written 6/17/24, updated 7/28/24
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Overview
What
Making a DIY canopy frame over a bed with PVC
Why
Cooling. To trap A/C from floor register underneath a canopy during summer. Room is top floor of a 3-story townhouse. Can be useful for trapping heat in the winter, too.
Time and Effort
1 person project, 2 would be helpful
Time: 1 hour
Effort: Easy
Materials and Cost
4ft 1″ PVC Pipe (your choice of PVC size and height)
PVC Fittings (depends on how many connections you want)
Canopy Material
Fabric Fasteners (ties/clips/hooks/attachments)
Temporary Securements (optional, but recommended)
$93.99 (20 piece)
$24.86 (14 total)
$39.99
$14.99 (25/pack)
$15.98 (Qty: 4)
Other Supplies: Ratcheting PVC Cutter ($14), Driver, Drill Bits
Total Cost: $189.81
PVC Fittings
For this 6′ x 4′ x 6′ canopy, I bought 4′ long PVC at 1″ width (you can choose other sizes and lengths) and used the ratcheting PVC cutter to cut the pieces to 2′ to create 6′ lengths. T
Fittings needed for the 1″ PVC
FORMUFIT, a company that specializes in furniture-grade PVC sells all of these plus more options in many colors. 100% USA made. I bought everything but the 3-way elbows at a local big box store in the PVC aisle because FORMUFIT’s products come in packs of 10.
- 3-Way Elbow (4 qty)
- 90-Degree Elbow (4 qty)
- External Coupling (4 qty)
- Standard Tee (4 qty)
Optional Footers
I didn’t do this, opting for crossbars favoring stability, but using a Reducer Coupling can work as pipe feet
Schematics
Here’s a hand-drawn diagram showing dimensions. This is 6′ x 4′ x 6′ (L x W x H) or 72″ x 48″ x 72″.
For reference:
| Bed Size (USA) | Dimensions (L x W) |
| Twin | 75 in x 38 in (6¼ ft x 3⅙ ft) |
| Twin XL | 80 in x 38 in (6⅔ ft x 3⅙ ft) |
| Full | 75 in x 54 in (6¼ ft x 4½ ft) |
| Queen | 80 in x 60 in (6⅔ ft x 5 ft) |
| King | 80 in x 76 in (6⅔ ft x 6⅓ ft) |
| California King | 84 in x 72 in (7 ft x 6 ft) |
Why 4′ width when a twin bed is only 3⅙’ wide?
In this instance it’s to try and capture the cool air blowing from the floor duct register, under the overhanging side
This is a Register Booster Fan
Cutting the PVC
There are many options! And they mostly depend on what’s available in your house, how much you want to spend, how much time you mind spending, what mess you want to make/clean up, and future usefulness of any newly bought tools (or will it just sit in a box somewhere for the rest of your life). Options include anything that cuts from manual saws to powered saws to dedicated PVC cutters.
Method 1
My first go-to was the Cordless Multi-tool I’d bought but had yet to use.
VERDICT: It will CUT. But it will also make a mess, create rough edges, time consuming, and requires clamps, and it took me a while to figure out if there’s a best blade to use for PVC.
Method 2
I decided to buy a Ratcheting PVC Cutter for $14
VERDICT: It will KEAL and lacerate the PVC. This method is superior. No setting up, no mess at all, smooth edges, and super-fast. No power source
Assembly
Well. There’s not much to say here. You push the pipes into the fittings and form them into whatever shape you want. The hardest part is holding them in place while you fit more. This is why a 2nd person could be useful. I did it by myself.
Fastening
Now, this is optional, especially if your structure will be a temporary one. Before putting them together, I mulled over this a lot. If the shape you formed is solid, you likely don’t need to secure the parts as they’re pretty tight just dry-fitted. However, you have the option of creating permanent or secure-yet-temporary bonds.
Permanent
Many choices out there, but THIS is your traditional plumbing primer and cement. Simply follow the directions and prime then cement.
Make sure to use in a well-ventilated area and beware the purple staining of objects and flesh
Secure-Yet-Removable
There are different methods of doing this: You can use a screw, you can use wood dowels, I read something about using rubber hosing, heck you can use tape if you want to. I tested out a method that’s similar to the others, just a little fancier.
I opted to try Quick Release Pins. They’re a bit pricey for a project like this that would need many to fully secure, and it was difficult to find a size that would not be too long. In the end I only installed the 2 that I bought.
You also need a drill, drill bit, a stool, and a vacuum because it will make a mess.
While the first pin could not fully engage the hole (perhaps I drilled it at an angle instead of straight through), the second one did. Advice: err on the larger side when choosing a drill bit. I had to use the bit to ream out the opening from many angles just to get the pin to fit
The pin secures the pipe to the fitting, ensuring that it will not come apart. The only flaw in this is that if you use many fittings, that’s a lot of securements! I chose the top corners of the frame as it would prevent the ends from bowing out if the canopy material ended up being too heavy for the frame.
Canopy
This part, I’m still not super happy about. It was hard to find any canopy curtain/top/fabric at all, let alone one that appealed to me. Aside from sewing one myself from a chosen, ideal fabric (which I may end up doing in the future), I ended up choosing a canvas tarp. My original idea was to use an old fitted sheet. I didn’t consider how slippery the PVC is and after about 15 minutes of wrangling, I gave up. Plus, how would I secure the fitted sheet? The canvas tarp was not only as thick as I wanted it to be, but it came in a white color. If I want to trap cool air, I don’t want it to absorb heat as a darker color.
White 8′ x10′ Canvas Tarp
Assembly
8′ x 10′ seems large, doesn’t it? It kind of is… I thought that having the extra length would make it easier to drape and less likely to slip off. Also, that way, I can let the sides down as I please. Later, I thought about spiders making webs in the folds…
Then a new problem arose:
THE CORNERS
What to do? How to fasten? To this day, I don’t really know the best option apart from cutting it and sewing it together (which would bring me back to square one with the canopy). I just kind of did something.
Does it Work?
After all of that, does the canopy work? Does it trap cool air? I have to be honest, I’m not fully sure! I think there is an improvement, yes, but it’s still not an end-all solution. On the very hot days, I was hot and stuffy and found it hard to sleep. Lowering the sides did make a difference, and I also ended up buying an Airtight Ripstop Nylon Fabric thinking that perhaps the tarp, which was made to be breathable, was TOO breathable.
HOWEVER. I do have a FLIR camera, so here are two interesting FLIR images (note: these images were taken before the addition of the airtight fabric on top):
Blue is cool and yellow is hot. The A/C register is on the right side of the rightmost image. There IS a coolness to the canopy compared to the area outside of the canopy. So, yes, in a word, yes, I think it does work.
VERDICT: Yes. It does trap cool air and maintains cooler temperatures than the surrounding air. Having a fan to further direct the air coming from the register might make it more effective at cooling.
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