic mister and power supply. The float automatically keeps the mister at the proper water depth.

If you can hit those 'ideal' conditions of warm temps/low humidity - especially inside with no wind, then the setup does produce some good results without the need for ice. Outside battling temps, humidity and wind is a whole other story.


----------



## Fright Boy (Oct 1, 2014)

corey872 said:


> I also believe I set him a comment on his video years ago and he replied - though not sure how well it shows up currently - but basically saying he could do away with the water pump, its power supply, the secondary container and all the hoses/tubing/wires for that set up by just using a float system for the ultrasonic mister. Then all you need is a container for the water, ultrasonic mister and power supply. The float automatically keeps the mister at the proper water depth.


See, I was wondering this very thing, why the use of the tub and water pump. I assumed it possibly worked kind of like a radiator, the water in the tank would be a little cooler than that in the tub and by pumping it into the tub it would help keep it cool. But then I thought "Well, the tub is literally sitting in the water in the tank. So, it would warm up that water as well." Didn't seem necessary to me either. 
Love the float idea! yeah, you could probably accomplish that with some foam or pop bottles and zip ties. Hmmmm...now I wonder if haunters have scraps of foam lying about???


----------



## xredge (Aug 21, 2014)

The tub and water pump could be utilzed if you did an ice bath (ice and water) that recirculated with the main tub that the ultrasonic mister was in. This would give it the cold water that is needed. In my mind I can see one of the air-to-water intercoolers that some people ran. You would have a cooler with Ice cold water and run it through the intercooler to gets the temps down even further over just water.


----------



## cursed1 (Nov 12, 2021)

I built one of these this year using a storage tub, a 12 head mister with float, a 700 watt fog machine and some flex tubing (silver dryer vent stuff). I really didn't invest much time putting it together and could have done a much better job of sealing the tub and tubing connections, but the results were very good. I had this running in temps in the mid - upper 50's in a light rain (can't get much more humid than that). As long as the wind behaved, the fog remained thick and low. It was not a large haunt (a few tombstones, skulls, skeletons, etc) but the fog made it picture worthy, as many people who walked past stopped to take out their phone and snap a photo. Not having to deal with bags of ice made the purchase of the mister (about $140 on amazon) worth it. Ran it on the 30 and 31st. Had I needed ice, I would have only run it on the big day. And I'm ready to go whenever low lying fog is needed. I did use low lying freezing fog which may have helped (even though I didn't freeze it).


----------

