Love my swamp cooler...

[Capt Steve]

After living in the high Sonoran Desert near Tucson for 15+ years I know a little bit about hot weather. Our central AC unit performed flawlessly though did get in to my wallet during the warm months through my enlarged electric bill {often $160 $180 a month}.

We recently moved up to Payson in the mountains 100 miles north of Phoenix and at 5,000' it is much cooler but regular temps in the 90's and even the occasional triple digit day are just part of summer up here. Our new place has no AC but does have a very efficient evaporative {swamp} cooler. They don't/won't/can't work for everyone but happily we are in just the right zone for maximum efficiency. If our humidity was higher, it's usually 10 to 20% or less, it would not be as effective.

The 38 year old original died last year and just replaced it with the exact same model from Home Depot {$600 OTD}. I had it professionally installed for $800 but as everything {power, water, ducting, thermostat, switch etc.} was already in place it went in without any major issues.

We are officially into summer so highs in the low to mid 90's are not unusual but I consistently get 20 to 25 degrees of cooling {our house is very well insulated with double pane glass and surrounded by lots of trees providing abundant shade}.

I usually have to turn it off once the house gets down below 75 as the central ducting from our furnace carries nice cool air throughout and with some authority. The only costs to operate are the tiny amount of water that refills the tray from evaporation and the electricity to run the simple belt driven, one half HP squirrel cage fan.

Sometimes the simpler the tech the better it works.

 

[DWalt]

You need a low relative humidity to use a swamp cooler. On several occasions, some years ago, I lived in Midland, Texas. Swamp coolers there did not perform very well, and most older houses had been converted to central AC. In Odessa, about 25 miles to the west, swamp coolers worked much better and many older houses there still used them (at the time - I do not know about today). There was enough RH difference between the two towns to make the difference.

 

[old bear]

Sir glad that you are pleased with your unit. About 10 years ago Genie and I had a solar powered attic fan installed. It was expensive, but in comfort it paid for itself the first day. Two years later with the reduction in the electric bill it really paid for itself. It's still running strong and I'm still loving comfort and the power bill savings.

 

[Onomea]

Those coolers were the norm in Tucson 50 years ago. Dunno about nowadays.

I was only there for about three months, springtime, but I recall being suprised at how it was so dry that I had powder from dry skin on my forearms.

 

[arjay]

They were pretty common along the front range until builders started adding ac to new housing in the 90s. They work well until the temps approach triple digits,I think.

 

[LoboGunLeather]

Evaporative coolers work reasonably well in areas with low humidity, not so well when ambient humidity rises above about 40% or so.

We had a swamper for many years, very common here in southern Colorado (semi-arid environment). In addition to the cooling provided a swamper also increases the humidity inside the structure, sometimes to an uncomfortable or damaging degree. Interior carpets, furniture upholstery, doors, window frames. clothing, plaster walls, all can become saturated to a point that swelling can affect functioning, and mold or mildew can become an issue.

The best argument in favor of evaporative cooling is economy; relatively little power is required to run the pump and blower units when compared to refrigerated AC units.

We have had central refrigerated AC for about 24 years now, in the present house and in our prior home. Initial cost for equipment and installation is pretty comparable. The more modern units are much more efficient in energy consumption. Comfort levels are much better, in my experience.

Last house was 2400 square feet, frame construction, well insulated with good windows and doors, built in 1998. My first experience with central refrig AC, so I kept a close watch on the bills over the first several years. Overall, I figured the cost at about $30 per month during the hot months requiring use. About a buck a day to be comfortable, set the thermostat and not have to think about it, sit down in my recliner without feeling it like a soaked towel wrapped around me, wooden doors and windows functioning without sticking from swollen conditions.

Current home is 1479 square feet, good insulation and windows, new refrig central AC unit installed 2019. Maybe $20 difference in the monthly electric bills during the hot months. Our summer daytime temps routinely run over 90F and frequently up to 105F. Keep the interior temp at 80F and we are very comfortable without all the humidity, mold or mildew.

The newer units are much more efficient and require far less maintenance. Very cost-effective.

 

[pawngal]

My sister lived in a mobile home in Las Vegas back in the 50's, most all in that park had roof mounted swamp coolers. Kept that metal box quite comfortable.

 

[pharmer]

Living in a giant swamp my cooler is a 4 ton heat pump. The highly efficient new one moved the electric bill from almost $400/mo to $200 during the Summer months. Joe

 

[Chuck24]

When I was in college, I worked part time at a place that serviced RVs. With our 90% humidity, a lot of tourists came in with this type of cooling system complaining that it wasn’t working. The tech told them it worked just fine, just not here. When they asked what they could do about it, his standard answer was move.

 

[Old 44 Guy]

I've had a swamp cooled for years. They we fine in a dry climate.

 

[Harrison]

We had a swamp cooler on our house when we lived in El Paso. it worked well. Swamp cooler would not work in San Antonio's humid muggy heat. They are good in their place, and that is somewhere where it is dry and with low humidity.

 

[Sistema1927]

Just updated my old style swamp cooler to a MasterCool last year. Moves more air, and the pads are more saturated. I get ~ 20-25 degree differential.

The key to Swamp cooler performance, in addition to living some place with low humidity, is having the right windows cracked open the correct amount.

 

[jeffrefrig]

All my years in HVACR I've only touched one swamp cooler, a small one in a greenhouse. How often do you have to get the sump slime cleaned out? And do the pads need changed/cleaned very often?
They're selling a ton of those table-top ones now that "will make your room cold" in like 10 minutes. Do those things work like they say, anyone know?

 

[PALADIN85020]

Years ago, living in Tempe AZ, we had a swamp cooler. Had to climb up on the roof to change the pads and oil the motor and the hinge on the water float each year. It worked reasonably well except during the higher humidity monsoon season.

Only problem was that the very moisture-laden air it blew into the house was trying to rust my guns. Have had modern A/C ever since...

John

 

[Sistema1927]

All my years in HVACR I've only touched one swamp cooler, a small one in a greenhouse. How often do you have to get the sump slime cleaned out? And do the pads need changed/cleaned very often?
They're selling a ton of those table-top ones now that "will make your room cold" in like 10 minutes. Do those things work like they say, anyone know?

Slime? Never encountered any in the desert southwest. At the beginning of the season I wash the dust out of the pan. For the MasterCool, I expect to need to change the thick pads about every 3 years. For the standard outdoor swamp cooler, it depends on what type of pads you have, and how hard your water is. The Aspen (straw) pads pretty much need to be replaced each season. The green paper type about the same. The blue foam will last a couple of years, but only if your water isn't too hard.

I would expect that the indoor units will only work with low humidity, just like the exterior ones.

 

[Old Arkansawyer]

We had a screened in back porch where we once lived and I had a
swamp cooler installed to just blow cool air across the porch. Many
times we had our evening meal on the porch.
I still have the cooler stored out in the shed and am sure it needs
new pads.

 

[Capt Steve]

What do you recommend?

Just updated my old style swamp cooler to a MasterCool last year. Moves more air, and the pads are more saturated. I get ~ 20-25 degree differential.

The key to Swamp cooler performance, in addition to living some place with low humidity, is having the right windows cracked open the correct amount.

What do you believe to be the correct amount {number of} and "cracked" meaning? We keep all of our windows {except the utility room with washer/dryer} closed and the swamp cooler works great as noted we get 20 to 25 degrees of cooling and the system blows so well I sometimes turn it down to low and still get great results.

{Keeping the windows closed helps a lot with the abundant pollen we get from the Junipers and Ponderosa Pines - we have lots of both}

Learn me something...

 

[Sistema1927]

What do you believe to be the correct amount {number of} and "cracked" meaning? We keep all of our windows {except the utility room with washer/dryer} closed and the swamp cooler works great as noted we get 20 to 25 degrees of cooling and the system blows so well I sometimes turn it down to low and still get great results.

{Keeping the windows closed helps a lot with the abundant pollen we get from the Junipers and Ponderosa Pines - we have lots of both}

Learn me something...

I have three windows open. In my Den, where we spend most of our time, it is open about 3". In the back bathroom, about 2", same with our utility room. They stay open all throughout cooling season. I do have wrought iron bars on the outside of all our windows, and also have rods in the bottom of the windows to keep them from being opened further from the outside.

Our cooler runs on a thermostat set to 78 degrees, and automatically cycles the fan from low to high as needed.

I find that a generic Xyrtec takes care of the pollen issues. Better to be cool.

 

[Capt Steve]

Huh?

Not sure I see the point of the open/cracked windows. How does this impact the efficiency of the swamp cooler? I don't have a thermostat per se just High/Low settings for the cooler or fan only. The pollen rains down in late spring and early summer along with a fair amount of dust {welcome to Arizona}. Keeping the windows closed keeps it outside and we don't suffer from allergies. Seems like leaving the windows open would just provide a path for the cold air to vent outside {and pollen and dust to come inside} where it does no good{???}.

One thing I do notice is that to open a door you need to pull enough to break the seal so to speak and the door will tend to slam shut if you don't close them gently yourself. Oh well, we both seem to be getting the desired results for not much cost of operation and as always...

Opinions and YMMV

 

[dave1918a2]

They were pretty common along the front range until builders started adding ac to new housing in the 90s. They work well until the temps approach triple digits,I think.

I had a window mount swamper. When it broke 95 or so I just put in a bag of ice and put on a coat.