If you’re looking for a small, cheap way to cool a small area, it’s pretty easy to make your own “evaporative cooler.” Also known as “swamp coolers,” it’s basically any system that uses a fan to blow out rising cool water vapor. All you need is a fan, an ice chest, water and a few ice packs. How fancy you get after that is a matter of how much effort you want to put it to make it as efficient as possible, and whether you want it to be portable. Here’s a few Instructables to get you started:

Portable 12V Air Conditioner –Cheap and easy!
Homemade “air conditioner” (uses a closed loop of copper tubes to run water around the fan)
Home Made Air Conditioner II This one is ridiculously easy to make.

Have you ever made one of these? How did it work out? Sound off in the comments.

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