A good alternative is to buy an intercooler for the 360. It's basically just a fan that goes on the back of the console and pulls out all the hot air that builds up in the 360, which is what can cause the red ring of death because the motherboard and/or processor gets too hot and is a known design flaw.
My fist 360 died because I didn't have it properly ventilated and it overheated. Microsoft sent me a new one, but I noticed that the new one still ran hot even when I kept it in a well ventilated area. I bought that intercooler just to try it, and I noticed a siginificant difference in how cooler the top of the console is with the intercooler working. In fact, the brick wall that sits behind my 360 is discolored due to all the hot air being expelled out of the console!
It's only $20, and in my experience it works as advertised, especially if you run the 360 for extended periods like I do.