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Homebrew Air Conditioning for Under $25

Posted by timothy on from the ice-is-free-after-all dept.

inkey string writes "Summer has arrived, and I've been busy slowly overheating in my student house without central air. I decided to put my thermodynamics classes to work however, and produced this ~24$ homebrew air conditioner. It'll cool a room to a comfortable level in 15-20 mins, and will run for a few hours on a garbage pail full of water. It's cheap, environmentally friendly (just fire the waste water off to your garden), and makes a good one hour project for a quiet evening."

12 of 832 comments (clear)

  1. Its going to be hot soon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I hope his server isn't in his room, because all the thermodynamics courses in the world wont teach you about slashdotting.

    1. Re:Its going to be hot soon by Kujila · · Score: 4, Funny

      How can this story be slashdot-worthy if the fan isn't even running Linux!

  2. Air Conditioning for $1500/month by Geekboy(Wizard) · · Score: 4, Funny

    Move to San Francisco.

    Today it hit 70F, and the news stations are talking about "the heatwave of 2005".

    1. Re:Air Conditioning for $1500/month by failure-man · · Score: 5, Funny

      Whiny bastard Californians . . . .

      I repeat my assertion that since 31 Octobher, 1995 (the last Oingo Boingo show) the state has had no redeeming value.

    2. Re:Air Conditioning for $1500/month by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      I repeat my assertion that since 31 Octobher, 1995 (the last Oingo Boingo show) the state has had no redeeming value.

      Hey! California has amazing redeeming value. Without it, all those idiots would be living with the rest of us!

    3. Re:Air Conditioning for $1500/month by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      You misspelled Texas

    4. Re:Air Conditioning for $1500/month by lostchicken · · Score: 4, Funny

      Shit. As a native Texan living in California, I feel I must object to one of these insults. Unfortunately, I can't quite decide which one isn't true...

      --
      -twb
  3. Canada by Geekboy(Wizard) · · Score: 4, Funny

    Dude, you're in Canada. Open the window.

    Now you just have to figure out how to keep the snow off of the carpet.

  4. Re:And you can place it... by Tackhead · · Score: 4, Funny
    > ...right next to your webserver.

    By placing the garbage pail full of water in your garden, you ensure that within five minutes of the link going live on Slashdot, you'll have several gallons of piping-hot vegetable soup!

  5. Beer by supe · · Score: 5, Funny

    I think that his garbage can full of ice water should at least have a few cold beers. I mean really, he's in college!

  6. thermodynamics? by csimicah · · Score: 4, Funny

    Wait... this retard thinks that using his fridge, inside his house, to produce ice... then cooling with the ice... is going to make his house cooler? He could accomplish the exact same thing by just opening his freezer door, right? I hope this kid's Thermo professor sees this and kicks him out of school.

  7. Re:Minor nit by tomhudson · · Score: 5, Funny
    It's not a minor nit-pick. Its a major flaw. His setup is so much more inefficient than even a cheap ($100) AC.

    If he wants to be cheap, why not just take an old fridge ($20), remove the doors, and use the fridge to block the door to his room? Leave the coils facing out into the hallway, and his room becomes cooler - plus the light will always be on, so he can see wtf he's doing.