Whether you use your laptop for work or play, there’s a strong chance that at some point it is ground to a halt due to overheating.
After all, laptops work hard to meet your demands, whether printing, online shopping, editing media, or gaming. Intensive tasks will put strain on a laptop, causing the processor and other components to work harder, overheat, and slow down. Excessive heat can kill a laptop, which is why it is smart to keep it cool.
While you can buy cooling solutions for your laptop, it’s usually straightforward to save money in favor of a homemade laptop cooler. We’ve collected the best DIY laptop cooler projects you can copy to keep your laptop healthy.
Why You Should Cool Your Laptop
Heat affects all electrical devices. Confusingly, it is also generated by all electrical devices. As such, heat needs to be routed away from the crucial circuitry controlling your electronics, to enable efficient performance. Excessive heat can kill a laptop, which is why it is smart to keep it cool.
Phones and tablets can get hot, and their design and construction employ passive cooling, designed to mitigate, and minimize any impact on performance without the use of fans. Game consoles and desktop PCs feature fans that draw air through the case, cooling the processor and other devices.
With laptops, the situation is somewhere in between. Body design and heat sinks use passive cooling, but there is almost always a fan, along with a grille for heat dissipation.
Because there is so much going on inside a laptop, keeping devices cool is difficult, particularly when under heavy load. Paid laptop cooling solutions can be expensive, or inadequate, which is why you should consider a DIY cooling fan for your laptop.
Note that your operating system or laptop software may include a utility to control the speed of the fan. Among these options it isn't uncommon to find a "boost" setting, which can also act to expel dust from the unit. If possible, try this to help cool your laptop and see if it has any impact before you consider these DIY laptop cooling projects.
1. Single Fan DIY Laptop Cooler With LEDs
We'll start with a straightforward build, which features a single cooling fan and an angled structure for resting the laptop on.
While other examples in this list rely on the power supply for switching the fan(s) on and off, this project includes a switch. As such, along with the necessary basic woodworking skills to build the frame, you'll need to be familiar with a soldering iron.
To really finish this off, you might include an LED strip, as demonstrated in the video. The results are pretty, um, cool.
2. A Homemade Laptop Cooler for Gamers
If you're looking for a DIY laptop cooling solution with even more power, this project utilizes six fans.
Gluing the fans together with a glue gun is the simplest step here. Along with sorting out the wiring – wire strippers and soldering iron are required – you'll also need to source some plastic pipes to hold it all together. This pipework is essentially a frame for the fans to sit in, while supporting your laptop.
Also featuring a switch, this laptop cooler is perfect for gamers who like to push their laptops to extremes.
3. A Homemade Laptop Cooler That Looks Professional
Most DIY laptop cooling pads can be just thrown together using pieces of junk from around the home or shed. This project is a little different, requiring some heavy-duty tools and a serious approach that results in a professional looking laptop cooler.
With a metal unibody chassis, this project includes three fans for drawing heat away from a laptop. The 1mm thick aluminum sheet also contributes to reducing the heat from the laptop, thanks to passive cooling.
With felt feet and a striking design with a black spray paint finish, the project relies on a wide selection of tools, from heat guns to grinders. While the finished laptop cooler is a stunning piece of work, this project is not for a DIY beginner.
4. This DIY Laptop Cooling Pad Uses All the Fans
Five fans are required for this build, four standard sized units and a huge PC case fan in the center. If you have a good collection of old PC fans, this project is ideal for you.
Once the fans are glued together, the video demonstrates how to set up a USB power supply and power booster. With this correctly wired, you'll be able to power the DIY cooling pad from your laptop.
While the legs leave something to be desired – essentially long bolts – this is a competent build. If you're looking for a way to cool your laptop, this is a great project to try.
5. Low-Spec DIY Cooling Fan Made From a Bottle
If your DIY aspirations are more modest, this could be the DIY cooling fan build for you.
It uses packing foam, an electric motor, a single fan, lollipop sticks, and a plastic bottle. This last item might seem somewhat surprising, but its use is smart. After all, how many people looking for a way to cool their laptop without spending money on a cooling pad have spare PC fans laying around?
Here, you'll learn how to fashion fan blades from a bottle of pop and attach it to a motor. You'll end up with a device that can support the laptop and draw the heat away. Not only is this a simple build, it uses items that you would normally throw away.
DIY Laptop Cooling Solutions You Can Rely On
By now you should have a good idea about which of the laptop cooling pads above are suitable for your device. As a rule, the less high spec the laptop, the fewer cooling fans are required. After all, it probably doesn’t require the same level of cooling as a gaming laptop or one dedicated to high-definition video production.
Whichever homemade laptop cooler you build, remember to check that the build is strong enough to support your laptop. If there is any doubt, consider a different solution.