You don't need to spend a bundle to stay cool in hot weather. Be inspired to build a DIY evaporative cooler with one of these project ideas.
When it's summer in the Northern Hemisphere, it's winter in the Southern Hemisphere, and vice versa. And if you live in the tropics, it's nearly always hot. Staying cool doesn't need to be expensive, though: here are some innovative swamp cooler designs which you can use to beat the heat.
A swamp cooler, known more formally as an evaporation cooler, is the ultimate in low-tech cooling systems. They're cheap to make and rely on the fact that heat is needed to turn water into vapor, and that heat is taken from the air to do it. Think of how you can cool down by laying a wet cloth on your forehead. Swamp coolers work best in dry climates, and indoors. If it's sweltering outside, and you're stuck in your apartment without an air conditioning unit, you should try one of these DIY project ideas.
The first homemade swamp cooler on our list is so well-designed and executed, it looks like you could have bought it from Walmart. Using a bucket with strategically placed holes, along with cleaning cloths to provide wicking via capillary action, the design provides maximum evaporation from water or ice placed in the bucket.
Cooling is helped along by a 6V USB desk fan in the bucket lid, which the Instructables guide suggests can be powered by a cheap solar panel. The maker claims that their innovative design manages to cool a room average temperature from 25°C to 16°C (77°F to 61°F) throughout the day. All equipment for this swamp cooler was bought at a dollar store.
This extraordinary-looking swamp cooler would definitely look out of place in Walmart, and the parts can't be found in a dollar store, either. The author of this post-apocalyptic Instructables project suggests using it while camping or at the Burning Man festival, and it requires the use of a mains power source.
In addition to a holey bucket, you'll need a 12V 120mm fan, a 12V submersible pump with a 158 gallons per hour capacity, cooling pads, and a variety of hoses and pipes—bringing the total cost to $50. If budget isn't a problem and your assembly skills are up to scratch, this cooler is perfect for bringing hot places down to a tolerable temperature.
While the previous entries on this list have used off-the-shelf parts from dollar stores and Home Depot, you'll need some serious skills to create this next Instructables project. The author has designed the swamp cooler to look and behave as a high-performance appliance which wouldn't look out of place in any industrial or commercial situation.
The process requires welding and sheet metal working skills, a drill press with various drill bits and taps, and several types of saw. The material list also makes it clear that this swamp cooler means business. Along with a minimum of two fans, you need sheet metal, various sizes of heat shrink tube, speaker cloth, and a bilge pump. There's no way you'll be able to run the contraption from a cheap solar-powered battery bank, so power transformers and extension cables are also required. The results are seriously impressive.
This unobtrusive redneck swamp cooler is a neat one-foot cube, assembled from plastic panels, vinyl tubing, and an extreme amount of duct tape. It requires a submersible pump and a high-powered fan to operate.
The author of the Instructables guide stresses that it's a time-consuming project which could potentially take up your entire summer vacation. It gets great results, dropping the temperature in a 90 square foot room by a full 10 degrees!
Sometimes the simplest options are the best choice. If you don't have the time, inclination, or skills to gather the materials and create one of the marvelous inventions detailed above, you can use whatever you have lying around the house.
The simplest Instructables project on this list can be set up and used within minutes, as it's essentially a standard household fan blowing air over a wet cloth, towel, or item of clothing. It's super-easy and effective, as well as being a great way to dry your laundry. The downside to this design is that rather than relying on a reservoir or bucket or water, the evaporation potential is limited to the water contained in a wet cloth—or the size of your soggy laundry pile.
Evaporative coolers are an essential for the summer and autumn heat, and no matter what skills you have, it's easy to make a DIY cooler which suits you—whether it's a simple fan blowing air over a pile of laundry or a precision-machined, high-powered industrial unit. Once you're nice and cool, you can try out some other great summer DIY projects!
David is a freelance writer with a background in print journalism. He has written for newspapers in the United Kingdom and the Middle East. He is a terrible guitar player, and he spends his free time touring the British Isles, off-grid, with his caravan and dogs. Occasionally, he writes books. No-one likes them. See what he's up to at davidrutland.com
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