Evaporative Cooler

Kayteg1 wrote:

work2much wrote:

Is it just me or does it seem like posting here can be pretty glitchy? Maybe it's safari but often when trying to publish a post it hangs up and I have to rewrite from scratch. Must remember to copy post before submitting....

If you are using rv.net site, it does not allow percentage symbol and that is what happens to me. I have to use woodals site, or type it in words.
Someone posted that those things can use over 5 gallons of water per day, so you need good water supply.
And again, the main hassle is to run the unit dry before driving, or you might get showers inside.
I noticed all our County Animal Control trucks use those coolers.
Bay Area is not the best for evaporative coolers, but looks like they work for animal cages.

Thanks for the info. I didn't know there was a mirror site. will check it out.

I think coming up with a way to effectively drain the pan without getting on the roof and removing parts would have to be mod #1

work2much wrote:

Is it just me or does it seem like posting here can be pretty glitchy? Maybe it's safari but often when trying to publish a post it hangs up and I have to rewrite from scratch. Must remember to copy post before submitting....

If you are using rv.net site, it does not allow percentage symbol and that is what happens to me. I have to use woodals site, or type it in words.
Someone posted that those things can use over 5 gallons of water per day, so you need good water supply.
And again, the main hassle is to run the unit dry before driving, or you might get showers inside.
I noticed all our County Animal Control trucks use those coolers.
Bay Area is not the best for evaporative coolers, but looks like they work for animal cages.

HMS Beagle wrote:
They work by raising the humidity in exchange for cooling, so they only work in pretty dry conditions. You have to plumb water to them. Would not be of any use in Florida, but in the drier places in California, it can work pretty well.

I would say that they cool by evaporation, hence you need a dry climate.
bumpy

HMS Beagle wrote:
These are designed to mount on the roof of an RV, are about the same size as the AC unit they replace, so no worries about profile or wind as some have suggested.

I have not had one, but a friend of mine who camps frequently in the desert swears by them, and has mounted them on his last 3 RVs. I have sat in his RV on a 95 deg day in the desert, and it was nice and cool inside. They work by raising the humidity in exchange for cooling, so they only work in pretty dry conditions. You have to plumb water to them. Would not be of any use in Florida, but in the drier places in California, it can work pretty well.

Thanks, I didn't think they looked bad either. I will probably install one in a year or so before next summer. I was hoping someone here might have done an install. Looking at the directions it seems pretty straightforward. A couple things I'm not thrilled about include drawing from our freshwater tank and the procedure to drain the pan, both I think I can get around. I wonder how much water it uses on average.

Is it just me or does it seem like posting here can be pretty glitchy? Maybe it's safari but often when trying to publish a post it hangs up and I have to rewrite from scratch. Must remember to copy post before submitting....

These are designed to mount on the roof of an RV, are about the same size as the AC unit they replace, so no worries about profile or wind as some have suggested.

I have not had one, but a friend of mine who camps frequently in the desert swears by them, and has mounted them on his last 3 RVs. I have sat in his RV on a 95 deg day in the desert, and it was nice and cool inside. They work by raising the humidity in exchange for cooling, so they only work in pretty dry conditions. You have to plumb water to them. Would not be of any use in Florida, but in the drier places in California, it can work pretty well.

Thanks for all the advice. I think I will mentally shelf this as a future project. We are spending this summer in Alaska so for now I think I will replace the AC with a fantastic fan.

Swap coolers are not only coolers, but they also are powerful blowers.
Here in California with good insulation, cooling the house in the morning with good fan keeps it comfortable via 100's in the afternoon.
RV doesn't have good insulation, so that will have smaller impact, but when on borderline and hate generator noise, that thing sure works on desert.
Like mentioned - forget about using it in Florida or Louisiana.

if you got by without using AC, why bother with swamp cooler?
bumpy

I like the idea of getting a portable Evaporative Cooler unit first and try it out before going into alot of changes...

Lived in AZ in the 60s and 70s and you really have to learn how to use a Evaporative Cooler...

For us they worked the best at night working with cool night air being drawn in from the outside... Once you figured out how the the house breathes the best then they work great... Nothing instant about them however...

The part I really didn't like about them in AZ is most were installed on the roof of the house and one had to arm himself with insect spray and other means of protecting yourself to do minor maintenance. This was the favorite spot for Black Widow spiders haha Once you got all of them killed off then you could replaces the filters as required etc...

Being an outdoor type person I really liked them the best at night... The idea is to draw in cool night air and have it blown back at you through the vents from the cooler fan...

Being light weight and the fan and water pump running from 12VDC makes it ideal for back road camping. They only work in low humid places however...

Roy Ken

You will not be comfortable in Florida with it.