Swamp Coolers
There was a recent discussion on swamp coolers, just wondering if anyone else had any experience with them or had any knowledge to share. My use would be in the Eastern plains of Colorado or in the SW...
Forum Discussion
FIRST
Buy an accurate hygrometer. It measures relative humidity. It's going to B.S. Proof whether or not an evaporative cooler will work for you. It isn't a YES/NO situation. Anyone who tells you otherwise is an uneducated, inexperienced blowhard.
The lower the relative humidity the more pronounced the cooling effect will be.
For instance high high in the Sierra Nevada mountains we experienced summer days with TWO percent relative humidity and ninety degree temperatures. Air entered the cooler at 90F and exited at SIXTY FOUR DEGREES. With a four foot cube cooler, the chilled air was 20x times the volume that a 15,000 BTU roof air could ever produce. It would chill a 30 x 30 building and make me gasp when I passed in front of it.
In the antelope valley desert of California. I had a 3 foot swamp cooler atop my shop trailer
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEEN DEGREES outside temp and eighty one degrees inside temp. All summer. A had to throttle the water back when temps merely hit a hundred degrees.
But again, the relative humidity was single digit to upper teens.
As relative humidity reaches THIRTY percent, the evaporative cooling encounters an ever increasing barrier. At forty percent R/H an evaporative cooler may offer TEN PERCENT of the cooling effect as it does at ten percent relative humidity. At FIFTY PERCENT R/H five percent. Get the drift why KNOW BEFORE YOU SPEND MONEY is so relevant? Get a hygrometer.
Places like Tucson Arizona face a different challenge. Early in summer, the air might be bone-dry. But later in the season a weather phenomenon called THE MONSOON arrives, with high humidity from the south. That is humidity that crosses Mexico from the Gulf of Mexico then performs a clockwise curl called the CORIOLIS EFFECT. It brings thunderstorms and sweltering humidity. A swamp cooler simply makes things worse. Evaporative gas (freon) is the only way to chill and I have some GNUS for some folks.
Simply chilling the air IS NOT ENOUGH in tropical climates. Beside air conditioning, a separate DEHUMIDIFIER is almost a necessity. A dehumidifier is nothing more or less than an AC unit that dumps heated air back into the room, and does not pass it outside of the structure. A tray or drain exits the precipitated water from the evaporator.
Never heard of needing a dehumidifier? Then you have not experienced one of the most undesirable environments. I hate it. It is feeling clammy. Cold sweating skin. Sounds like an oxymoron feels like ****. Eighty five degree dry air is far more comfortable than seventy five degree moisture laden air. Don't ever have it? You are fortunate. Hope you never experience it. Chilling and dehumidification may cost substantially less in total kWh than trying to chill the humidity out of the air. I save about thirty percent in kWh by doing just that. Higher air temp substantially lower relative humidity.
I have no idea whatsoever of the OP's climatic conditions. He has to get a hygrometer and find out the truth. What works in the desert will not work where humidity is see.
But the old saw "It doesn't work for me so it absolutely will not work for anyone else" is absurd and damned near an embarrassment. Excuse my French.
And no, evaporative cooling is not an option down here. Period.
Evaporative cooling DEMANDS air circulation throughout the structure. I replaced an A/C unit that could not possibly keep up with Antelope Valley heat and found windows had to remain wide open. The unit was on the center of the roof and windows at both ends of the 33' Nashua trailer had to be wide open.
With regard to maintenance it may be necessary to replace pads and pump and float more frequently if the service water is laden with minerals. Home Depot personnel in areas that have common evaporative coolers can advise you.
If your area displays humidity R/H levels above 30% my advice is to "Try Out Someone Else's Cooler's Output" before purchasing one. In a few instances a LARGER cooler may do the trick.
But knowing before you decide will save a lot of money and frustration.
Buy an accurate hygrometer. It measures relative humidity. It's going to B.S. Proof whether or not an evaporative cooler will work for you. It isn't a YES/NO situation. Anyone who tells you otherwise is an uneducated, inexperienced blowhard.
The lower the relative humidity the more pronounced the cooling effect will be.
For instance high high in the Sierra Nevada mountains we experienced summer days with TWO percent relative humidity and ninety degree temperatures. Air entered the cooler at 90F and exited at SIXTY FOUR DEGREES. With a four foot cube cooler, the chilled air was 20x times the volume that a 15,000 BTU roof air could ever produce. It would chill a 30 x 30 building and make me gasp when I passed in front of it.
In the antelope valley desert of California. I had a 3 foot swamp cooler atop my shop trailer
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEEN DEGREES outside temp and eighty one degrees inside temp. All summer. A had to throttle the water back when temps merely hit a hundred degrees.
But again, the relative humidity was single digit to upper teens.
As relative humidity reaches THIRTY percent, the evaporative cooling encounters an ever increasing barrier. At forty percent R/H an evaporative cooler may offer TEN PERCENT of the cooling effect as it does at ten percent relative humidity. At FIFTY PERCENT R/H five percent. Get the drift why KNOW BEFORE YOU SPEND MONEY is so relevant? Get a hygrometer.
Places like Tucson Arizona face a different challenge. Early in summer, the air might be bone-dry. But later in the season a weather phenomenon called THE MONSOON arrives, with high humidity from the south. That is humidity that crosses Mexico from the Gulf of Mexico then performs a clockwise curl called the CORIOLIS EFFECT. It brings thunderstorms and sweltering humidity. A swamp cooler simply makes things worse. Evaporative gas (freon) is the only way to chill and I have some GNUS for some folks.
Simply chilling the air IS NOT ENOUGH in tropical climates. Beside air conditioning, a separate DEHUMIDIFIER is almost a necessity. A dehumidifier is nothing more or less than an AC unit that dumps heated air back into the room, and does not pass it outside of the structure. A tray or drain exits the precipitated water from the evaporator.
Never heard of needing a dehumidifier? Then you have not experienced one of the most undesirable environments. I hate it. It is feeling clammy. Cold sweating skin. Sounds like an oxymoron feels like ****. Eighty five degree dry air is far more comfortable than seventy five degree moisture laden air. Don't ever have it? You are fortunate. Hope you never experience it. Chilling and dehumidification may cost substantially less in total kWh than trying to chill the humidity out of the air. I save about thirty percent in kWh by doing just that. Higher air temp substantially lower relative humidity.
I have no idea whatsoever of the OP's climatic conditions. He has to get a hygrometer and find out the truth. What works in the desert will not work where humidity is see.
But the old saw "It doesn't work for me so it absolutely will not work for anyone else" is absurd and damned near an embarrassment. Excuse my French.
And no, evaporative cooling is not an option down here. Period.
Evaporative cooling DEMANDS air circulation throughout the structure. I replaced an A/C unit that could not possibly keep up with Antelope Valley heat and found windows had to remain wide open. The unit was on the center of the roof and windows at both ends of the 33' Nashua trailer had to be wide open.
With regard to maintenance it may be necessary to replace pads and pump and float more frequently if the service water is laden with minerals. Home Depot personnel in areas that have common evaporative coolers can advise you.
If your area displays humidity R/H levels above 30% my advice is to "Try Out Someone Else's Cooler's Output" before purchasing one. In a few instances a LARGER cooler may do the trick.
But knowing before you decide will save a lot of money and frustration.
