Flow Control: Lo-Fi Air-Conditioning for Your Loft
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How to keep cool, Department of Safety-style.
Posted by ReadyMade
Project by Department of Safety
Sick of staring at bare walls on those sticky, sleepless summer nights? Ever get the feeling that things are a bit too quiet in your room? The Department of Safety has a solution! And no, this time it won’t involve psychoanalysis. Follow these simple instructions to rig a whirring, white-noise machine and stay sweat-free.
Skill Level
Very Easy
Active Time
Less than an hour
Cost
Free
- 6 3/4" Phillips screws
- Box fan
- Electrical box
- Single-pole dimmer switch
- 3 wire nuts
- Electrical tape
- 2 1/2" Phillips screws
Materials
- Drill
- Phillips drill bit
- Wire stripper
- Utility knife
- Optional: Stud finder, screwdriver
Tools
Mount a wall fan near an electrical outlet.
Using your wire strippers, snip the fan’s power cord in half. You should now have two cords: one connected to a fan and one that will run to the outlet.
Polarized cords consist of two wires: the positive (ribbed-rubber insulation) and the neutral (smooth-rubber insulation). Using a utility knife, split 2" off the ends of both the fan and the plug cords into separate wires, forming Ys. Use your strippers to unsheathe 3/4" of insulation on all four wires. Twist the exposed wires clockwise.
With your remaining 3/4" screws, mount the electrical box to a place on the wall that both halves of the cord can reach.
Use your thumb or a screwdriver to punch out two of the prefab holes in the electrical box.
Push the exposed-wire ends through the holes in the electrical box.
Follow the instructions in your dimmer kit to connect the wires to the simple single-pole dimmer switch, or do the following: Bypassing the dimmer entirely, connect the fan’s neutral wire to the plug’s by twisting them together clockwise, attaching a wire nut, then twisting clockwise again until firm. Wrap connection in electrical tape.
Now connect the fan’s positive wire by twisting it to an exposed wire in the dimmer. Attach a wire nut and cover with electrical tape. Connect the remaining wire from the dimmer to the positive wire of the plug in the same fashion. Disregard the green “ground” wire.
Push all of your wire-nut connections into the electrical box and screw the dimmer switch into place using the 1/2" screws. Plug in the contraption. Turn it on at its highest setting, then control the speed with the dimmer that you just wired yourself!
