To survive outside in sweltering heat needs some ingenuity. Of course you need some water, but water won’t keep you too cool. There are several ways to make cool air when outdoors, some involve ice and a fan but you need ice to run it.
The bucket air conditioner below uses a fan and pump to reduce humidity in an otherwise hot tent.
Parts you will need
12VDC water pump
5 gallon plastic bucket
Computer fan
Switches
Small project box from radio shack
1” L brackets
Goop glue
4” dryer vent hose
Cigarette lighter
T fitting
Tubing
Black plastic window screen
24×76 Filter materials
6 nuts, 6 screws, 6 flat washers 6 lock washers
Tools
Yardstick
Razor
Drill motor
2 – 2 1/8” hole saw
Yardstick
Razor knife
Phillips head screwdriver
Marker
5/32,” 3/16,” 15/32,” and ½,” drill bits
Wire cutters
Soldering iron
Rosin Core solder
Tape Measure
Electrical Tape
To build your air conditioner:
Drill two rows of 21/8” holes around the top of the bucket. This should give you 24 holes around the top of your bucket.
Use a sharp knife to de-bur the holes clean.
Insert filter material in the bucket and fit it to match the height and diameter of the inside of the bucket. You will need at least two wraps
Put the pump at the bottom of the bucket with tubing that reaches the top of the bucket.
Install a T connector and loop some tubing through the connector.
Cut a hole in lid of the bucket the same diameter as the PVC pipe.
Center the fan on the hole of the lid and connect the PVC pipe to the lid
Use Goop to seal the space between the lid and the PVC pipe
Drill two holes in the lid to wire your switches through.
Mount the switches and solder each connection.
Connect the power wire to a fused cigarette lighter plug. This allows you to use your fan with solar panels or deep cycle batteries.
It doesn’t provide full on air conditioning but if you are not a fan of fans, this DIY bucket air conditioner will keep you comfortable while you rough it.
What are your thoughts? Yay or Nay? Tell us below!
