# Yard haunts: use of the AC unit



## Lord Homicide (May 11, 2012)

Just had an idea. Route fog over the AC unit (while it's on) to blast fog into the air

EDIT: after receiving feedback from great folks, use *smoke* in lieu of _fog_.


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## corey872 (Jan 10, 2010)

Indoors or out? Indoors might work if you want a very large volume of very thin fog. I've seen a similar effect at concerts where a large industrial fogger is directed at a moderately high volume fan...this sets the general 'smoky' atmosphere inside the hall. Though if you put it in before the evap coil, I expect you're going to get condensation of fog juice on the coil.

Outdoors, keep in mind, if the AC is actually running the air coming out of the unit is hotter than the surrounding air. Your fog might just float up and away. If you had a heat pump, then you could run it and the air coming out of the outdoor unit would be cooler than ambient...might be the worlds biggest fog chiller ever.


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## Lord Homicide (May 11, 2012)

The outdoor AC unit at ground level


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## Spooky1 (Aug 25, 2008)

It seems to me that it would cause the fog to dissipate. As Corey said you'd end up wit a general haziness, not really a fog.


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## Haunted Spider (Sep 6, 2010)

I am trying to make sure I understand what you are saying. You are saying run the fog over the AC unit that is outside behind your house. That is the Condenser/ fan coil unit. It sucks the temperature out of the copper lines that feed your Furnace/AC unit in the house that powers your central air. The air coming out of the unit outside is warmer by about 20 degrees than the outside ambient air. If you ran fog above the unit, it would push the fog into the air just like any other fan and it would dissipate. I am not sure what you are expecting or thinking will happen. 

Did I understand what you are going for?


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## Lord Homicide (May 11, 2012)

@Corey/Spooky1/Spiderclimber This would be primarily be for anyone who would simply want to use the AC unit,if desired, for an their haunt if available. 

My first thought was make use of the AC unit if it is in the way of your around-the-house yard haunt. Secondly, most AC units, old or new, look somewhat industrial and the random on/off would jolt people.

So, my goal would be to pump cooled fog over the top of the fan to get a cooling tower effect. Since the fan speed is non-variable, it is true that it very well could dissipate the fog and thin it out.

I try to think of things that nobody has thought of but when it comes to haunters, that is next to impossible. That is why this might sound like an odd idea. I usually pitch ideas as they come before I sit down and play with or think about them. I'm just trying to contribute and give back what I've taken from here .


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## Hauntiholik (May 17, 2006)

Lord Homicide said:


> So, my goal would be to pump cooled fog over the top of the fan to get a cooling tower effect. Since the fan speed is non-variable, it is true that it very well could dissipate the fog and thin it out.


Why bother cooling it? It will dissipate as soon as the fog hits the fan. It would be like blowing fog in front of a box fan.


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## Lord Homicide (May 11, 2012)

Hauntiholik said:


> Why bother cooling it? It will dissipate as soon as the fog hits the fan. It would be like blowing fog in front of a box fan.


I figured the fog would be thicker. I don't know much about fog evidently.


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## Haunted Spider (Sep 6, 2010)

haha, we all learn something everyday about haunts. 

Fog basically forms with water particles in the air. That is why drier climates can't get the super thick fog others enjoy as well. When you chill the fog, you loose some of the volume as it re condenses into the ice. The fog then lays lower to the ground due to the temperature. If you put it in front of a fan, you are blowing the fog out of the low lying state it was and would defeat the purpose of chilling. Putting it over the fan coil unit would heat it back up and dissipate it faster than you want. The concept is neat to make a tower of fog, but the fan coil wouldn't be right. First it runs off of 220 which is more energy than you need to spend on a fan, second the air is warmer due to it trying to consense the coolant, and third, it may not work at all without using the AC in your home as it is triggered off of the AC unit itself. You can override it but not sure I would want to do that and play with 220. 

Hope that explains a bit.


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## Lord Homicide (May 11, 2012)

@Spiderclimber: I assume that fake fog is essentially the same as "real" fog. I know the fan wouldn't be quite right and no sense in messing with the AC power when anyone could use a household fan. I will try to play around with the original idea with different types of smoke and/or fog (maybe a smoke machine was what I was thinking about). At least I can find out what the hell it looks like and let yall know. heh

Thanks for the fog breakdown - that makes sense


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

I think part of the puzzlement on the part of your fellow haunters here is that we work very hard to keep fog *on* the ground rather than blowing it up into the air (which Mother Nature all too generously does for us whether we like it or not)


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## Lord Homicide (May 11, 2012)

RoxyBlue said:


> I think part of the puzzlement on the part of your fellow haunters here is that we work very hard to keep fog *on* the ground rather than blowing it up into the air (which Mother Nature all too generously does for us whether we like it or not)


I probably used the wrong element from the get go - maybe I should have said smoke. The night I posted that, I was smoking a cigar and the smoke drifted over to the AC and blew upwards.


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## Haunted Spider (Sep 6, 2010)

Ok, so smoke instead of fog. 

What are you using to make the smoke? other than breathing the smoke out. haha, that would be a hard job on halloween


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## Lord Homicide (May 11, 2012)

@Spiderclimber: haha, that _WOULD_ be a hard job on Halloween . i haven't done any research on smokers quite yet but I imagine the principle is the same.


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