The California Cooler is a revival of an old technology driven by an insight that's overlooked in these days of engineered indoor environments: Cool air keeps things cool. In the days before refrigerators, pantries in Northern California homes had outside vents that preserved perishables throughout cool nights. With this project, you can bring them back. Afraid your baby's seat is getting too hot? A cooler, a bilge pump, freezer packs and tubing will keep you and your baby cool.Dew Bucket: An Evaporative Drink Cooler Consider these two facts: Evaporation cools things, and bottles can't sweat like people. If they could, they would be able to keep their own contents cool. Here's a way to give your drinks their own perspiration system. This is a $10 air-conditioner built around an ice chest. The coolant is, you guessed it, ice. It's practical and cheap, but even if you don't plan to make one, click through to read the back story of how it was conceived. The main character is an electric truck circa 1979, with cameos by store-bought $500 portable A/Cs and a Tesla Roadster.Garden-Watering A/C

Air conditioners can dump hundreds of gallons of water each year. prices of new ac unitsWith a pump and some creative pipe work, you can channel that otherwise wasted water into your garden.how much does ac units cost The mastermind behind these instructions built an air conditioner to circumvent a rule in the office. how much does a central ac unit costApparently, they can't use A/C, but fans are just fine. So, this DIYer rigged an A/C by pumping cold water in an ice chest through copper tubing positioned in front of a fan blade.>CONTINUED: 5 More DIY A/C's >>> DIY Air Conditioner With Heat Exchanger Ugly and effective, this air conditioner costs as much as you'd pay to run a fan and water the lawn at the same time. If the water coming into your home is cold in the summer, you can divert it through a maze of copper pipes with aluminum fins, place the contraption in front of a fan, and voila: The water cools the house on its way to the lawn.

Salvage a computer fan, power it with a solar cell, and surround it with wet cloth. That's the gist of this mini solar A/C. At $5, it's cheap too. You could place a half dozen of these around the house. Just make sure they match the curtains. On smoldering hot days, Rob Patto derives smug satisfaction knowing that the same sun that keeps him huddled indoors is also cooling his home. Here, he describes how he gutted an evaporative cooler and cobbled his A/C together from salvaged and new parts. /id/DIY-Solar-Setup/Tiny, Portable USB Fan Air Conditioner Using only a tin can, a CD, a computer fan and ice, this is a brilliant design for a tiny air conditioner. The best thing about these instructions are that their maker doesn't speak English as a first language, so they're concise and rely heavily on photos.How to Make a Stirling Engine Fan This must-do DIY project turns a stack of two soft-drink cans, a balloon and some intricately folded wire into a goofy and brilliant rotating area fan.

User ReviewedHow to Make an A/C Unit for $15 Whether you have only a sporadic need for air conditioning or are looking for an alternative to beat the heat during storm season (and power is often lost), you don’t have to suffer or pay thousands of dollars to stay cool. Fill the plastic gallon jug with water and place in freezer. Get your bucket make sure you clean it first. Grab your power drill. Drill three large holes approximately 2” apart along the top 2/3 portion of the gallon bucket. Obtain a bucket liner or an ice box that would fit inside the bucket. Drop bucket liner into the bucket Drill through liner following the pre-drilled holes you already created. Get a PVC pipe and cut into three 1.5” pieces. Push one piece of PVC pipe through each hole so at least half of the pipe is inside the bucket. Obtain a desk fan. Find something that can run using batteries and being plug in. Remove parts you won't need from the fan like the stand or base.

Trace around the mouth of the fan with your pencil onto the lid. You want a close measurement, as you will be placing the fan on top of the lid. Center your measurement so they fan distributes air inside the bucket evenly. Cut out tracing using your box cutter or craft knife.You will want to either have a power source nearby or use a battery-operated fan. If your fan has a usb plug in a power bank or batteries. Place the frozen gallon of water inside the bucket. Or as an option you could fill it with cubed ice and add salt for it last longer. Replace the gallon lid so you have a tight fit. Place the fan mouth on top of the hole you cut and make sure the fan covers the entire hole (it should be a perfect fit). Turn on fan and feel the air begin to cool immediately. This should provide up to 6 hours of A/C. Use batteries in case of power failure. Show more unanswered questions Adult supervision is necessary to build this unit. Place unit on a stool or chair for direct use.

If you can't take the heat - build your own air conditioner!One man found a way to cool off without spending big bucks, constructing his own makeshift AC from cheap, simple supplies.'If you don't have AC and want to save some money to cool down a room in your house, don't spend $300 on a portable air conditioner,' he said in a new how-to video from Household Hacker. 'Just build your own for $8 and 10 minutes of your time.' Cheap chill: Household Hacker offers a step-by-step video guide to building a homemade 'air conditioner' for just $8, using these supplies Step one: Trace lines tightly around two vents on either side of the Styrofoam cooler lid; if using a weaker fan, just use one vent Styrofoam coolerTwo dryer ventsSmall household fanIce-filled water bottles and bags of ice cubesSharpie marker or pen for tracingKeyhole saw or kitchen knife for cuttingVacuum for cleaning  To get started, the video's narrator says that anyone who attempts to put together his or her own homemade air conditioner will need a standard Styrofoam cooler

, one or two dryer vents, and a small fan.'First, we're gonna need to place the vents on the lid of the cooler, and trace around them, because we're gonna be cutting holes in just a second,' he says.He uses two vents and sits them on opposite sides of the lid, but recommends limiting to just one vent if using a weak fan.Then, the narrator draws with a Sharpie marker along the outside of each of the vents, explaining that lines should be traced as closely to the vents as possible.'Once that's done, grab your fan and also trace around that,' he continues. 'Now we just need to do a little cutting,' he says. While he used a small keyhole saw from his toolbox, he explains that a simple kitchen knife would work just as well.He continues: 'Just carefully cut out all the holes that you traced, one by one. For the fan hole, I went inside the lines a bit, so it has something to sit on top of. It doesn't have to be perfect, but you want to make sure that the air from the fan has a direct path into the cooler.'

Step two: Trace around the outside of a small house fan, placed in the center of the lid Step three: Cut out around the traced figures of the vents with a keyhole saw or a kitchen knifeAfter cutting, he suggests using a vacuum to suck up stray Styrofoam. Otherwise, the fan may later blow it all over the room.Now for the cooling element. The narrator instructs viewers to put several water bottles in the freezer until they are frozen solid.Then, he demonstrates placing the bottles of ice - along with several ice packs - inside the cooler, before closing the lid. Step four: Cut slightly within the lines traced around the fan so it has something to sit on; the fan will be placed face-down on the lid Step five: Fill the Styrofoam cooler with bottles and bags of ice, then close the lid Step six: Place the fan and vents in their holes in the lid and turn the fan on; the air will blow off the ice and out through the vents, cooling the roomWith the vents and fan in place in their respective holes, the man turns the fan on, explaining that the air blows over the ice and exit through the vents, creating an air conditioning effect.