During the hot season, everyone faces the problem of high temperature and nowadays there are many solutions for it. Some use fans, and some use more functional devices, air conditioners. Such devices are not cheap, but they are distinguished by excellent quality and functionality. Those who want to save a tidy sum are wondering: how to make an air conditioner with your own hands? First you need to familiarize yourself with the operating principle of such a device and several options for making homemade equipment. This is what this article will discuss.

Operating principle of the air conditioner

A modern device that regulates the indoor microclimate consists of several main parts:

• Cooling radiator - reduces the temperature by evaporating the refrigerant.
• A blower unit is a device that attracts warm air.
• Condenser - condenses refrigerant vapor.
• Compressor - pumps out the refrigerant from the cooling radiator and transfers it to the condenser.

The operating principle of this device is to cool the air by absorbing warm air from the atmosphere.

How to make air conditioner yourself?

In order to make an air conditioner with your own hands at home, you will need only two basic elements:

• Cooling block - reduces the air temperature level.
• Blower unit - circulates cold air throughout the room.

Important! Other elements to create a homemade design are not required, since they play a secondary role - the continuity of operation of the cooler. However, there is one important nuance - this technique will work as long as the temperature of the cooling unit is less than the air temperature in the room. In most cases, this problem can only be solved if the unit is replaced.

Several options for creating homemade cooling equipment

Using the information below, you can easily make climate control equipment yourself. The main advantage of making climate control units at home is that you don’t have to bother with the condenser and refrigerant, as this takes a lot of time. The only thing you need is a cold stream of air and imagination. Let's take a look at several creative ideas for creating climate control devices for cooling air.

Ice and cold air

When using this option, the role of the cooling unit is played by containers with frozen water, and the blower is a regular fan. The assembly diagram of such a device is as follows:

1. Take a plastic bottle with a tightly closed lid.
2. We cut two holes in the lid: the first should coincide with the distance in the fan grille, and the second with a diameter of no more than 1 centimeter.
3. A special square is inserted into the second hole; an L-shaped part will appear above the lid.
4. We attach the fan to the first hole using self-tapping screws.
5. Place ice cubes or cold water in a container.

Important! The advantage of this option is that no special effort or investment is required. However, there is a need to constantly add water or add ice.

Fan and cold water

In this case, we do not use ice, but ordinary cold water. Let's start making homemade climate control equipment:

1. Place two tubes in a large plastic container (one short, the other long).
2. We attach an aquarium compressor to the neck of the container, which will suck in the pipe connected to the hose.
3. A fan is attached to the lid of the container, on the grille of which a copper tube in the form of a spiral is fixed.
4. The ends of the spiral are connected to a pipe and a short hose, which is located at the bottom of the barrel.
5. A special clamp is attached to the short hose, which limits the movement of liquid back into the barrel.

When the fan is turned on, the copper spiral will be filled with water, and cold air will be evenly distributed throughout the room.

Important! From time to time, the water inside the barrel will have to be changed to colder water, since after a certain period it will reach room temperature, and the benefit of such an installation will be lost.

Air conditioner from an old refrigerator

This option is recommended only for experienced craftsmen, since the refrigerator itself contains many parts unknown to the average person. In order to make an air conditioner from a refrigerator with your own hands, you should follow the following instructions:

1. Unscrew the doors from the freezer and refrigerator compartments.
2. Attach an electric fan to the freezer without damaging the walls.
3. Using a drill, make several holes in the bottom of the case (1.5 cm).
4. Remove the condenser grille outside the room using plastic film.

Important! Do you like to make things with your own hands? Our specialists have also prepared many more interesting useful tips for you. We have prepared separate articles for you:

The heat, even if it has been expected for a long time, still hits us suddenly. The rains, of course, are boring, but the scorching heat also exhausts and reduces the ability to work. It’s good to have a split system, but few people think about it in winter or rainy spring. And in the summer, its purchase and installation turn into a hole in the family budget.

Some craftsmen decide to make a home air conditioner with their own hands, using improvised means and inexpensive materials. The idea of ​​assembling a budget homemade product is quite attractive, but before you begin to implement it, you need to evaluate the effectiveness of such a unit and study the technology of its manufacture, don’t you agree?

We invite you to familiarize yourself with the different options for constructing a home air conditioner. Among the proposed technologies, you will definitely choose the appropriate solution and be able to assemble the cooling device yourself. Step-by-step guides and photo instructions will help you implement your plans.

Before you try to make an air conditioner yourself, it would be good to understand what this device is, how it works and what effect can be expected from its operation.

An air conditioner is a technically complex device that was originally used only to cool the room in the summer. Over time, air conditioner models have improved and become more complex.

So, it makes sense to try to make your own device that has the advantages of factory air conditioners and is devoid of at least a few of their disadvantages.

What can you do with your own hands?

Please note that we do not strive to outperform factory products. It is unlikely that we will be able to achieve the same cooling power.

Our goal is to build a device that does not consume a lot of energy, is inexpensive and, in case of ineffectiveness, can be thrown into a box and trash without regret. But imagine how this homemade product will please you if you are successful!

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Cardboard box tricks

The basis of this design is the same table fan and ice. But the device turns out to be quite interesting, so we decided to show it to you. The best part is that all the valuable components of this device can be easily returned to their original position without losing their functionality.

We will need:

• a corrugated cardboard box large enough to accommodate a large saucepan;
• the pan itself;
• table fan with protective grille;
• wide tape;
• gypsy needle and raw thread;
• scissors, stationery knife;
• ruler or tape measure and marker;

We need to make a box without a bottom from the corrugated cardboard of the box according to the size of our pan. The pan should fit tightly into this box, that is, match it in length and width, but the height of the box must exceed the pan by 15-20 cm.

To do this, we cut out the box with a stationery knife and cut off its bottom and lid. We roll the box according to the markings, gluing its edges and edges with tape in 2-3 layers.

The finished box (top view) should not have any holes on the side surfaces, except for a slot equipped with blinds, which is clearly visible in the photo on the left

There should be no holes in the walls of the box. We cut out a square box lid from the remnants of corrugated cardboard. It's better to make it two-layer.

In its center we mark a circle, the diameter of which should be 2-2.5 cm greater than the span of the fan impeller, so that its blades fit freely into the cut out round hole and do not touch the edges during their rotation. We secure the lid in its place with tape.

At the level of the upper edge of the pan placed in the box, we cut out a rectangle 3.5-4 cm high in its wall. The length of this “embrasure” can be different, but it should not reach 4 cm to each of the side edges of the box in order for the structure to preserve rigidity.

Cooled air will flow out from this cutout. And to control the flow, you need to build blinds for it.

To do this, we cut out two strips from corrugated cardboard, the length of which is 4-5 mm less than the cutout, and the width is 5 mm greater. We connect these strips together at a distance using a gypsy needle and harsh threads. We make punctures in the top strip at a distance of 7-8 mm from the edge, and in the bottom - 12-15 mm.

We insert the blinds into the opening and fix each strip at three points. We do not tighten the threads, but secure them with knots.

Try moving the blinds with your finger. The structure must move freely and not crumble when moving. Now you can start assembling the device. Place a rug or old cloth in several layers under the pan to make the appliance work more quietly. The stability of the pan should not be affected.

On the left, through the round hole in the lid of the box, the ice is clearly visible, which is located on the fan grille covering a large pan, and on the right, the device is photographed in operation

Place the pan and cover it with the front protective grille of the fan with the concave side up. Place pieces of pre-prepared ice on the grid. It is better to prepare it in plastic glasses, because large pieces melt more slowly than small ones. We cover the structure with a box.

Insert the fan into the hole in the top cover with the blades down. You can turn it on and check the quality of work.

Melted ice turns into water, which must be poured out of the pan in time so that it does not leak out and soak the box. Otherwise, the fan may fall into water, causing a short circuit.

You can get a good look at the entire process of constructing this air conditioner by watching the video that we placed in a special block at the bottom of this article.

Plastic bottles and plywood sheet

This wonderful design does not require electricity or even frozen water. The only thing needed for it to work is a draft.

The principle of operation of the device is easier to explain with an example. Open your mouth wide and exhale sharply onto your hand. The skin will feel warm. Now you need to stretch your lips with a tube and blow again with the same force as the first time.

This time the air jet cools your skin. If air passes through a narrow channel, then when it expands instantly, it cools.

Let's prepare a sheet of cardboard, but better than plywood. It must correspond to the size of the window opening that we want to close with this design. We'll also stock up on plastic bottles. From each of them we will need only the upper third with a cork. We'll cut it off.

By the way, the plugs need to be removed, but not thrown away. They will be useful to us for securing bottles to the surface of the sheet.

We will need so many bottles so that they cover the entire surface of the sheet, but do not touch each other. To measure the holes for them, you can use a long pencil, which is used to mark the center of the cut through the neck.

To drill a hole for a standard bottle, you need a crown with a diameter of 18 mm. Using a drill, drill out all the holes one by one.

The cut-off tops of bottles without corks are inserted into the holes and secured with their own corks, the tops of which have been cut off. This produces rings with internal threads that perfectly hold bottle segments.

All that remains is to install the finished air conditioner in the window opening with the funnels facing outwards. Experts guarantee that the temperature in the room will drop by five degrees.

Adding a fan to the circuit

One of the obvious disadvantages of the previous device is that it deprives users of natural light in the room. Additionally, drafts may be a problem in your area. Then use this idea.

To implement it, prepare:

• sustainable household fan;
• six plastic bottles;
• a sheet of thin plastic or thick cardboard - whatever you find;
• plastic clamps;
• stationery knife;
• silicone hot glue.

The operating principle of this cooler is the same as the previous model. Only you don’t need to install it in a window opening, and it can work in any room: it’s portable.

The following photo instructions will introduce you to the manufacturing process in great detail:

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Let’s take six pieces of 1.5 liter plastic bottles from the same production. It is advisable, but not at all necessary, to choose containers of the same color

Focusing on the top edge of the label, carefully cut off everything that is below it. We do this with all bottles.

I won’t write about the residents of the cities of the European part of Russia languishing from the abnormal heat, because this boyan is a bandit. If you personally don’t belong to them, or you love the heat and feel great among hot concrete and asphalt, then just don’t read this post.

So, it's getting hot. Not everyone can afford a “real” air conditioner, and it’s not just about money. The queue for the installation of split systems is scheduled as much as a month in advance, and a floor-standing air conditioner that does not require installation is an agrammatic noisy fool that will stupidly and uselessly occupy the precious space of a city apartment for 9-10 months a year. Fans are of little use, because... They continue to drive the same hot air, which does not bring relief.

But, as you know, the new is the well-forgotten old. There is such a thing - an evaporative air conditioner, which, due to the simplicity of its operating principle, can be built with your own hands. There are descriptions of such homemade air conditioners on the Internet, but the proposed designs are relatively labor-intensive to manufacture, and a modern metropolis resident has so little free time... And not everyone dares to drill, saw, plan, and paint in their apartment.

But there is a way out! Being an equally busy city dweller, I came up with and tested an evaporative air conditioner, which is molded from shit and sticks of scrap materials in literally 15 minutes. Tools you will need:
- hands - 2 pcs.;
- screwdriver - 1 pc.
Materials:
- exhaust duct fan - 1 pc. (purchased at any construction market);
- flexible corrugated aluminum ventilation pipe - 1 pc. (bought there)
- wire with plug - 1 pc. (again there).
The total budget is several hundred wooden ones.

Use a fan with maximum performance. I found the most powerful of the household ones at 300 cubic meters per hour, all the more powerful ones were industrial, and therefore noticeably more expensive and noisier. Please note that it must be exhaust, i.e. blow in the direction where the pipe connects to it.

So. We slightly stretch the pipe and bend it as shown in the photo (it bends, stretches and holds its shape perfectly). We attach the raised end of the pipe with tape or self-tapping screws to some kind of stand (I used a cardboard box from the same fan). We connect the wire to the fan and insert the fan into the pipe.

Pour some cold water into the pipe and loosely place cotton rags in the water. When they are saturated with water, add water so that there is a little water above the rags. In total, the layer of water and rags I got was one-third to one-half of the cross-section of the pipe. All. Let's turn it on!

After half an hour of work, when the water had cooled, the temperature difference at the inlet and outlet of the pipe was as much as 5 degrees - the improvised air conditioner lowered the temperature from 31 to 26 C! Pouring snow and ice scraped from the walls of the freezer into the pipe on top of the water gave another 1 degree. YES!!!

In pursuit. It is impossible to drag a pipe with water inside (it bends), so it makes sense to improve the design by securing it to some kind of stand. You can simply tape everything to a suitable board, or you can come up with a more elegant holder - it all depends on your imagination.

Yes, as you know, cold air, when left to its own devices, goes down, so it makes sense to direct the outlet section of the pipe a little upward, and place the structure itself not on the floor, but on a table or bedside table, in order to cool not only your feet.

With a pipe diameter of 150 mm, a length of its part filled with water of 450 mm and a fan of 300 cubic meters per hour, my device, of course, was not able to cool the entire room. However, it is quite capable of creating a comfort zone around the workplace or bed. Now I’m sitting at the computer in a pleasant coolness :)
How to improve productivity if necessary? You can increase the length and cross-section of the pipe, install a more efficient fan, or assemble several devices into a battery. In addition, I have not yet experimented with the amount of water and rags and their material. Overall, there is great potential for improvement!

I give you an idea! Coolness is close - just 15 minutes of moving your hands! :)

On hot summer days, many of us go to the country or to a country house. At the same time, not everyone there has a full-fledged split system.

You can, of course, get out of the situation by installing a mobile option. But even here there are problems with connecting and removing warm air.

What to do? Suffer from sweltering heat? Not at all, there are at least five ways to assemble homemade devices that can partially replace a professional air conditioner.

You can make them at home, without special knowledge of thermophysics and special skills of a craftsman. Let's look at all these methods in more detail, ranging from ineffective ones to those that will significantly reduce the temperature by several degrees and comfortably spend the weekend at the dacha.

Air conditioner without electricity

Let's start with an option that does not require any electricity, ice and all kinds of fans. Some even try to apply the law of conservation of ideal gas to this method of cooling.

For this homemade miracle you will need a lot of plastic bottles. It is best to take two-liter ones with a large diameter.

Cut off their top part along with the neck by about 1/3.

Don’t throw away the lids from them, they will be needed too. They just need a little tweaking. To do this, use a stationery knife to cut off the top part of them.

Cardboard can also be used as a base, as is done, for example, in India or Bangladesh.

This is where this cooling method came from.

However, as they say - the rain comes, the cardboard goes away. Therefore, plywood is a more stable and reliable material.

On this sheet, drill holes every 15cm along the diameter of the neck of the bottles.

It is best to use feather drills. But you can also use a wood crown.

After preparing all the holes, insert the bottles into them and screw them on the back with cut caps.

The plywood itself is mounted in the window of the bedroom or the room where cold is required. If you go to the necks of the bottles and put your palm on them, you can really feel the cold breath of a cool breeze.

How does it all work? After all, there is no fan or ice here that would provide much-needed coolness? Where does the cooling come from?

The inventors explain it very simply. The wide part of the bottle that faces the street acts as an air intake. Under the force of the breeze, the air is compressed and enters the room with the effect of a fan.

However, one condition must be met here - it must be cooler outside than in the room.

This design can work well at night. Moreover, there will be no noise from the fan blades.

However, if you think carefully and remember the laws of physics, then not everything is so simple here. Doesn't an open window look like a narrowed bottle neck?

In theory, a large volume of warm air from the street, passing through a narrow window, should ultimately produce the same cool draft. However, this does not happen.

The same can be said about this “air conditioner”.

During the day, the entire cooling effect of the room will occur ONLY due to its darkening.

With this design you simply exclude the penetration of direct rays of the sun. Consequently, the floor and walls heat up less. This is where all the efficiency comes from.

Where does the coolness come from, because if you put your hand near the bottles, you can really feel it?

In fact, you feel this cold not because the air has cooled, but because at a higher speed, the jet carries away more molecules of moisture or sweat from the surface of your body.

This is where all the sensations come from. To really cool the air, you would need not plastic bottles, but brass tubes three meters long! The law of conservation of energy has not yet been repealed.

There would be a fan in the wide part of the tube and would drive air along the inner walls, which would be heated by it and thereby cool it. Next, throwing a cold stream outwards, from the back narrow side.

However, where there is no electricity at all and there is no desire to buy fans, the method can be tried. If you open another window or door at the same time, the effect can be enhanced by a draft.

Just don’t forget about its danger and your health. However, let us repeat once again, all this works if it is much cooler outside than in your house. If it’s +35C or +40C outside, then a draft won’t help any of the residents of your house.

And you are left without daylight. You can, of course, replace plywood with plexiglass, but the efficiency of such an air conditioner will immediately drop by 90%.

And from the outside, such a futuristic design does not decorate the facade of the building at all. The neighbors will laugh.

And don’t forget about mosquitoes, which will be sucked whistlingly right into your apartment.

Therefore, let's consider more effective and practical options.

Bottled ice and floor fan

For the next method you will need an ordinary floor fan. Without modernization, there is not much sense from it. Unless, of course, you sit directly in front of him all day and night.

In fact, it simply circulates hot air around the room, but does not cool it. However, with simple manipulations, everything can be changed dramatically.

All you need to do is attach a couple of bottles of ice to it with wire. Fill plastic bottles with water and freeze them in the freezer.

When the “cooling cartridges” are ready, tie their necks together with wire.

After that, hang them behind the fan blades.

To ensure that cold air is taken in from the rear and no extraneous warm air is sucked in, glue a homemade cardboard casing around the circumference of the fan with double-sided tape.

In fact, the air conditioner is already ready for use. Most of the time when making it will take you to freeze the ice in bottles.

To have a constant replacement supply, I advise you to freeze 6-8 of them in advance. In just half an hour, such an installation can “cool down” a small room by a couple of degrees.

However, this seemingly simple method has many disadvantages.

• ice in bottles melts quickly

You will have to place a basin under the fan, and change the cartridges periodically. Therefore, you definitely can’t leave such a thing on at night.

• short circuit danger

Your floor fan is turned on via a 220V carrier. And next to the wires from it, it will be constantly humid and damp. You will also need special carriers.

Therefore, it is recommended to replace melted bottles with new ones only after turning off the power. Otherwise, the whole thing could short-circuit and lead to a fire.

Air conditioner from a plastic container

To make the third option, you will have to tinker a little with its production. For assembly you will need:

• plastic container or cardboard box

• corner from a plastic pipe

These usually go to water supply or sewerage.

• food foil

• scotch

First of all, cover all the inner walls and bottom of the box with foil.

Install a fan and a neck from a plastic pipe on the top of the lid. Use a marker to trace the outline and cut out the corresponding holes.

The operating principle is simple. The fan will suck hot room air inside, and cold air should come out through the pipe.

To do this, place bottles of ice inside again. You can't go anywhere without them.

To prevent extraneous air leaks, it is advisable to seal the gaps from the holes after installing the tube and fan with tape.

Plug the hood plug into the socket and enjoy the coolness. Such a homemade air conditioner can cool the room by almost 7-8 degrees in half an hour.

Which is a more than acceptable result for such a cheap model, assembled with your own hands. Not all floor-mounted mobile air conditioners are capable of coping with such a task.

At the same time, there will be no puddles, basins or safety problems around. Ice in bottles will, of course, melt, so it is better to use plastic containers rather than cardboard boxes.

Someone on the Internet advises replacing regular bottled ice with dry ice. Supposedly this will get rid of moisture. Don't listen to such advisers.

When dry ice evaporates in confined spaces, it releases dangerous levels of carbon dioxide. Therefore, it is even recommended to transport it only in trunks.

Bucket conditioner

The above design can be improved and simplified. Instead of a container, use a plastic bucket with a lid, and insulate its walls.

To do this, place pre-cut pieces of foam plastic in even rows inside the bucket.

The bottom is also insulated with foam plastic.

All this will allow the ice to retain its original condition for more time and your air conditioner will last much longer than the previous model.

In the upper part of the bucket, cut out the outlet holes and glue the pipe sections there. The cold will come through them.

The exhaust fan cuts into the lid and sits tightly on the glue.

Frozen bottles or ice in plastic bags are again placed inside.

The lid closes and voltage is supplied to the fan. This air conditioner will work properly for a much longer time than the first model in a plastic box.

Autonomous homemade battery-powered air conditioner

But to assemble a truly autonomous, working air conditioner without water bottles, floor fans and 220V power cords, you will have to spend some time and purchase certain materials in advance.

You will need:

• expanded polystyrene

• cardboard

• glue

• one pack of diapers

• corrugated sleeve

• two fans from computer processors

• accumulator battery

• button

First of all, you need to assemble the thermally insulated housing of the future air conditioner. For this purpose, polystyrene foam is ideal. They usually insulate the walls of houses or floors.

Choose the size of the box so that it can be conveniently transported in the trunk of a car. Cut out the rectangles and assemble the cooling box.

Cover everything on top with thick cardboard. You can put foil on the bottom itself. During operation, this machine will form condensation.

To remove it, it is advisable to provide drainage, in the form of a hole with a tube somewhere in the lower corner.

Cut holes for fans in two walls. One will suck in warm air, the other will throw out cold air.

Glue a plastic corrugated sleeve to the one that goes to the entrance, through the neck of the bottle.

This will allow the cooled air within the system to be used more efficiently.

To power the coolers, install a 12V battery directly in the box.

Similar ones are found in UPS uninterruptible power supplies. Instead of a battery, you can assemble a block of 18650 capacitive batteries for the appropriate cooler voltage.

To periodically turn the ventilation on and off, a separate on/off button would be useful. You run one of the wires from the battery to the coolers through it.

When the refrigeration box is ready, it is necessary to make the cold batteries themselves, due to which the cooling will actually occur.

And in this case it is better to use diapers rather than frozen bottles!

Moisten them generously with tinted water, and cut out the same gel powder that absorbs all the moisture.

You should end up with a kind of jelly-like mass that, unlike water, will not spread or drip. This is what needs to be cooled properly.

Fill thick plastic bags with this mass and seal them on all sides.

After that, throw your refrigeration batteries into the freezer.

This substance holds the cold much better and longer than ice-cold bottled water. After complete freezing, fill the inside of the air conditioner with such bags.

The main task is to cover the corrugation, assembled in the form of a well, on all sides. As a result, this hose will freeze and cool the air sucked through it.

To increase heat transfer, instead of a plastic hose, you can use a metal hose. After filling the container to capacity, close the top lid and turn on the fans.

The temperature of the air that will ultimately be emitted by such an air conditioner can be 10 degrees lower than that in the room.

Autonomous operation of such a cooling system is several hours. After this, you will have to replace the refrigeration batteries.

I don’t think that you will recklessly drive this cold machine in your home for 24 hours. Therefore, for two evenings and two nights at the dacha on weekends, this is a very acceptable option.

An air conditioner is a device for cooling and sometimes heating air in a room. Cooling split systems are a very effective way to combat the summer heat, but not everyone can afford the installation of such devices. Therefore, some craftsmen have come up with ways to make a home air conditioner with their own hands at minimal cost. “Plumber Portal” will tell you about options for assembling a cooler from available materials.

Before you start constructing home-made units, you need to find out how a traditional air conditioner is designed and functions. A factory split system consists of several components:

• external and internal heat exchanger – radiators;
• heat exchangers are connected to each other by copper tubes in which freon (refrigerant) circulates;
• a compressor is mounted on one tube, which creates excess pressure and forces the refrigerant to circulate and condense;
• a special expansion valve is installed in the second tube.

The operating principle of the air conditioner is based on the evaporation of freon when exposed to low temperatures, due to which thermal energy moves from the building to the street.

The refrigerant continuously circulates in a closed circuit, evaporating in one radiator and condensing in another. The procedure for transferring thermal energy looks like this:

1. Freon enters the internal module of the split system in a liquid state.
2. The air from the room is forced by a fan onto the fins of the heat exchanger, due to which the freon heats up and evaporates, removing heat from the room environment.
3. The refrigerant gas then enters the compressor, which increases its pressure, compressing it enough to condense in the outdoor heat exchanger, where the temperature is higher than indoors.
4. Once in the street radiator, blown by a fan, the freon again turns into liquid and moves through the tube back into the room. During the transition, it transfers heat taken from the room to the street air.
5. On the way back, the liquid refrigerant passes through an expansion valve, which reduces its pressure so that the freon evaporates in the internal heat exchanger. Then the cycle repeats.

All processes are controlled by an electronic unit using a variety of sensors.

The design and operating principle of the factory split system are quite complex. A technically competent master, and not an ordinary user, can construct a homemade air conditioner. In addition, there will be costs for purchasing some parts. However, do-it-yourself coolers will cost less than a factory-made device.

DIY air conditioner assembly options

There are several options for making air conditioning from available materials and materials. These can be homemade:

• devices operating on cold water;
• devices that accumulate cold from ice;
• appliances from portable or old household refrigerators.

In the first two cases, the sources of cold are water and ice, which are blown by a conventional axial fan or cooler from any household appliance (for example, a computer). The third option makes it possible to make a unit that is close in principle to a full-fledged split system, but with some limitations. Let's take a closer look at how these options can be organized.

Split system from a car radiator

Mechanisms of this type work according to the principle stated above and are similar in design to industrial heaters, that is, water fan heaters: water of a certain temperature is driven through a radiator, which is blown from the outside by a fan. The air that passes through the fins of the heat exchanger is cooled by 5-15 ° C, based on the temperature of the flowing fluid.

Fan heaters have a significant advantage: in the summer they work for cooling, and in the winter they work for heating the air. To change the mode, you simply need to direct hot liquid from the heating system to the radiator instead of cold water.

To make such a winter-summer air conditioner at home from a car cooler, you will need:

• working radiator of an automobile cooling system;
• household floor fan;
• a metal or plastic tray with low sides, equal in length to the radiator;
• a housing into which the listed parts will need to be built (for example, from an old TV);
• connecting hoses and adapters;
• clamps and fasteners.

If comfort when operating equipment is important to you, then use a fan with a remote control.

The body and tray can be made from scrap materials. The pan is designed to collect condensate that forms on the fins of the heat exchanger as a result of the temperature difference between the passing flow and the circulating water.

Assembly is carried out in this order:

1. Check the car radiator for leaks; if necessary, solder possible leaks or treat them with cold welding.
2. After that, place it in the case and attach it with steel corners and self-tapping screws.
3. Place a tray under the radiator from below. If the sides are too low and the tank quickly fills with liquid, you can attach a tube to it to drain condensate into the sewer system.
4. Mount the fan impeller behind the radiator, separating it from the stand with control buttons.
5. Connect hoses for supplying and discharging liquid to the heat exchanger pipes.

At this point the assembly process is considered complete. To put a homemade cooler into operation, connect the fan to the electrical network and the hoses to cold water: a home water supply or a pump that lifts water from a well or well.

A source in the form of a well or a well is preferable, since the temperature of underground aquifers is 8-14 ° C - just what we need. Direct the return flow into a drainage ditch, large barrel, or other storage container to use the water for watering plants.

Compact cooler made from a plastic bottle

For this homemade device to function, you will need ice, so you cannot do without a working refrigerator or freezer. But the air conditioner will be compact and very effective for a small room, for example, a standard two-room apartment.

The principle of creating such an air conditioner with your own hands at home is simple: ice must be placed in a tank, and the fan must be positioned in such a way that it blows air through the ice mass, due to which the air flow at the outlet will be cooled. To assemble this cooler you will need:

• large plastic bottle with a volume of 6 or 9 liters;
• small household duct fan;
• thin clothesline;
• plastic folder;
• drill with 8-10 mm drill bit.

Instead of a duct fan, you can use a computer cooler, but the cooling performance of such a device will be somewhat reduced.

You can make a cooler from a plastic bottle in a few simple steps:

1. Cut the neck of the bottle so that the cooler body fits into the opening as tightly as possible.
2. At a distance of 7-10 cm from the bottom of the container, drill holes in the wall in a circle, maintaining a distance of 3-5 cm.
3. Thread a clothesline through the resulting holes, forming a mesh in the cross section of the tank.
4. Cut a circle from a plastic folder with a diameter equal to the cross-section of the bottle, and drill holes in it.
5. Place a plastic circle on top of the rope mesh and the body is ready.

To put the system into operation, place more ice on the second bottom, cut out of a plastic folder, and insert a fan into the cut-out neck, turning it on. The air forced inside passes through the ice mass, cools and exits through the side openings.

To ensure that the ice lasts for a long time, freeze it not in a special mold, but in plastic cups. You will get larger pieces that take longer to melt. Another option is to use cold accumulators instead of ice.

In the same way, you can make a cooler from a portable refrigerator. Its body is used instead of a plastic bottle, and cold batteries or frozen water in a small container are placed inside.

Cooling device from an old refrigerator

Since the air conditioner and refrigerator operate on the same principle, refrigeration equipment can be used to cool rooms. The main thing is that the compressor and radiators of the old refrigerator are working, otherwise repairs and refrigerant injection will be necessary. What else you will need:

• household fan;
• two computer coolers;
• fasteners;
• tools for assembly/disassembly.

In this case, the filling of the refrigerator can be left in the same housing or the compressor, heat exchangers and tubes can be removed. You need to install an external black radiator and compressor outdoors.

If there is an opening in the wall of the required size, then the refrigerator can be installed completely into it without removing the components. If its dimensions are cramped, then only an internal heat exchanger can be mounted into the wall. To get it out without damaging the seal of the pipes, you need to carefully cut the refrigerator body. Then follow the instructions on the site:

1. Fix the external black radiator on the wall outside the building, and the internal radiator, respectively, in the room in a decorative casing.
2. Fix the impeller of a conventional fan so that it blows air over the compressor and external heat exchanger.
3. Place the coolers inside the radiator, which previously served as a freezer.

A homemade air conditioner, made with your own hands from an old refrigerator, can only be turned off manually, since its automation is set to turn off at a temperature of the internal module of -5 ° C, and in summer such low temperatures are not observed.

Please note that this design is not designed for cooling air in large rooms.

Before connecting to the electrical network, be sure to ground the device so that in the event of a breakdown or short circuit, none of your loved ones will receive an electric shock.

Primitive cooler designs

One of these designs is a water heat exchanger, which is combined with a conventional floor fan. To make this simplified cooler, take a copper tube and roll it into a spiral, attaching it to the fan guard. Use plastic clamps to secure. Connect the ends of the tube to the water supply and connect the fan to the power supply.

The described design is ineffective because the tap water is not cold enough and the usable area of ​​the copper heat exchanger is too small. The air flow from the impeller will cool slightly and nothing more.

The original design was invented in one of the African countries, where it is traditionally hot and, in addition, there is no electricity supply. The device works based on a law of physics that states that the temperature of a gas passing through a sudden contraction and expansion drops by several degrees (up to 5 ° C).

The neck of the same plastic bottle acts as such a narrowing, and to get more cooled air, you need to use a dozen of these necks.

A non-volatile air conditioner is done like this:

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

The device is suitable for a country house where other options cannot be used due to lack of the required amount of water or power outages.

Advantages and disadvantages of homemade air conditioners

The undoubted advantage of improvised air conditioners made at home is their low cost. As a rule, most of the components needed for assembly can be found in your own pantry or garage. The remaining parts are purchased in the retail chain for relatively little money.

When assembling any of the proposed types of coolers with your own hands, you need to understand that you will have to put up with numerous disadvantages of such units:

1. Models that use running water do not work effectively when connected to cold water pipes. The reason is that the supply water temperature is too high. In addition, the air conditioner “winds up” cubic meters on the meter, and you have to pay for it.
2. When using well and borehole versions of water installations, the question arises of where to put the water pumped through the radiator.
3. Ice devices cool rooms well, but at the same time humidify the air. When there is oversaturation of moisture, the heat in the room turns into stuffiness after the device is turned off.
4. Ice needs to be frozen in the refrigerator, which means using electricity and paying for it. The second nuance: while you are cooling one room with a homemade air conditioner, in the next room the refrigerator is building up the heat generated when the water freezes.
5. Cooling using a freon circuit from an old refrigerator is ineffective because the system is not designed to operate in this mode. Again, a continuously operating compressor “winds up” the electricity meter.

The only model whose manufacturing and operating costs correspond to the effect obtained is an air conditioner made from bottles inserted into a sheet of plywood. It reduces the room temperature by a maximum of 5°C, partly by blocking the opening for light penetration.

Thus, a home-made air conditioner based on an old refrigerator, cold water and ice is a temporary way to protect yourself from the heat until you purchase a full-fledged split system. Homemade options are easy to manufacture, but their efficiency and cooling capacity are very low, not to mention ease of use. It is appropriate to install these devices in a country house, in a workshop or in a garage, where people are located periodically.