We do not have air conditioners out in the farm buildings, but we do run dehumidifiers. With these machines running 24/7 during the summer time they collect a lot of water. Their built in reservoirs are small.. only a gallon or so. But when placed next to a 55 gallon drum they can run for a few days before needing to be emptied. Long term running a line outside and let them drip is probably best. But for now I am collecting the water. And have been using it around the farm whenever the rains are lacking.
I set up a water tote in my electric UTV so I can drive it around and water as needed. With the connector at the bottom I can hook up to a transfer pump and battery and water whatever needs some between the water coming naturally from the sky.
Amazing how much water is in the air, and where I live the summers are full of humidity. So these barrels fill up pretty quick. When its been rainy I can just dump the water outside, but its been humid and lacking rains recently so I have already used them to water some plants.
Draining the barrels is done with a transfer pump and a long water hose. Don't mind my air handler motor just sitting there, I am sure I will find a use for it one day.
We can see how the dehumidifier drains directly into the barrel.
Having these transfer pumps is great.. highly recommend you keep one or more on hand.
We can see the outlet direction and them reminding not to use to pump gas.
Over time the barrel starts to fill as the pump runs.
I run two dehumidifiers during the summer, but in the winter one should be fine as the outdoor humidity drops. As it gets rainy and snowy maybe I will need to turn back on the second one.
Tracking the humidity:
Its funny how much grow tent technology I end up using on my farm, first was with the tent fans for the ASIC miners and now I am using a hygrometer usually found in grow tents.
In my experience when the humidity stays above 70% for too long mold starts growing. So its important to keep storage buildings and workshops in a lower range. Tracking the levels help me know if I need more powerful dehumidifiers or not. This is good progress, before having the dehumidifiers we were seeing higher levels.
Using their app, we can see charts from a daily, weekly or monthly history view. Looks like we are doing good.. that spike was probably me holding the hydrometer and breathing on it while resetting it.. lol
Just about 60 gallons of water collected from those barrels. In the next few days I will drive around and water some of the less established plants on the farm, helping them get enough water when droughts happen.
You can do the same thing with air conditioners, if you bury a water tote like this you can let them drip inside and then pump out the water. This was one of my first uses for a solar panel/battery project of mine many years ago. And worked great for watering plants near by. Central air conditioners can fill up a 55 gallon barrel in a day sometimes.. if not two days. So its a great way to recycle water.