Water collection idea, part 2

In part 1, I got the idea to make water condense on the outside of a container, like one can so often see on humid days here in Houston.  However, after running an experiment like that, I found that the water does not necessarily condense the way you want to.

It is necessary to lower the temperature of the air to the dew point where condensation will take place.  On the days that I tried this, humidity must have been low, which prevented the condensation to work the way that I had anticipated.

What if the air was more humid?  I was thinking to recycle the air that I exhale, and run it through a dehumidifier, which is nothing more than a condenser.  The water that comes out of the air is then kept, so I have always liked that idea for water collection, but the energy to run it is too high of a price.  What if I were to lower the price somehow?  Number one, I figured on trucking in some ice for my freezer, which I cannot really use out there, but it could be useful to use as an "icebox".  The "icebox" will keep perishables cold for a few days.  Why not use that ice for climate control, too?

But wait.  Shouldn't the water be cooler if it comes out of a dehumidifier?  If it were cool enough, the air could be directed over it and have a better chance at condensing since it is full of humidity from my nostrils.

Run the air by a heat exchanger before exhausting the air, and hopefully, the water in my breath will condense and can be collected.

The "dehumidifier" can use melted water from the freezer, which should be near freezing.  Air runs through some heat exchanger, and causes condensation.  ( I hope )  Perhaps the water could recirculate until it is too warm for cooling.  Each 18 lb bag of ice has the energy equivalent of 200 watt hours of heat energy.  Instead of paying for the dehumidifier, why not try using this energy instead?  That's a lot of energy to use for no other purpose than to keep food cold.  Let's make it work harder.

At the end of the day, I could have some condensed water, and the use of the ice for food preservation, climate control to boot.

This one goes into the water subseries of the off-the-grid main series of posts.

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