(Editor’s note: This story has been updated below and now features at least one video submitted by a Blaze reader who tried our experiment – and succeeded!)And according to the national heat map from the US Weather Service, the heat is sweeping all across the country. (Today, Las Vegas is expected to smash an all-time high temperature.) However, there is hope. We discovered an easy way to beat the heat without breaking the bank. Thanks to the clever minds at Snapguide, there’s a simple way to build an actual air conditioner for about $20…and in less than 30 minutes. In case you’re not familiar with SnapGuide, the site’s “About” page explains their mission quite simply and clearly. Snapguide is a free iOS app and web service for those that want to create and share step-by-step “how to guides.” Users are invited to create their own guides using the iPhone or iPad app. Snap pictures and videos of your project, add captions, and share your guide with the Snapguide community.

Snapguide user Rory Boyer came up with a very simple way to create a cheap and rather uncomplicated air conditioner. While it is doubtful that you could cool an entire house with this ice chest AC unit, it does appear to be an easy way to add some cool air to any room.cost of running air conditioning unit The material list for the D-I-Y air conditioner is very basic:air handling unit courses The construction process is very simple. ac unit runs inside but not outsideCut a hole for the PVC pipe to vent the cool air. Cut another hole on the top — just slightly smaller than the circumference of the fan (and on angle to prevent it from falling into the cooler). Secure the fan in place with the tape. Add ice packs into the cooler and plug in the fan.

After showing this item to my editor, he challenged me to try and build one myself. After all, I have a history of in the D-I-Y arena. Does anyone recall the D-I-Y Twinkie experiment from November 2012? So, it was off to the store to grab the four items needed to start the adventure. Although the Snapguide article says that you can make this AC unit for $20, it’s probably closer to a $30 price tag. Does the 50% cost increase mean we’re not going to try it? Can you cool a house with it? However, we bet that this unit would significantly lower the temperature of an average sized room. Watch the 3:00 video showing the construction of theBlaze’s $20 $30 D-I-Y Air Conditioner here. Update #1: Many readers have written asking about our D-I-Y project, specifically the ice. How long did the ice last? – We only had enough ice on hand to fill the cooler about 25%, but it stayed viable for over four hours. Loading the cooler with more ice (50-75%) would likely make the air coming out of the exhaust even colder, while extending the time that the unit would run before needing to be replenished.

Update #2: Blaze reader, Matt from Yuma, AZ was tired of dealing with an underperforming car AC unit that was struggling to keep up with the relentless triple-digit temperatures of this past week. So he built the $20 AC system and sent us this video. It appears to be working quite well. Update #3: Another enterprising Blaze reader named Charlotte shared her step-by-step video showing the construction of her AC project. The total cost for her creation was under $18. Charlotte used dryer vent tubing for the cool air exhaust. Watch Charlotte’s project here. We still have room to display your version of the D-I-Y discount AC system. Follow Mike Opelka on Twitter – @stuntbrainWe went through a record-setting heat wave recently in the US. Here in Atlanta, we set an all-time record of 106° F. Homes with properly-sized air conditioners—yeah, yeah, I know they're few and far between—are sized for our design temperature of 92° F and probably didn't stay so cool. I'm sure quite a few homes with air conditioners that appear to be significantly oversized didn't stay cool enough either.

How'd your home do? Every summer you can find lots and lots of tips on how to save energy and keep cool at home: Wear cooler clothes, use your ceiling fans, keep the sun out, go to a movie, get your air conditioner serviced, caulk your windows... Alex Wilson wrote up several cooling tips like this at Green Building Advisor a few weeks ago. I'll mention a few common tips in this article, but I'm also going to discuss some that you may never have seen in an article like this before. Before we get into the actual tips, though, it may be helpful to remember how the whole cooling thing works. Earlier this year, I heard a great expression on the radio: Your air conditioner is the faucet; the building envelope of your home is the cup. If you have a leaky cup, your air conditioner has to work harder. If your AC is already doing all it can, you may need to take a look at your building envelope. Also, to return to the metaphor, a leak in your water pipe may make it impossible to fill up the cup, even it's not leaking much.

Here are three questions to ask as you try to keep cool with an air conditioner that struggles on those really hot days: Let's dive into the tips now. I'm focusing here on existing homes. Whether it's a brand new home you just moved into or a hundred years old, the home is already there, so some design options are off the table. 1. Keep the sun out. Windows can be the largest contributors to your heat gain. When the sun shines directly into the house, it usually brings a lot of heat, too, unless you have really good windows (with low solar heat gain coefficients). Solar screens on the outside of the window are great for keeping heat out. You might also consider some temporary shading for the east- and west-facing windows on those superhot days. 2. Seal the strange air leaks. Most of the standard energy-saving advice tells you to caulk your windows and weatherstrip your doors. The problem with that is you're ignoring some of the much bigger leaks, like, say, crawl space vents that open into conditioned space or a hole in the kitchen ceiling that acts as a refrigerator vent (photo at right).

Look around in your attic, crawl space, or basement, and you'll find the worst offenders. 3. Reduce the surface temperatures. Some parts of your home may be hotter than others. For example, you may have a bonus room that's rarely comfortable. Attic kneewalls with ineffective insulation are often the culprit there. Get the insulation in the cavities and put sheathing on the attic side of the kneewalls. Naked people need building science in summer as well as winter. 4. Change your filter. Most people let them get too dirty, and this is one of the most common reasons for poor performance in air conditioners. A dirty filter adds resistance and reduces air flow. Go ahead and check it now. I'll wait till you get back. 5. Improve air flow. In addition to the air filter, your AC may have other types of air flow problems. If the evaporator coil is dirty, not enough air moves across it and your home doesn't cool off as well as it should. If the condenser coil is dirty, it won't dump enough heat to the outside.

If your condenser coil is crowded with vegetation or other obstacles, clear it out. You can trim the bushes yourself, but you should probably call a pro to clean the coils. 6. Look for disconnected ducts. If your ducts are outside of the conditioned space in your home, check to see if anything has come loose. Fixing a supply duct that's sending all its cool air to the attic or crawl space (as shown below) can have an immediate impact on your comfort. This problem is more common than you may think.OK, I know this one's not uncommon, but if your air conditioner is doing all it can but your home still isn't quite cool enough on those really hot days, moving the air over your skin may be just what you need to stay comfortable. Remember, though, that fans don't cool the air; Turn off ones that are in empty rooms because they're using energy and adding more heat to your home. Need to buy a new ceiling fan? They now come with energy efficiency labels showing how energy efficient they are.

8. Use a window air conditioner. If you've done everything above and your home is still uncomfortably hot, installing a window unit AC could give you just enough extra cooling to help you make it throught the heat wave. They're ugly and noisy and may be against the rules where you live. They use more power, which adds to the strain on the electricity grid, and may contribute more to global warming. Still, if you've got an energy efficient home with a right-sized air conditioner, this could be the best way to handle those heat waves when temperatures go well above what your central air conditioner was designed for. It's a much better solution than installing an oversized system just so you have enough capacity to handle the extreme heat events. A more expensive and permanent alternative to the window unit would be a ductless mini-split heat pump. 9. Get a home energy assessment. Trained home energy auditors can find the problems I listed above and more and recommend solutions. They also have equipment to measure how leaky your ducts are, for example, as well as the surface temperatures of your floors, walls, and ceilings.

Check out my advice for choosing a home energy auditor. Turn off your power attic ventilators. If you have power attic ventilators in the attic, have them disconnected so they don't run. They may well be robbing cool air from your home. If your air conditioner repair company suggests replacing your unit with a larger one to deal with heat waves, be wary. Air conditioners don't dehumidify well if they don't have long runtimes, and remember that heat waves don't last forever and we don't have bad ones every year. If your AC can't keep up when it's hotter than normal outside, use the advice above to make it through. Your home will be more comfortable and efficient for it even when the temperatures return to normal. Your HVAC System Is the Faucet; The Building Envelope Is the Cup How Energy Efficient Is Your Ceiling Fan? Does Your Bonus Room Need More Air Conditioning? How to Sheathe an Attic Kneewall — And How Not to Naked People Need Building Science