Swamp coolers, do they work?

[chaska]

From what I've been reading, it looks like this climate would be suitable for a swamp cooler (I'm in the Los Angeles area), but I've never seen one in operation. Do they keep you comfortable, as long as the outside humidity is low? As a native of South Carolina, it's hard to imagine anybody wanting to ADD humidity to the air. But I live in a pseudo desert climate now, so, who knows.

What can ya'll tell me about these things?

[amazona]

1. nah they don't work

I've experienced them in Vegas, and they are a joke.

[LandOLincoln]

2. No, Los Angeles is too humid for swamp (i.e. evaporative) coolers.

They don't work worth a damn when the humidity gets much above 20%, and they use enormous amounts of water as well.

[chaska]

6. Actually, I'm in Sierra Madre (Pasadena).

I just checked a weather site that put the humidity today at 23% and the dewpoint at about 45 degrees, which according to what I was reading is acceptable. Supposedly, anything below a 55 degree dewpoint is good for a swampy.

[LandOLincoln]

17. Don't believe it. I've lived in Albuquerque since 1991, after

20+ years in L.A., and I can tell you swamp coolers only work when conditions are comparable to the Santa Anas in L.A.

And like I said, they also suck up huge amounts of water. Go with refrigerated air. Costs more initially, but saves you heaps of $$ in the long run, besides being marginally more environmentally friendly.

Better yet, retrofit your place with straw bales, or build a new house with straw bales, or buy and restore an old adobe. You know what they say about straw bale/adobe construction, don't you?

"Heat it with a candle, cool it with a fan."

[petersjo]

3. Friends in Arizona--

say don't waste your money. Just get central air and be done with it.

jp

[WyLoochka]

13. Many Arizonans have a "piggyback"

system. Evaporative cooler for use when the humidity is low, and AC for the "monsoon" times when the humidity is higher and the evaporative system can no longer evaporate.

Evaporative coolers are not anywhere near the energy hogs of AC units and the water that runs across the evaporator pads is recirculated.

I have only AC now, but miss the days when I owned a house with the piggyback system. I'd have the swamp cooler on today, windows and doors open, a cool breeze blowing through instead of being locked up tight with the air on.

[Canuckistanian]

4. I heard they're energy pigs, too

And they've caused fires.

[chaska]

They are actually very efficient.

They use the same energy as a 60-80 watt light bulb.

[chaska]

5. Well, my situation is this:

I've just moved to Ca. and at the moment I'm living with my brother and his family. I can stay as long as I want, and right now I have no idea how long that will be. Problem is that they ... apparently ... have a problem with air conditioning. It's 90-ish today and the air is OFF. I can't deal with this long term. I thought a good solution would be a swamp cooler for my one (bed) room, since an air conditioner would be expensive to both buy and operate, and the windows don't really lend themselves to a window unit. I don't want to haul an air conditioner around as I move either.

[sophie996]

14. works great for me

... half a block from giant clear lake, in norcal. and cheap. mine's permanently mounted on roof, but i believe i've seen portable window models advertised. can't stand AC mtself--esp. at night. clogs my sinuses.

[benburch]

7. They work really, really well!

But only away from cities. Cities get too humid from all of the other folks with swamp coolers and watered lawns and soon they do not work at all. Out of the cities in arid climates they are ideal.

[chaska]

9. I'm up on the side of a mountain, with few neighbors.

Between the sun and the wind I can hardly imagine it more arid.

[benburch]

15. I'd go for it.

Quite likely to work great for you.

Actually, even a simple humidifier will cool the air in an arid environment, but an actual swamp cooler usually works better.

[fairfaxvadem]

8. Good grief, Move!!

If your family is that hung up about using the a/c in LA when it's 90, and I assume you are no where near the coast where you might get some natural a/c via the fogbank at night, well, geez, find a place to live with a/c ASAP. It's only late April.

Swamp coolers, where they DO work, which isn't LA, believe me, don't even do that good of a job. Sister in New Mexico says everyone is ditching the swamp coolers for a/c and they used to all be swamp coolers.

It's the same in the Bay Area. Once you are east of Oakland, it is 95 in the shade in the summer. You gotta have a/c.

[chaska]

11. Hmm, maybe I should just pay the power bill...

and tell 'em to shut the hell up. "You'll be comfortable and you'll like it, dammit!"

Unfortuantely moving isn't an option for at least a couple of months.

Just considering options (for the air problem) at this point.

[fairfaxvadem]

12. well, that is a reasonable option...

LA can get some weird weather, what with the Santa Anas blowing and the trapped air in the basin, etc.

If you can afford it and the a/c isn't broken or requiring a major repair, that may be the way to go, pay for the bill.

[Orangepeel]

10. I grew up in El Paso, TX, and everybody had swamp coolers

Stores and public buildings had air conditioning, but I didn't know anyone who had air conditioning in a private home (and I'm not old -- mid thirties). It worked okay, I guess, although it helps if you have a window open and a fan going, too.

[LWolf]

16. Not as efficient in LA.

They work great in dry climates. The more humidity, the less efficient they are.

I know LA isn't as humid as much of the country, but here in the Mojave Desert, we know the meaning of "hot" and "dry." And evaporative coolers are great. Compared to us, LA always feels moist to me; that on-shore flow.

I can run my cooler 24/7 and pay a small fraction of what my friends pay for running their air conditioning a couple of hours a day. It won't get as cool; just "cooler" than outside. You can't set the temperature. Around here, it works well in the 80s and 90s; still gives some relief in the 100s, but once you get to 110, you are merely adjusting the heat to a lower "hot;" it doesn't really get cool.

Maintenance is easy; change out your pads each year.

I lived in LA with no cooling at all, window coolers, and evaporative coolers; never lived in a place with central air. The window coolers worked best, but I couldn't afford the electricity to keep them running. The evaporative cooler was better than nothing; a compromise between comfort and budget.

[Neshanic]

18. They are very energy efficient...it's just a fan in a box.

Arizona is split into two camps, that mirror the politics. In Tucson they are widely used, in Phoenix they are considered too Tucson.

Incredibly simple, and they cool the air to the point where you are very cold. The newspaper here has an "Evap" efficiency rate for each day. When the humidity climbs to the mid 50% range, the cooling effect is reduced. Using one in Tuscon while going to school meant a June electric bill of 45 bucks, compared to a 110 bucks when using air. They must run with a window opemn a bit somewhere in the home. Dirty pads mean fishy-tank funk smell.

[chaska]

19. Thanks everybody for your opinions...

Keep 'em comin'. I think I'm gonna take a look around town. I've been told that they can be had locally. Take it from there. Gotta do something. Whack sister-in-law drives a mercedes but is too cheap to pay for air conditioning.

[ZenLefty]

20. They work well in dry climates

They work well in places like Colorado or Arizona or New Mexico.

The secrets:

-Keep them clean
-Keep them very clean
-Replace the filter pads as often as possible. We replace ours every year.
-Make sure the pump motor gets lots of water on all the pads
-Clean the ducts regularly, and the fan blades. Fungus and mold grow on them. Tilex works well, though your house will smell like bleach for a coupla days.

Other than that, they won't work on high humidity days, and they don't work on hot days with lots of cloud cover. The short time I've spent in LA leads me to believe the sun never shines through all that fog/smog/clouds, and it's a lot more humid than most people think. Ergo, I believe a swamp cooler would be completely ineffectual there.