Call it what you will, but I call it relief from the heat! Since 'real' A/C system (the kind that uses Freon and stuff) is around $1200, and I'm a cheap bastard, I decided to do something productive on my day off.
Now, I already had an extra window frame laying in my garage, and the swamp cooler has been 'part of the family' for a few years already, I had most of the main ingredients already. All I needed was to make sure there was a blade in the Jigsaw, some penetrating oil on the bolts that hold the window frame in, and cruise to my local hardware store to get some Plexiglass.
I ended up getting a 24x48 piece of plexi, which was plenty big enough . Unfortunatly, the next size smaller is 24x24, and not long enough for the window. Thickness is 3/16", which works perfectly to sit in the window channel. The plexi was covered in brown paper, so I just traced the windows onto it, making sure they had the same overlap that they would while in the window frame. Then, using stiff paper, I made a patern around the swamp cooler outlet (that goes through the window), and traced it onto the plexi. Cut it all out, and viola! The rod that holds the swamp cooler up, actually supports all the weight of the cooler. The window doesn't actually have to be in place to keep it there. Now, if your cooler does not have the original 'V' rod to it, or you do not have one made that supports the cooler up into the window channel, and supports the weight of the cooler that is hanging off the side of the window, you will definily want to get the 3/16" thick stuff. If you have the rod that supports the two different places, you can get away with the thinner plexi. I splurged for the 'anti-yellowing', and 'anti-scratchin' plexi, so that it will last for a while. Having the extra window frame makes it nice too, so I can switch back to the regular window quickly when cold weather comes along again. |
