About 13 years ago I made my first at home snowmaker. It was pretty easy to do if you have a good air compressor and some basic plumbing fittings. These parts and good cold dry air resulted in some pretty good snow my first time out. The cool part of doing this is knowing the science behind making snow and being the coolest dad in your neighborhood!
It’s not just about shooting water into the air on a cold night(being a meteorologist helps). This is about compressing air and water then decompressing it inside the guns fittings. This process of creating supercooled water can allow you to make snow even when the temperature is hovering around 32°. If you ever have sprayed compressed air out of a can you know how cold the can gets if you hold it down for a while. This gun uses that same process of decompressing air and water to make it colder. Believe it or not, the other most important part of snowmaking is the dry air. Low dew points allow for evaporative cooling which allows for making snow at or around 32°. While fun this can also be a great teaching tool for physics and science with your kids. Below is what is called a Tee gun and it’s the first and most simple method of making snow in your backyard.
Results my first time out and only after about 1-2 hours:
There were some minor accumulations of 1-3″ but this was just 1-2 hours of work. this just so happened to be my very first Youtube video as well.
Parts Needed:
Here are all the fittings you need, they are all available at your local hardware store or Home Improvement store.
Here’s the assembly of the parts:
Now, this gun does take a long time to make snow depending on your compressor, water supply, and the temperature and dew point. I’ve been able to make about a 6” deep pile of snow leaving it running overnight for about 6-8 hours. Make sure though you have a heavy-duty compressor with oil lubrication & cooling that is meant to run for hours at a time. If you want to make more snow at a quicker pace you’ll need to make a combo gun or fan gun. These types of snowmakers are much more advanced and take bigger compressors and a lot more money. If you want to learn, share, and see all the possibilities I highly recommend signing up for www.snowguns.com. It’s a great resource for learning and sharing your fun making snow at home. Enjoy, have fun and send me your pictures and videos to share on here and on TV.
9 Years ago I stepped up my game and made a combo gun:
This takes a little more work and more parts but is relatively cheap and makes snow faster. Here’s a link to the complete plans. You need a pressure washer and a good air compressor. I have fund Harborfright to be my best friend, buy a large compressor and powerwasher on sale and get the extended warranty. You’ll be running these things into the ground. 🙂
http://www.snsnowmaking.com/index.php
You can find the full instructions with the link above. It makes it super easy to build and use.
The result though after a night of snowmaking is amazing! This was from about midnight to 5 am only.
