Gov. Larry Hogan and Comptroller Peter Franchot were fuming Wednesday that the General Assembly has barred school systems from spending state tax money on portable air conditioners.The General Assembly also put an end to the annual "beg-a-thon," in which local school superintendents appear before the Board of Public Works to ask for more construction money. Hogan said the provisions were major reasons he decided not to sign the capital budget bill, where lawmakers made both changes. The bill will become law without his signature."It's one of the most absurd and ridiculous things I've ever seen the legislature do," Hogan said. The provisions were adopted by a House-Senate conference committee that met last week to resolve differences between the two chambers' versions of the state's annual budget for construction projects.Franchot complained that neither measure was aired in hearings during the legislature's 90-day session and weren't in earlier versions of the bill. He suggested that the move was made secretly and was a shot at him and Hogan."

I think it's a bizarre use of the conference committee," Franchot said. "I don't know who put that language in. the best portable ac unitsNobody's raised their hand and said, 'I did it.'"air conditioner outdoor unit not runningDel. Adrienne Jones, a Baltimore County Democrat who chairs the House capital budget subcommittee, said lawmakers felt that Baltimore City and Baltimore County were making sufficient progress on adding central air conditioning, so it wasn't necessary to spend state tax dollars on portable units that won't last.how are ac units ratedWe're looking at being the best stewards of public money," Jones said.Jones rejected any suggestion that the decision was made in secret. "These are open meetings. Doors are open, anyone can come," said Jones, who led the House negotiators.

While conference committee meetings are open to the public, it can be difficult to determine when and where they will be held. Neither Jones nor Sen. James E. "Ed" DeGrange Sr., her Senate counterpart, knew where the language they adopted originated.For several years, Franchot has pressed local school systems — particularly those in Baltimore city and county — to speed the installation of air conditioning in public school classrooms.Hogan has joined the comptroller in pushing for the installation of portable window units as a quicker solution.But the school systems in the city and county have preferred to spend their money on central air conditioning.While that takes more time and money to install, school officials contend it is a better use of taxpayers' dollars in the long term.Franchot said the legislature's action does a disservice to Maryland families."What about the 40,000 children in Baltimore City and Baltimore County who sit in sweltering hotboxes without air conditioning?" he said.

The Board of Public Works did not require money be spent on portable air conditioners but voted in January to scrap a policy that prevented state money from being spent on portable units in classrooms. The legislature's budget provision undoes that action.Baltimore County did not plan to use state money for portable air-conditioning units, even after the policy was changed, said Ellen Kobler, a spokeswoman for County Executive Kevin Kamenetz.The best way to remedy hot classrooms is to install central air conditioning during major renovation projects, Kobler said. The county aims to have central air conditioning in all schools by 2019.At the beginning of the school year, 48 schools in Baltimore County did not have air conditioning.Baltimore City school officials did not respond to a request for comment. The city school system has been studying the feasibility of installing portable air conditioners, which officials have estimated would cost about $17 million.DeGrange, an Anne Arundel County Democrat, noted that jurisdictions are free to use their own money to buy window units if they choose — as his county has done.

Franchot and Hogan also objected to a provision that says local school officials can't appeal decisions from the Interagency Committee on School Construction to the Board of Public Works on how to allocate state construction money.The appeal process has been dubbed the "beg-a-thon" because it usually involves a full day in January when local school superintendents and other officials go before the three board members to implore them to fund their projects.Last month, the Public School Superintendents Association of Maryland wrote a letter to House Speaker Michael E. Busch and Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller calling the process "unnecessary and redundant.""Our experience has been that the members of the BPW often do not question the construction projects but use the time as a forum to advance political agendas such as financial literacy, declining enrollment, communications to parents, post-Labor Day starts, charter school approvals, and other instructional or operational issues," the letter said.

The superintendents specifically excluded Treasurer Nancy K. Kopp — but not Franchot or Hogan — from their criticism. Kopp, they said, asks "appropriate questions."Franchot said the superintendents object to the "transparency and accountability" of the process. He said members would still be able to quiz superintendents when they appear before the board on other school-related items.DeGrange said the beg-a-thon was an "outdated" event. "It was just a ridiculous process," he said.Life hacks: You've probably seen them. One of the internet's newest fads, their purpose is to show people, "hey, make your life easier by doing this one simple thing you otherwise would never have thought of." Often, the "hack" uses an ordinary household item in place of what could be a pricey novelty gadget; for instance, using a fork to balance tortilla shells instead of a taco holder. But have you ever found yourself wondering if these "simple everyday solutions" are legit? Do they really work? Well, look no further.

Our first Does It Work involves a video posted to YouTube in August 2013. In it, user desertsun02 claims that with seven simple and affordable parts, anyone can turn a five gallon hardware store bucket into a homemade air cooler. With traditional air conditioning units starting around $100 and then adding significant $$$ to energy bills to keep them running, cheap alternatives appeal to just about anyone. But does a 5 gallon bucket, a large block of ice, and a desk fan provide comparable cooling to an actual AC unit? To find out, I'd have to build my own and put it to the test. First, I needed a generic five gallon bucket, which can be found at a major chain hardware store. I then drilled three holes into the side of the bucket using a 2 1/4" hole saw bit for the air vents. Next, I needed a styrofoam insert cooler to drop into the bucket. After sliding the cooler into the bucket, I used the holes I previously drilled as guides for drilling 3 holes into the styrofoam (using a 2 1/8" hole saw bit).

I then inserted a 1 1/2" PVC coupler (found in the plumbing section) into each hole, to function as air vents. Finally, I took an ordinary 6" clip-on fan and used it to measure for holes in the lids of both the styrofoam cooler and bucket and cut those out with a utility knife. I dropped a frozen gallon of water inside, put the lids in place, sat the fan over the hole up top, and ¡voila! Total build time: about an hour. The room I used to test the cooler was enclosed and insulated from external temperature changes, and measured 7'x10'. Using an infrared thermometer, I measured the room temperature of the test room in three locations as well as the coldest point within each of the three air vents on the cooler, every half hour for six hours. I completed the test twice to establish consistency. The air cooler created slightly colder air than an average desk fan would, as evidenced by stable temperatures throughout both tests. The air coming out of the cooler mostly stayed within a range of 57-61 degrees.

This was notably higher than the reading of 45 degrees in the video, but significantly cooler than the temperature of the room, which ranged from 77-81 degrees. Peak outdoor temperatures for the test days were 81 (Day 1) and 82 (Day 2) degrees. The temperature within the room dropped about a degree and a half at first, but never fell any lower. And the decrease was not duplicated on the second test at all. In either test, the room temperature never fell below 77 degrees. In both tests, the gallon jugs split from being frozen, eliminating one of desertsun02's claims of being able to refreeze the water and reuse the ice repeatedly. So back to the original question: Does It Work? The 5-gallon air conditioner, while novel in concept, doesn't produce a significant change in room temperature, nor does it warrant replacing a conventional air conditioner with it. You would be better served sitting in front of an average house fan or biting the bullet and springing for the air conditioner.