When my first child had an accident at home, I realised we hadn't childproofed the house as well as we could have. Thankfully, they were fine, but I learned my lesson and began a thorough inspection of my home and garden. I got to work addressing the various hazards we had overlooked, and I started this blog to help other parents think objectively about the hazards in their own homes. I post about a variety of topics, such as pool safety, choosing a safe garden fence, storing medication and cleaning products, window and door locks and kitchen safety for kids. I hope you find my blog useful and informative.
-
Grow Your Own Apricots 24 October 2016
-
Four Tips for Choosing Shades If You Have a Mobile Impairment 30 September 2016
-
Moving? 3 Sharp Tricks To Cherry-Pick Storage Units On A Tight Budget 16 September 2016
-
Reasons to Have Glass Splashbacks Fitted In Your Kitchen 29 August 2016
-
Home Uses for an Industrial Shed 15 August 2016
Childproofing Your Home And Garden
How to Make a Homemade Air Conditioner
Ana Gonzales
With the constant rise in temperature, it is within reason to look for ways of cooling oneself without necessarily spending a lot of money on air conditioning.
Items required:
- A Styrofoam cooler
- A small electric fan
- A PVC pipe
- Duct tape
- Drill and a cutter
- Ice blocks/packs
- Power source.
Construction
Take the Styrofoam cooler, with its lid on, and cut two holes on to it for placing the PVC pipe and the fan. For easier cutting, first drill a hole onto the container's lid, then use the cutter to cut round the fan's and PVC circumference. The PVC pipe is used to vent out the cool air from the inside the cooler, and for this reason, should be angled to prevent the air from falling back into the cooler. Once the holes are cut, fit the PVC pipe onto the cooler and fasten it securely with the duct tape to ensure that air does not seep out through the hole. Fix the small fan onto the other hole, facing it inside the cooler.
Connecting
Once the pipe and fan are in place and securely fastened using the tape, stretch out the electric fan's cables and connect them to the power source. This power source can be either from an alternating current from an electrical outlet or even a solar powered device, to save on the electric cost. You can test whether or not the connection works by turning the fan on to see if it blows air out of the vent. Be sure to check for any leakage as well.
Operating
Once you have ensured that the fan and vent are operational, you can now place the ice blocks into the cooler. The more ice blocks or packs you place inside the cooler, the cooler the air will be. With a big block of ice, on average one can get between 5 to 8 hours of a functional air conditioning system. However, you can try increasing these hours by applying salt onto the ice block—a salted ice block will melt more slowly than an unsalted block.
Cost
As simple as this gadget sounds, it is inexpensive as well. The total cost of assembling this system is around 30 dollars with items from any general store. The only major items required are the electric fan, the Styrofoam cooler, PVC pipe and the duct tape. The system can as well be assembled within a time of 30 minutes. The downside of this innovation is that it is only practical to a small room, as it is not big enough for a house. But every little bit of air conditioning helps!
Share