While Srila Govinda Maharaj made it clear that the old A/C was sufficient for him. He kindly allowed that some additional cooling was acceptable for the devotees and guests working and visiting there. He also conceded that a backup unit would be useful in case the old one broke down. That, he said, was "Srila Guru Maharaj's system".

The following photo journal outlines the installation process along with more than you'll ever want to know about the workings of an air conditioner.

The air conditioner installer begins unpacking the new LG 2 ton split A/C system for the sitting room.

This split system incorporates an indoor "Blower" and a compressor/heat exchanger that goes outside the building. This is a very efficient system with these advantages: since the compressor is located outside, the only noise inside is that of the "squirrel cage" fan in the "Blower" unit. This type of fan is very quiet and efficient. The outside compressor can be made larger and heavier since it doesn't have to fit in a small window. This makes for a more efficient heat exchange. The largest part of the service required is also for the compressor portion which is easily accessible to the technician and doesn't disturb those indoors.

Lines carrying coolant to and from the blower are attached by the installer.

Here the technician's assistant helps to route the lines through the wall to the compressor unit outside.

Nimai Prabhu, one of the devotees of the Kolkata Math connects new power lines from the main service entrance to a new dedicated outlet for the A/C. He also installed many new electrical outlets to supply the ever growing needs of the power hungry Western devotees with their computers, cameras, phones, battery chargers and so forth.

Here, the installer is running one of the coolant lines to the compressor.

Some welding is required to join some extra lengths of copper tubing running to/from the compressor. The smaller line that he's working on takes the cold compressed coolant from the compressor to the blower where it runs through a series of passages much like the radiator in a car. The fan blows the hot moist air from the room across these cold coils and into the room. As it does, the hot moist air hitting the cooling coils condenses and the water is collected and directed through a hose away from the building. The hot air from the room also heats the cold refrigerant in the coils causing it to expand into a gas. As the liquid expands into gas some of the heat is lost, helping the cooling process.

Left to right- Shamir (the main electrician), Nimai Prabhu (his assistant) and the two A/C installers (Jack and Hussein).

The compressor unit (seen above) uses a pump to pull the heated/expanded refrigerant past another set of coils with a fan blowing across them to help distribute the collected heat into the outside air. As the gas cools it is compressed again into a liquid and the cool liquid runs back to the blower to continue the cooling cycle.

Here's the blower now.

Hanging on the beam above the bookcase at the east end of the room it is so quiet and unobtrusive that Sriman Mahananda remarked it was "conspicuous by its absence".

His Divine Grace Srila Govinda Maharaj sits with the new A/C remote (the white one) close at hand. He was happy with this new facility for the service of the devotees. With everything working very nicely Sripad Goswami Maharaj, referring to the refreshingly cool environment, said "It's like Kailas" [Lord Shiva's mountain home].

Srila Govinda Maharaj sees the new compressor unit sitting above Sripad Mangal Maharaj's window.

Special Note:

This undertaking was made possible by the service of many devotees who were very happy to lend their help. Service donations for this project were offered by Sriman Paramananda Prabhu of Bangkok and the members of the New Jersey Math including Srimati Lila Sundari devi, Sriman Gokulananda Prabhu and Srimati Rita Stokes. Mr. Agarwal the proprietor of the shop that sold us the equipment also offered a Rs. 2,000 donation which was presented to Srila Govinda Maharaj.

Srimati Bhakti Lalita devi helped to arrange some of the donations as did Srimati Malati Priya devi. Sriman Ranajit Prabhu was indispensable as our English/Bengali translator and work coordinator. Sripad Mangal Maharaj was crucial in assisting with many of the tasks at hand, and Sripad Bhakti Prapanna Tirtha Maharaj is always happy to offer his expertise and help with all critical matters that inevitably arise with any job here.

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