If you have always wanted a laptop cooler, but not enough to actually buy one, you might be able to build your own. Instructables has a project for a do-it-yourself model that could potentially be made out of things you find around your house.

The project is for a bamboo laptop cooler, but only because it was made using a bamboo cutting board. If you have an old wood cutting board that you’ve been thinking about replacing, you could just use that, instead.

DIY laptop cooler

In addition to the 10-inch cutting board, you will need two 12v PC cooling fans, which you can pick up on Amazon for about $5 each if you don’t already have some spares. You will also need an old 12v power adapter, which you might be able to salvage from an old portable radio or other small electronic device.

For the legs of the fan house, you will need two 8″ x 0.8″ x 1″ pieces of wood, which is considered scrap at big chain hardware stores.

As for tools, you will need a power drill, a quarter-inch drill bit, a 2 1/8 doorknob hole bit, a pack of clear plastic feet, some Gorilla Glue or Sumo Glue, and a utility knife.

The easy project requires you to drill 13 small holes and two doorknob-sized holes for the fans. Glue the legs on, mount the fans, place the plastic feet on top, and connect the fans to the power adaptor.

Depending on how many items you already have lying around the house, this DIY laptop cooler should set you back just a few dollars. Plus, you can help the environment by reusing old materials instead of sending them to the landfill.

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6 replies on “DIY laptop cooler from household items”

  1. Or you can just use a Fanless Tablet and forget about those pesky Laptop overheating problems. 🙂

    Here is an easy way to avoid Laptop overheating:
    Insert a couple of wooden clothing clamps on the back of your Laptop for better ventilation, one on the left, one on the right side, this raises the height a little on its back, I’ve done this for years and it works. This is a temporary solution for a cheap Laptop of course.

    If you have a nice expensive Laptop don’t risk it using a goofy stand, you can probably find a decent a Laptop stand for $20 at your nearest computer store. 😉

  2. With those random fans you get what you pay for , there are lots of great fans to chose from, no reason to buy crappy. And there are a few sizes for case fans, you could go with a single 230mm low RPM fan, or 4x140mm instead of 2x120mm.
    There are also USB powered fans to avoid adding the power brick , some with adjustable speeds like this https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835106140

    Edit: Or maybe right now a phone cooler with a 80mm fan is a better idea for Snapdragon 810 powered devices lol.

    1. I second that… don’t short change yourself on the fans. A good fan will move 3 times as much air and make less noise. The larger the Fan, the better and the less noise.

      My favored solution would be a thin box-fan :p

      If you want to get a fan to hook up to USB, you really need the highest quality fan at 5 Volt, or it’ll not cool your laptop well. Every ready-made USB fan I’ve ever seen in action has been junk. Not advisable, unless you have a laptop that doesn’t need cooling in the first place, like some very recent Atom based model – in which case you can save yourself the trouble in the first place.

      Next, you need to observe where your laptop really needs the air – laptops differ in where their air intakes and exhausts are located. Some need air at the hinge, others need it more in the middle etc. That’s why some cooling pads have a metal mesh surface that allows you to move the fan where its best for your particular laptop.

      1. While i haven’t had any first hand experience or researched that Thermaltake and only used it as an example not a recommendation, i’ll point out that it’s rated at 66CFM and that’s not that bad. No power brick does make it more mobile, that’s why i thought of it as an alternative worth considering.

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