Air Conditioner DIYs To Cool Your Home During Sweltering Summer Days

Are you looking for ways to beat the summer heat in your home? Buying air conditioning is typically the most effective solution, keeping you cool and comfy on even the most sweltering summer days. But as helpful as air conditioning is, it can be expensive, as central air conditioning will likely cost between around $4,000 and $8,000. Meanwhile, window air conditioners aren't quite as expensive, but they'll typically still cost you hundreds of dollars, with prices ranging from $150 to at least $800. Thus, traditional air conditioning options aren't cheap — but don't panic if those prices aren't realistic for your budget. Some people are able to create home-cooling solutions with household objects such as a cooler, a dryer vent, a fan, a knife, tape, and ice to avoid breaking the bank.

Installing a ceiling fan is another solution but can still cost you hundreds of dollars, making those fans unrealistic for some homeowners, too. So, while investing in professional air conditioning is the ideal option for a cooler home, and fans are also typically effective, those are not the only options. Of course, you shouldn't expect any DIY air conditioning alternatives to work as perfectly as a professional AC unit, but you should still give them a try if you want to save money while cooling your home.

If the different types of air conditioning units you research are too expensive for your budget, consider this affordable DIY hack. A YouTuber created this air conditioner alternative in about 10 minutes with a Styrofoam cooler and dryer vents, costing a total of only $8, not including the fan he already had. Start the process by dividing the top of the cooler into three sections with a marker, and tightly trace each of the dryer vents on the two outward sections.

Then, trace the fan in the middle section and cut it all out, removing any remaining bits and pieces from the Styrofoam. Add the dryer vents and fan into their designated cutouts, and make sure the creation works with the fan and vents. Finally, put a bunch of icy bottles and ice inside the cooler, put your vents and fan setup on top, and it should release refreshing air like an air conditioner!

So, does this impressive idea actually work? Many people who have tried it can confirm that it operates well. One commenter wrote, "My room is now being cooled by a Styrofoam cooler and life is good." Meanwhile, another commenter noted that they use this method for cooling their car, and it works pretty well, while someone else shared that the setup successfully does its job, but the parts typically cost more than $8 in reality, and the creation can be loud.

A bit more intense than the Styrofoam cooler DIY option, this type of air conditioning alternative will require you to do some drilling, so try it only if you're comfortable working with power tools and know what you're doing. The YouTuber who shared this hack created the setup with a big bucket from Home Depot, Styrofoam in the same shape to line the inside of the bucket, PVC pipe, a fan, a hole saw, and a frozen gallon of water.

To turn those materials into an alternative air conditioner, start by drilling holes along the sides of the bucket so you'll be able to put the pipes in when needed. Once you have the holes ready, put the Styrofoam in the bucket, and drill the holes through that, too. Then, put the pipes into the holes, add your ice, and carve a cutout into the bucket's lid to put the fan on top so the setup will blow out cold air.

While this air conditioning alternative method isn't ideal for everyone — such as people who don't like working with power tools — YouTube users confirm that it works great, one even sharing that the hack "saved [their] life." Again, no one should go in expecting either of these DIYs to have the same results as professional air conditioning, but these budget-friendly hacks are still worth trying for anyone who wants to keep cool without spending big.