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I've never seen a swamp cooler so I went to youtube for some information. It's a seemingly simple device that needs to be maintained and operated properly. I like the fact that with a swamp cooler you're not sealing yourself off from the outside world in a frigid meat locker like we do when it's very hot and humid outside and the central air conditioning is running.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fO4DZbATiqA[/youtube]

Thanks Tom, for the you tube I am now an expert on Swamp Coolers.

Sorry, somehow I did a duplicate post.

dusty wrote:

tomsalwasser wrote:I've never seen a swamp cooler so I went to youtube for some information. It's a seemingly simple device that needs to be maintained and operated properly. I like the fact that with a swamp cooler you're not sealing yourself off from the outside world in a frigid meat locker like we do when it's very hot and humid outside and the central air conditioning is running.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fO4DZbATiqA[/youtube]

When the humidity is up, swamp coolers are a waste. Just sit in front of a fan.

I base my comment on summers in Mississippi for four years. Dallas Texas wasn't much better. Arizona, during monsoon season, is just as bad.

You are definitely correct. Though, I'd go so far as to say that they are more than a waste, as they make the air inside even more miserable than it already was.

@ Dusty>"I base my comment on summers in Mississippi for four years. Dallas Texas wasn't much better. Arizona, during monsoon season, is just as bad."
I just learned that NM and AZ had a mosson season, never knew, a friends mother lives in NM, he informed me about it.

Why not use an air conditioner or a Geothermic heat pump?

This has been an interesting discussion. Where we live they don't recommend them and as high as the humidity gets here in the summer I can see why.

A couple of observations, I have seen air conditioning units here that use a water evaporator to improve the efficiency of the heat transfer but only on commercial size installations. I've also seen ponds employed with the water used to dissipate/distribute heat.

Watching the video the "cooler" reminded me very much of our system for adding moisture to our hot air heated homes. We have an Aprilaire attached to the side of the furnace and it has the same sort of pad that the water flows on/in to. Part of the hot air side of furnace is vented through the aprilaire/pad and back in the flow. In the winter the air gets really dry and adding moisture makes it more comfortable.

Depending on outside temperatures you can/may adjust the level, somewhere in the 35% range when it isn't too cold and then lower as it colder out side to eliminate condensation on windows.

We have hard water so I replace the pad once a year rather then trying to clean it. Cleaning requires harsh chemicals so it is not just a matter of rubbing a rag around the container and flushing the pad with water.......

Some years back I bought a thing called an Arizona Mist. I think I got it at a sears store. It is hard plastic pipe the is in a spiral shape with a hose connection on the bottom and a couple of small misting nozzles at the top. The water comes out in this supper fine mist and it really cools you off. You get wet so it is one of those things you wear a swim suit for.

I used a temperature probe and if I remember right we got almost a 20deg F drop in temperature in the mist. Keep in mind the water out of hose is in the 55 deg range and much to cold to just sit in a stream of as an older adult but with the mist it is very pleasant. Sitting out at 90+ degrees and 70+ humidity is not pleasant in my book but 70 some degrees at 100% isn't bad.

Ed

Ed in Tampa wrote:Why not use an air conditioner or a Geothermic heat pump?

I am guessing most homes there dont have a forced air central heating system for central air also, most likely electric base board. So it was the swamp or window units Until Mitsubishi came out with there systems of wall units tied into a central exterior compressor. Just my guess and back then, who had the money, we are spoiled. Build in a dessert with no water and cooling, build on a hillside of dirt and have dry times and brush fires to burn off the root systems that holds the dirt, then the rain comes and mud slides. Then rebuild there again, dumb westerners!!

Evaporative cooling works used it many times with a canvas canteen tied to the front of the car. Driving a few hours in hot lower humidity heat produced very cold water in the canteen.
However if the humidity goes up the evaporation goes down as does the cooling effect.
Driving through the desert, cold water driving through a swamp, lukewarm water.

My buddy is now using a Geothermic heat pump. About 1500 ft of pipe buried about 8 feet down in Georgia. His cooling bill cut to about a third of what he was paying. Since he had the land and the back hoe the pay back on this system will be quick. But he figures others can get a pay back in few years.

Using lake water is another consideration. They make a unit that submerged in the water and another that sits on dry lan but pumps lake water up to cool it. Both work but both are effected by water quality.

Window air conditioner will cool from small to very large areas depending on the size bought.
Perfect for workshop but will get clogged with sawdust. I have to clean mind fairly often even though I use a aux filter on it.