How you can make your own air conditioner at home?

Keeping our homes cool becomes more crucial for comfort and wellbeing as the temperature rises. Traditional air conditioners work well, but they can be costly to buy and maintain. Thankfully, there are other ways to keep your house cool, and building your own air conditioner at home is one of them.

Not only can you make your own DIY air conditioner to save money, but you can also tailor it to meet your own requirements. There are a number of designs and techniques you can look into, each with their own advantages and things to consider, whether you’re trying to cool a small space or an entire home.

Using easily accessible materials like a fan, a cooler or bucket, ice packs, or frozen water bottles is one of the simplest DIY air conditioner designs. You can set up a temporary cooling system that works well to reduce the temperature in a room by arranging the fan so that it blows air over the ice packs or frozen bottles that are placed in front of it.

The construction of a homemade evaporative cooler, commonly referred to as a "swamp cooler," may provide a more long-term solution for individuals in search of one. This kind of air conditioner uses evaporation’s cooling properties to its advantage. The device chills the air before redistributing it throughout the space by blowing air over pads soaked in water or through a moist cloth.

Additionally, building a solar-powered air conditioner could be a fulfilling project if you enjoy do-it-yourself projects and are handy with tools. By using solar panels to create electricity, you can cool the air without using the grid by using a fan or compressor, which is ultimately more economical and environmentally beneficial than using the grid.

It’s important to think about a number of things before starting any do-it-yourself air conditioning project, including the size of the space you want to cool, the local climate, and your budget. Although they can be useful, do-it-yourself air conditioners might not cool as well as commercial models. But if you’re creative and willing to try new things, you can come up with a cooling solution that suits you and keeps you cool on those sweltering summer days.

How an ordinary air conditioner functions?

Prior to evaluating the merits and drawbacks of DIY coolers, it is beneficial to comprehend the components and operation of conventional split-systems. A climate installation like this is made up of various components and parts:

• external and internal radiator, called a heat exchanger;
• radiators are connected with each other by copper tubes, where a gaseous substance – Freon (technical name – refrigerant) circulates;
• a compressor is installed on one line, which creates overpressure and forces the Freon to move through the tubes and condense;
• The second line is equipped with a special expansion valve.

Vital. The ability of Freon to vaporize at low temperatures, which allows heat energy to be transferred from the room to the street, is the basis for the operation principle of a refrigerating machine, which doubles as an air conditioner.

In a closed loop, the refrigerant is continuously circulating, vaporizing in one heat exchanger and condensing in the other. This is how the heat transfer algorithm appears:

1. Freon enters the internal radiator (it is also the internal module of the split-system) in liquid form. The flow of room air blown by the fan passes through the heat exchanger fins, which heats up the refrigerant and vaporizes it. At this moment there is an intensive heat extraction from the room air environment.
2. Next, the gaseous Freon enters the compressor, which increases its pressure. The purpose is to compress the substance to such an extent that it condenses in the outdoor radiator, where the temperature is even higher than in the room.
3. Once in the external heat exchanger, blown by its fan, the refrigerant changes to a liquid state and moves through the tube back into the room. At the moment of transition, it gives back to the outside air the heat it has taken from the room.
4. On the way back the liquid Freon passes through the expansion valve lowering the pressure so that it could evaporate in the internal radiator. The cycle then repeats.

An operational schematic of an air conditioner

Note: An electronic unit uses a variety of sensors to help it control every process that takes place in the split system.

As you can see, a factory conditioner’s mechanism and working principle are highly intricate. A technically proficient expert in this field can accomplish it at home, but the average user cannot. Also, you’ll need to shell out a lot of cash for replacement parts. The designs of homemade cooling devices are much easier and less expensive to produce.

Variants of homemade air conditioners

Home improvement enthusiasts create the following types of air coolers using unconventional tools and materials:

• devices that operate on cold water;
• apparatuses that extract cold from ice;
• Homemade air conditioners from portable or old household refrigerators.

In the first two versions, a basic axial fan from a home appliance (like a computer) blows water and ice, providing cold. With some restrictions, the third approach enables you to put together a gadget that is roughly equivalent to a full-fledged air conditioner. A detailed consideration of the technical realization of these variants is warranted.

Assembling a cooler from a car radiator

These kinds of units function based on the time-tested, conventional theory and resemble industrial calorifiers or water heat fans in terms of design. The concept involves passing water that has reached the desired temperature through a radiator and having a fan blow air out of it. Depending on the temperature of the flowing water, the air that passes through the heat exchanger ribs is cooled by 5 to 15 degrees Celsius.

Parts needed to put the air conditioner together

Important point. One important benefit of calorifiers is their ability to heat the air flow in the winter and cool the air in the summer. It is sufficient to direct hot water rather than cold water from the heating system into the radiator in order to switch the mode.

You will need the following to improvise a winter-summer air conditioner at home:

• Vehicle cooling system radiator in good condition;
• floor household fan with a large impeller;
• Plastic or metal tray with low sides, equal in length to the size of the radiator;
• An enclosure where the above elements can be built in (e.g. from an old TV set);
• connecting hoses and adapters;
• clamps and fasteners.

The TV case houses the radiator and fan.

Advice: Invest in a fan with a remote control unit for increased comfort when using the air conditioner.

The radiator needs to be connected to the water hoses.

You can use materials you already have at home to make the cooler’s body and drip tray. The latter’s function is to gather condensate that the temperature differential between the circulating water and the flowing stream causes to form on the radiator’s ribs. Assembly is completed in the following order:

1. Check the automobile radiator for leaks, if necessary, seal the leaks or seal them with cold welding compound. Then install its housing and attach it with steel angles and self-tapping screws (bolts).
2. At the bottom under the radiator, attach the drip tray. If the sides are too low and the tank becomes quickly filled with condensate, attach a pipe to it to drain the water into the sewer system.
3. Install the fan impeller at the back of the heat exchanger, separating it from the rack with control buttons.
4. Attach hoses for water supply and drainage to the radiator pipes. This completes the assembly.

A condensate tray needs to be located underneath the radiator.

Connect the hoses to the cold water source and the fan to the power source to turn on the DIY air conditioner. This could be a pump that raises water from a borehole or well, or it could be your home’s water supply. The last two options are better because the average temperature of subterranean aquifers is between 8 and 14 °C. Use it to water the vegetable garden or return it to the sewer using a big prefabricated barrel.

The entire system can be easily mounted on the wall in the garage.

Citation. Watering plants in the summer with cold water from a well is highly undesirable. By running it through the radiator, you’ll accomplish two goals at once: you’ll cool the space and warm the water for the vegetable garden.

Homemade unit from a radiator – video

Compact air conditioner from a plastic bottle

Ice is required for this DIY gadget to function, so having a functional refrigerator or freezer is essential. However, the cooler will be small and very efficient for, say, a small room in the apartment. The idea is straightforward: ice is put inside a container, which is adequately cooled by air blown through it by a fan. To put the conditioner together, you’ll need:

• A large plastic bottle with a capacity of 5, or better 9 liters;
• household duct fan, which are used for bathroom exhaust;
• thin clothesline;
• plastic folder;
• knife and a drill with a drill bit 8-10 mm.

Components needed to assemble the cooler

Advice: The fan should meet two basic requirements: it should be inexpensive and compact. You can also modify a cooler from a computer if you’d like, but the cooler’s functionality will be much compromised.

The bottle’s neck is removed, and a second rope bottom is attached.

It only takes an hour or so to make an air conditioner, and there are several steps involved:

1. Cut out the neck of the bottle with a knife so that the fan housing fits into the opening as tightly as possible.
2. At a height of 7-10 cm from the bottom of the bottle, drill a wall in a circle. The distance between the holes is no more than 5 cm.
3. Threading a clothesline through the holes, make a mesh overlapping the cross-section of the container.
4. Cut a circle out of a plastic folder with a diameter equal to the size of the bottle. Drill holes in it, and then place it inside the container on the rope mesh.

When a plastic circle is positioned over the rope, the casing is prepared.

Place more ice on the second plastic folder-made bottom of the cooler, insert a fan into the neck cutout, and plug it in to turn it on. Once inside, the blasted air will cool down through the ice and exit through the side apertures.

The device works by inserting ice inside the case and placing a fan on top of it.

Advice: Freeze the ice in plastic cups rather than a special mold to extend its shelf life. Larger pieces that take longer to melt will result from this. Using commercially available cold batteries in place of ice is an additional choice.

An air conditioner can be created by integrating a fan and a pipe into the lid of a portable refrigerator.

The same applies to turning a portable refrigerator into a cooling device. Instead of using a plastic bottle, it has an insulated casing that is filled with frozen water in little containers or cold accumulators.

Prefabricated units for cold storage

Video on making a cooler with your own hands

Air conditioning from an old refrigerator

The refrigerator can be used to cool the room because it functions on the same principle as the air conditioner. Preserving the functionality of the old refrigerator’s compressor and heat exchangers is crucial; failure to do so will result in costly repairs and Freon pumping. What more is required:

• household fan;
• 2 coolers from a computer;
• fastening elements;
• Locksmith tool for disassembling the old refrigerator.

Remove heat exchangers carefully so as not to damage the Freon pipes.

It should be noted that assembling such a construction will only be feasible in a private home; apartment residents will not have this option. You’ll see why after that.

You must place coolers inside the freezer.

You can either disassemble the heat exchangers, compressor, and tubes and rebuild it, or you can keep them in the original case. Moving the compressor outside and the external radiator, which is black in color, is a challenge. Without taking out the refrigerator’s interior, the entire appliance may be built into a wall opening if it is big enough. Only the internal heat exchanger will fit through the narrow wall opening. It requires careful cutting open of the refrigerator case in order to remove it without rupturing the tubes’ tightness. Next, carry out the following steps:

1. Attach the black outer radiator to the wall outside, and the inner radiator indoors. To make the latter look decent, make a decorative case for it.
2. The impeller of the household fan is fixed so that it blows the compressor and the external radiator.
3. Place the coolers inside the heat exchanger that used to serve as a freezer.

The compressor and heat exchanger should be surrounded by the fan.

An old refrigerator’s air conditioning will never turn off unless you do it yourself. The automation is designed to cut off the compressor at the internal module’s temperature minus 5 °C, which is not feasible in the middle of summer. The second nuance is that since the unit isn’t meant to cool big rooms, installing it there is pointless since it won’t do anything.

Refrigerators with built-in apertures: back view

Important: Make sure the device is grounded before connecting to the power grid to prevent electrocution of your loved ones in the event of a malfunction or short circuit.

Air conditioner from a refrigerator in the video

Simplified designs for the home

A water heat exchanger coupled with a standard floor fan is one such design. You must spirally wind a copper tube and fasten it to the fan’s protective grille in order to create such a crude cooler. Plastic clamps used to repair automotive wiring can be used for mounting. The fan is plugged into the network, and the ends of the tube are connected to the water supply.

The fan grille is directly attached to the copper tube.

Note: The copper heat exchanger’s useful area is too small, and the tap water is not cold enough in the described construction, making it inefficient. The impeller’s air flow cools the air just a little bit.

The window opening is where the bottle air conditioner is located.

The original design was created in an African nation without electricity and with a typical high temperature. The principle behind the device’s operation is the law of physics, which states that a gas’s temperature will drop by a few degrees (up to 5 °C) when it undergoes a sudden contraction and expansion. You need to use twelve of these necks in order to obtain more cooled air because the neck of the same plastic bottle acts as such a constriction.

Drill through the plywood and cut the bottles to create it.

An energy-efficient air conditioner is constructed as follows:

1. Cut a piece of plywood or fiberboard the size of the window opening to be opened. Check how many bottles can be placed on it closely together.
2. Cut off the necks of all the bottles and twist the corks. Then place them on a sheet of plywood and mark the centers of the holes with a pencil.
3. Make the holes with a crown drill, whose diameter matches the neck. Insert the cut bottles into them.
4. Attach plywood to the outside of the window opening so that the bottles stick out into the street.

The bottles are simply inserted into the holes for assembly.

The gadget works well in summer homes where other solutions are impractical because of insufficient water supplies or power outages.

Make your own DIY air conditioner to beat the heat! It’s not necessary to spend a fortune to turn your house into a refreshing retreat. You can make your own air conditioner at home with a few basic supplies and a little imagination. There’s a setup for every budget and skill level, from using commonplace items like fans and ice to building more complex setups with coolers and PVC pipes. In addition to providing relief from oppressive heat waves, do-it-yourself air conditioning allows you to take charge of your comfort level while conserving energy and money. Explore our guide to learn useful advice and detailed instructions for using your DIY air conditioner to beat the heat.

Video instruction on how to assemble a non-volatile cooling device

Materials Needed	Steps to Build
Fan, Cooler Box, Ice Packs	1. Place ice packs in cooler box. 2. Position fan on top of cooler box. 3. Turn on fan for cool air circulation.

Constructing a DIY air conditioner at home can be an economical and useful way to combat the summer heat. You can create a cozy interior setting without going over budget by using basic supplies and simple instructions.

The affordability of building your own air conditioner is one of its main advantages. Buying and maintaining a traditional air conditioner can be costly, particularly if you’re on a limited budget. DIY air conditioners are an affordable alternative because they usually only require a small investment in materials, many of which you may already have on hand.

Additionally, DIY air conditioners provide you with the flexibility and customization options to meet your unique needs. You can customize your DIY air conditioner to fit your preferences and space needs, whether you’d rather have a larger setup for central air conditioning or a portable unit for specialized cooling in different areas of your house.

The satisfaction of making something practical with your own hands is another benefit of building your own air conditioner. Putting together and testing your own air conditioner can be an enjoyable and fulfilling project that gives you a sense of success. It also gives you the opportunity to learn important information about how air conditioning systems operate, which will enable you to troubleshoot and maintain your unit more skillfully down the road.

Although do-it-yourself air conditioners can be useful for offering brief cooling relief from the heat, it’s important to recognize their limitations. The cooling capacity and energy efficiency of these do-it-yourself units might not match that of commercial air conditioners. It’s critical to set reasonable expectations and realize that DIY air conditioners work best for small-scale cooling requirements or as supplemental cooling when used in conjunction with other strategies like insulation or fans.

To sum up, building your own air conditioner at home can be a useful, economical, and satisfying project. You can make a personalized cooling solution that keeps you cool in hot weather by using easily accessible materials and simple instructions. Even though DIY air conditioners might not perform as well as their commercial counterparts, they are still a good choice for people looking to beat the heat without going over budget. So why not give it a shot and use your own DIY air conditioner to cool off in this heat?

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