Using a swamp cooler
Hello Is it wise to use a swamp cooler to assist my AC units inside the motorhome. Thank you for any help Kenny
Gdetrailer wrote:eHoefler wrote:
A/C remove humidity to cool, you would have the 2 different systems fighting each other and will get nowhere. If you adding a unit, add an A/C
A/C \"chills\" or \"cools\" the air going through the coils and as a side benefit the chilled coils removes some moisture in the air as the warm moist air flows through the cold coils and condenses out some of the moisture which drops to the catch tray and out of the A/C unit.
A/C also reuses the interior air so each pass through the A/C unit more moisture gets removed. Each time cycled through the A/C unit the air coming out will get cooler since you are not adding outside hotter air.
OP has several ways they can go if current A/C is not cutting it. They could replace current A/C with a higher BTU unit, most RVs typically are outfitted with 13.5K BTU A/C units which in larger RVs may be marginal at best.. a 15K unit could be used instead provided they have enough amperage capacity on the shore cord..
A second 13.5K BTU A/C unit could be installed provided they have an extra roof opening to use and have a \"50A\" shore connection..
They also can of course attempt to find a nice shady spot under a canopy of trees.. The air temps under a good dense canopy of trees can be considerably cooler than if one was out in the open to direct sunlight.
But mixing refrigeration A/C with swamp cooler isn't going to work..
Gdetrailer wrote:eHoefler wrote:
A/C remove humidity to cool, you would have the 2 different systems fighting each other and will get nowhere. If you adding a unit, add an A/C
A/C \"chills\" or \"cools\" the air going through the coils and as a side benefit the chilled coils removes some moisture in the air as the warm moist air flows through the cold coils and condenses out some of the moisture which drops to the catch tray and out of the A/C unit.
A/C also reuses the interior air so each pass through the A/C unit more moisture gets removed. Each time cycled through the A/C unit the air coming out will get cooler since you are not adding outside hotter air.
OP has several ways they can go if current A/C is not cutting it. They could replace current A/C with a higher BTU unit, most RVs typically are outfitted with 13.5K BTU A/C units which in larger RVs may be marginal at best.. a 15K unit could be used instead provided they have enough amperage capacity on the shore cord..
A second 13.5K BTU A/C unit could be installed provided they have an extra roof opening to use and have a \"50A\" shore connection..
They also can of course attempt to find a nice shady spot under a canopy of trees.. The air temps under a good dense canopy of trees can be considerably cooler than if one was out in the open to direct sunlight.
But mixing refrigeration A/C with swamp cooler isn't going to work..
Gdetrailer wrote:
Desert captain, you do make a good point..
However in the case of my roof top garden, all of the water that is used from my misting setup comes from my same water well that we use for our household uses like shower, toilet, cooking, drinking..
So no worries about bad stuff being sprayed on my vegetables from my water well and even if there was, we would be sick or dead from direct consumption been drinking water from that well for 30 yrs now :)
And yes, untreated water from questionable sources which could contain harmful parasites or disease being sprayed in fine mist is a quick way to kill potential repeat customers and your business..
Gdetrailer wrote:
Desert captain, you do make a good point..
However in the case of my roof top garden, all of the water that is used from my misting setup comes from my same water well that we use for our household uses like shower, toilet, cooking, drinking..
So no worries about bad stuff being sprayed on my vegetables from my water well and even if there was, we would be sick or dead from direct consumption been drinking water from that well for 30 yrs now :)
And yes, untreated water from questionable sources which could contain harmful parasites or disease being sprayed in fine mist is a quick way to kill potential repeat customers and your business..
Microlite Mike wrote:wa8yxm wrote:
Now... One thing that might help (I STRESS MIGHT) might also make thigns worse is \"Misting\" the condenser. You want to mist the \"inlet\" side of the condenser (On most A/C's that is the side you can't see.. Coleman it's the side you can see)
How to do that safely is not something I wish to get into but they make mister nozzles for swamp cooling a patio. Two issues however.> Minerals can build up on the condenser clogging it. and discoloring it. and the dang mister nozzles like to clog.
I don't have central air in my house as it would be a $10K investment at this point but I do have three A/C units, one window and two portables, that make the house quite comfortable during thee 20-30 days per year that temps are above 80.
Each of these units have a \"misting\" system built in that merely sprays the condensate into the condenser cooling air stream. I;ve always wondered why RV A/C units don't use this same system and merely let the condensate flow out onto the roof where it dribbles on the ground where it's not wanted.
One could fairly easily provide the same effect by merely placing a portable patio \"mister\" on the roof, close enough to the A/C unit that the mist is sucked into the cover's openings and then through the condenser. No more dangerous than operating the A/C on a foggy day or in a light rainstorm.
Here's a $30 example available on Amazon:
As an added benefit it might provide some cooling to the roof which would translate to less heat being transferred into the living area.
The big downside to \"misting\" when using City Water is that Water is becoming extremely scarce in areas that are typically HOT. So much so that reservoirs are at record low levels. This may mean restrictions on this method by Park Owners.
Lastly, ANY evaporative cooling method, swamp cooler or mister, will generate a lot of mineral buildup on surfaces if the water source is not relatively \"Soft\". I've seen swamp coolers in Arizona that look like they've been sprayed with lime and their evaporation mats totally plugged with mineral buildup from the water used.
Microlite Mike wrote:wa8yxm wrote:
Now... One thing that might help (I STRESS MIGHT) might also make thigns worse is \"Misting\" the condenser. You want to mist the \"inlet\" side of the condenser (On most A/C's that is the side you can't see.. Coleman it's the side you can see)
How to do that safely is not something I wish to get into but they make mister nozzles for swamp cooling a patio. Two issues however.> Minerals can build up on the condenser clogging it. and discoloring it. and the dang mister nozzles like to clog.
I don't have central air in my house as it would be a $10K investment at this point but I do have three A/C units, one window and two portables, that make the house quite comfortable during thee 20-30 days per year that temps are above 80.
Each of these units have a \"misting\" system built in that merely sprays the condensate into the condenser cooling air stream. I;ve always wondered why RV A/C units don't use this same system and merely let the condensate flow out onto the roof where it dribbles on the ground where it's not wanted.
One could fairly easily provide the same effect by merely placing a portable patio \"mister\" on the roof, close enough to the A/C unit that the mist is sucked into the cover's openings and then through the condenser. No more dangerous than operating the A/C on a foggy day or in a light rainstorm.
Here's a $30 example available on Amazon:
As an added benefit it might provide some cooling to the roof which would translate to less heat being transferred into the living area.
The big downside to \"misting\" when using City Water is that Water is becoming extremely scarce in areas that are typically HOT. So much so that reservoirs are at record low levels. This may mean restrictions on this method by Park Owners.
Lastly, ANY evaporative cooling method, swamp cooler or mister, will generate a lot of mineral buildup on surfaces if the water source is not relatively \"Soft\". I've seen swamp coolers in Arizona that look like they've been sprayed with lime and their evaporation mats totally plugged with mineral buildup from the water used.
wa8yxm wrote:
Now... One thing that might help (I STRESS MIGHT) might also make thigns worse is \"Misting\" the condenser. You want to mist the \"inlet\" side of the condenser (On most A/C's that is the side you can't see.. Coleman it's the side you can see)
How to do that safely is not something I wish to get into but they make mister nozzles for swamp cooling a patio. Two issues however.> Minerals can build up on the condenser clogging it. and discoloring it. and the dang mister nozzles like to clog.
![](\"https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61QeZLjjf2L._AC_SL1500_.jpg\")
wa8yxm wrote:
Now... One thing that might help (I STRESS MIGHT) might also make thigns worse is \"Misting\" the condenser. You want to mist the \"inlet\" side of the condenser (On most A/C's that is the side you can't see.. Coleman it's the side you can see)
How to do that safely is not something I wish to get into but they make mister nozzles for swamp cooling a patio. Two issues however.> Minerals can build up on the condenser clogging it. and discoloring it. and the dang mister nozzles like to clog.
eHoefler wrote:
A/C remove humidity to cool, you would have the 2 different systems fighting each other and will get nowhere. If you adding a unit, add an A/C
eHoefler wrote:
A/C remove humidity to cool, you would have the 2 different systems fighting each other and will get nowhere. If you adding a unit, add an A/C
