"Rare, Dangerous" Heat Headed To Parts Of The Western U.S

[haele]

18. Make your own AC unit...

http://www.thegoodsurvivalist.com/5-easy-to-make-homemade-air-conditioners-that-will-save-you-200-per-month-on-your-ac-bill-and-keep-you-frosty-cool-all-summer/

We did something similar when we were renting a 1940's house with no A/C when the temperature got up to the high 90's/low 100's. A 5-gallon Styrofoam cooler, a small desk fan, a 90 degree plumber's tube, and a couple trays with either frozen 2 liter bottles or a small bit of dry ice that would last 8 hours. We set it up in the middle of the front room (west facing) to keep that part of the house cool during the heat of the day so we wouldn't bake in the evening. The back of the house usually remained pretty cool, but there were also nights we moved the set-up into the hallway so both bedrooms could get a blast of cold air when it was time to go to bed with the doors and windows open.
Warning - be careful using dry ice with home-made AC units; the house had transom and dual sash windows where one could open the upper portion of the windows to get cross-flow throughout the house to help push the rising heat out of the house, so using a small portion of dry ice wan't that much of an issue during the morning and afternoon, but remember you need a lot of ventilation in the house if you want to use dry ice.
Both frozen 2 liter bottles and the dry ice kept the house around 70 - 72 degrees, which when there is a breeze off the ocean, can be very comfortable.
It also helped that the house was on a 2 ft. raised foundation rather than a slab.

Haele