If you ask people in the rest of the world to describe the weather in Canada, 90% of them would say it's cold with a chance of hockey. Even though I made that percentage up, based on my own experience I know it's true. I think there's some confusion, in the United States especially, due to the whole celsius versus fahrenheit thing. When we say it's 30 degrees in Canada in the middle of summer we don't mean 30 degrees fahrenheit. We mean 30 degrees celsius. Although some of us do mean 30 degrees fahrenheit because even though it's been over 40 years since the country switched from imperial to metric, most residents are still kind of suspicious of it.
Collectively we seem to have agreed to accept celsius as a measurement of temperature and kilometres as a measurement of distance. Beyond that we're mostly confused. If you asked me to tell you what I weigh in kilograms I'd have to jump on one of those hanging grocery store scales and ask someone to read it out loud to me.
But back to this whole temperature thing. 30 degrees celsius, which it regularly is in my part of Southern Ontario during the summer, is approximately 86 degrees fahrenheit. When you factor in the humidity that's common around here, the day could feel more like 101. So air conditioning is not a luxury in many parts of Canada, it's a necessity. Yes. Summers in a lot of Canada are hot. Very hot.
But air conditioning is a necessity that not everyone has. I, for one, didn't have central air conditioning until 3 years ago. Up until then I had a window unit in the bedroom and the dining room and a really good relationship with my air conditioner owning neighbours. In the summer you can tell how many families don't have air conditioning by counting the number of people sitting cross legged inside the grocery store ice cream freezer.
The mini air conditioner I'm going to show you today might not cool off a whole house, but it will help cool off a tent (which can get STIFLING hot) while you're camping or in my case ... a chicken coop.
People always ask me how I keep the chickens warm in the winter, but chickens don't need anything to keep them warm in the winter. They're fine with the cold. It's the heat that'll kill them. So at least 3 times a summer, I have nights where I have to keep their coop doors open and run a fan on them. I have a screen that goes in place of the coop doors, and even though it's really secure I don't like the idea of raccoons running around being able to see the chickens in there at night so I'm constantly waking up and running down to check on them.
After about a year of researching different options I've decided I'll probably install a solar powered roof vent. I don't know when I'll get around to doing that so for now I'm using this ridiculous homemade redneck air conditioner.
It costs about $20 to make and works. The ridiculous thing works. The bigger your cooler, the more ice it can hold, the more effective it will be. Mine is just a tiny one because I wanted it to fit in the coop.
Here's how you do it and what you need.
DIY mini air conditioner
Materials
1 cooler
1 small fan
1, 4" PVC elbow
Drill
Jigsaw
Silicone
You need to cut holes in the top of the cooler for both the fan and the PVC elbow, so put them on the cooler and mark their size with a pencil.
Before cutting the holes out with a jigsaw, drill a large hole into the lid. This will give you a place to put your jigsaw blade in to start cutting.
Cut your circles out. I use this Bosch. Bosch makes the VERY best jigsaws around. Ask anyone.
Grab your PVC elbow ...
... and your fan, and put them in the holes to make sure they fit.
If you cut correctly the fit will be tight. To keep everything sealed and in place, run a bead of silicone around the elbow and the fan.
If you wanted to make this extra fancy you could cut the plug off of the fan and wire it to a 12V (car) battery. That way it can run even when you don't have a power source nearby. Like in a tent. To be super-extra-crazy fancy you can wire the 12 V battery to a solar panel so your battery will always be charged.
In case you were wondering this is what it looks like from the underside of the lid.
Just add ice. You now have a mini air conditioner.
I know there's going to be some smart ass that says That ain't no air conditioner! An air conditioner removes heat from the air using a discombobulator skimmy coil, it doesn't blow cool air around, that's just a fan with some ice, NOT the same thing.
To you I say, suck it.
I gave the air conditioner a test run the other night in the coop.
The air began at 87 F (30.5 C) in the coop and after two hours was 74 F (23 C).
Bedtime.
It's compact and easy to move around, doesn't take up much space in the shed when I'm not using it and doesn't weigh much even when it's filled with ice. Of course, I have no idea what it weighs in kilograms. 2 pairs of hockey skates, maybe?
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Kim in ATL
Hi Karen,
I loved this post! I live in Atlanta, Georgia where temperatures in the summer are easily over 100 degree (F) and with the near 100% humidity feel as if it's 115 degrees. My "fella" is a self-proclaimed redneck (southern country boy) so I can confirm that this is indeed called a "redneck AC". We use them as you mentioned when camping and at sporting events. While they may not be true air conditioners they will cool things down by an average of 10-15 degrees depending on the size of your cooler.
Andrea Claire
I surround myself with quirky, genius friends so I look smarter. We are the company we keep!! ...wait you hang out with chickens...
Karen
You hang out with eye shadow! ~ karen
Ann
I may try to make one of these for my rabbitry. Rabbits are way more sensitive to heat issues than even chickens. And this week we will be close to the century mark, in Fahrenheit, that is, and with humidity. So our heat index may come close to 110. That is the hottest I have had to get thru since raising rabbits. Right now, my freezer is full of 2 liter water filled pop bottles and I take them out by noon and place them in their cages. I can go out later to find rabbits all snuggled up to the ice bottles and they still look uncomfortably hot. And the rabbitry is in full shade. My chickens are lucky enough to have good shade somewhere in their run all day long. But you are right, that coop has got to be stuffy and hot at night. Plus I have a broody girl who wants to stay in the coop all day. Even with the nest box lid propped open, it can't be comfy in there
magali
20$ if you already have the cooler right? Or have you found a place that sells affordable coolers?
holly
I made this for my husband to use while he is in the garage. We live in Phoenix and we call this a swamp cooler or evaporative cooler. I used a styrofoam cooler I got at Goodwill for $1.00 so it was super cheap. As long as the humidity is down, this works like a charm. I fill a gallon milk jug with water and freeze it every night and it stays frozen for a few hours. You're a good chicken mama.
Sherry in Alaska
Genius!
Same principle as an evaporative cooler. But much more portable and not requiring running water. Gets too hot here in interior Alaska sometimes too and this seems like a good method for cooling at least the room I'm in.
Pinning.
Thanks!
Bronwyn
You never cease to amaze me too.
Barbie
I LOVE this! So does my husband who was just reading this over my shoulder! Brilliant!
peg
passing this idea on to my son,very cool. your birds seem to be thankful. :D
Mondo | I bake he shoots
you never cease to amaze me.
Yvonne
What an absolutely clever idea! Lucky chooks.
Mary
There is a local Chicken Rescue group here in MN. They take in unwanted or stray chickens and rehab them and then adopt them out.(they also sterilize them so they don't lay eggs anymore, but that's a whole other story). They posted today (heat index in MN was 102) that you should bring your chickens inside when it's this hot, as they can't deal with the heat. Think I'll share your post link on their page.
sheila
Mary,
Wherabouts in MN are you? I live in Emily, up by Brainerd. It WAS a hot one yesterday!
Sheila
Kathy
That is just too clever. My son might make one to use while working in the garage at his house. I bought my house from people that did upholstery work in the garage and somehow the duct work for heat and air is in the garage too. I don't miss that big change in temp. going from house to garage. You come up with really good projects. Thanks
Karen
Thanks Kathy! He'd have to have a pretty big cooler and a larger fan for this to cool a garage but technically it's possible. :) ~ karen!
Dolaine Koch
I've use the same concept by placing a shallow bowl in front of the fan, running the air over it to cool my bedroom out of total frustration. I didn't have tools and time, I just wanted to get immediate relief to sleep!
Karen
Before central air I'd put the fan on me then squeeze a spray bottle of water into the air over me. Worked great too! ~ k!
Carol
If you have a bunch of hessian/burlap, the wherewithal to drape it over and around the coop, the means to dampen down said cloth, and if the chook house is in the path of a breeze, you could try an old Aussie invention that needs no electricity.....
The Coolgardie Safe
http://museumvictoria.com.au/collections/themes/709/coolgardie-safe
brenda
awww - those lucky d̶u̶c̶k̶s̶ chickens
Paula
Great!
Shelly
I really like this idea! How long does the ice last, and where on earth did you get this great idea?
Karen
Hi Shelly - It will all depend on how good the cooler is. This one isn't great so the ice just lasts into the night. It's long enough for the chickens to get to sleep without being too hot. But in the morning the water inside the cooler is still almost ice cold so it's still effective. ~ karen!
Suzanne
What ever floats the boat. And keeps the chicklets comfy.
jeannie.b
I was just researching the same subject earlier this evening. The video I saw was with a frozen milk jug full of water, in a bucket with a fan on top and some PVC tubes sticking out the front. I've got oscilating fans in each of my main rooms and haven't yet turned the A/C on. I'm glad that your pet hens enjoyed sone cool air way to go Karen!