Summer’s here and your air conditioning went out. How do you stay cool until it can be repaired? I’ll show you with this great hack, plus give you even more ways to keep your cool when it gets hot!
A few years ago, during the worst heatwave we’d experienced in a couple of decades, our air conditioner suddenly stopped ‘air conditioning’ our home. We happen to live in a late-70’s cookie cutter suburban home who didn’t think that things like good airflow through a house would ever be something needed in the south because we had air conditioning in all of our houses, darn it, and energy was cheap!!
Fast forward to us sweating like crazy, unable to open up the house to get any airflow at all (not that there is good airflow in the middle of a Texas summer at 110F -it’s dead). Our fans could only do so much to help keep us cooler, but it was miserably hot, and we had to wait for the AC repair guy to come take a look. We had to spend one night without AC and it was miserable because you just could not get cool, thus you couldn’t sleep. We spent quite a bit of time at McDonald’s because they had wifi & AC and it was better than sitting in the sweltering heat of our house while we waited for the repair man to show up.
While we were at home, we came up with a great “redneck” hack that would help us, at least in a small way, stay cool.
How to Make a Redneck Air Conditioner
- Get a large container of ice. We choose to use a stainless steel bowl since it doesn’t insulate well to help create even more chill.
- Get a fan.
- Set ice in front of fan.
- Turn on fan.
- Sit in front of fan and chill 😉
Really – it’s that easy. You’re basically blow the cold and moisture from the the ice into your space. Â If you’re sitting, set up a small fan and cup of ice next to you on an end table. If it’s really hot, it doesn’t travel far, but it’s a good cold zone if you really need one, and man did we need one that day.
Want more ideas on how to stay cool when it’s really hot outside?
If you want to ‘redneck it’ a little more permanently, try these ideas for building your own from a 5 gallon bucket!
Souped up 5 gallon cooler from Graywolf Survival
While there are lots more tips that require house modifications to help keep you cool, what are some tricks and tips you have for keeping your cool in the summer heat?
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I live in Louisiana……..we know about heat. We live in a home, ranch style, that was built in the late 50’s. Most homes didn’t come with air conditioning, but this one has an attic fan that still works. The opening is a louvered in the hall ceiling. Flip the switch on the wall and the louvers open up and air is drawn up and out. We open a few windows thru out the house. A good breeze brings the inside heat down enough to be comfortable.