DIY airconditioner

Recently, the oppressive tropical heat made me search for a solution to cool our bedroom without using our commercial airconditioner.  I've read some possible projects and decided to make an evaporative cooler or a  swamp cooler.

The finished product isn't so good to look at, but it serves its function lowering temperature enabling us to sleep quite comfortably without the chills, stale air (and high electricity cost) associated with a compressor based airconditioner.

A picture of it is shown below:

The cooler is made from materials that were lying around the house.

1.  Shoe box
2.  Unused PC fans and processor fans (the more the better)
3.  12 V DC power supply (3A)
4.  Plastic basket
5.  Aquarium filter
6.  chicken wire
7.  Aluminum screen
8.  Small submersible pump
9.  Plastic folder
10.  Packaging tape

Instruction:

1.  I stuffed the plastic basket with the white aquarium filter element and held it in place using the chicken wire.

2.  I punched holes for the fans on top of the shoebox and held it in place using packaging tape.  I wired them appropriately and fixed it on the cover.  During this time, do not seal the shoebox cover shut.

3.  I punched a hole on the side for the submersible pump hose.  The hose runs inside the length of the shoebox.  I punched several small holes on the hose, six in my setup, intended to pass water through the aluminum screens.

Note the visible screens below the fans, also visible is

the blue plastic folder which serves as water channel

to disperse the water across a wider area.

4.  I added a fan sucking air inward to aid in air circulation and increase evaporation.  This greatly improved cooling.

  Note the inlet fan sticking out at the side of the shoebox.

  The air is redirected through more cooling pads, and screens.

5.  Seal the box using the packaging tape.  I am sure you can do a better job that what I did! :)

6.  The submersible pump is placed in a water container. I used bottles to serve as legs for the cooler unit.  I filled the water container with water and turned on the fans.

Enjoy the cool air.  I use a regular electric fan with the cooler in front, see the first picture.  Cool air is blown upwards, the fan directs the cool air towards whatever direction you point the fan.  

A different paper airplane

Recently, my son wanted to make a paper airplane to play with and I thought should I make the same old paper airplanes or should I make something different, at the same time teaching my son with the basic concepts of what makes an airplane fly.

I ended up making a paper airplane that looked like the real thing and was around 1.5 feet in length and had a wingspan of around 1.2 feet.  More than that, it flew beautifully!  It can glide to a distance of about 20 feet, flew very steadily and seldom crashed.

You can see it flying here:



To start you'll need the following:

1.  A4 paper (used or unused around 10 pcs)
2.  Scissors
3.  Glue

Steps: