swamp (evaporative) cooler question

[nightvision]

I just got a small portable evaporative cooler from Lowes that pumps out 1800 cubic feet per minute. I placed it outside of our kitchen window and it does a very good job of blowing in cool air and cooling our living room. I'm very impress with this little unit. The unit is sitting in a shaded area. When I place my digital therometer about 4-5 away from the unit I get a reading of between 72 and 78 degrees at various part of the day.

A couple questions:

a. What can I do to aid the unit to blow out cool air (say 72 degrees) on a consisant level?
b. I have hard that the hotter the air out side the unit will produce cooler air. Is there any truth to this?
c. Our humidity level here is about 33%. If that is lower will I get more cooling?

Thanks.

 

[SnappingTurtle]

Re: swamp (evaporative) cooler question

I just got a small portable evaporative cooler from Lowes that pumps out 1800 cubic feet per minute. I placed it outside of our kitchen window and it does a very good job of blowing in cool air and cooling our living room. I'm very impress with this little unit. The unit is sitting in a shaded area. When I place my digital therometer about 4-5 away from the unit I get a reading of between 72 and 78 degrees at various part of the day.

A couple questions:

a. What can I do to aid the unit to blow out cool air (say 72 degrees) on a consisant level?
b. I have hard that the hotter the air out side the unit will produce cooler air. Is there any truth to this?
c. Our humidity level here is about 33%. If that is lower will I get more cooling?

Thanks.

When I was a kid at my grand parents house, it was my job to put gallon milk jugs of water in the freezer every night. Then through out the hot parts of the day I put one frozen jug after the other in the cooler.

I am not sure how much how much difference it made, but it sure felt good.

Nights we ran an giant attic fan, to pull in the cool night air, and to push the hot air out of the attic. I don't remember every being uncomfortable in the house, even in the hundred degree summer heat.

 

[Drowned Rat]

Re: swamp (evaporative) cooler question

The dew point in your area is what you should be looking at. Anything above 50 degrees and the unit will not operate to cool the air. 40 to 50 degrees is okay, but terribly inefficient, and uncomfortable because it makes it too humid. Below 40 degrees is where you want it to be.

 

[dave11]

Re: swamp (evaporative) cooler question

I just got a small portable evaporative cooler from Lowes that pumps out 1800 cubic feet per minute. I placed it outside of our kitchen window and it does a very good job of blowing in cool air and cooling our living room. I'm very impress with this little unit. The unit is sitting in a shaded area. When I place my digital therometer about 4-5 away from the unit I get a reading of between 72 and 78 degrees at various part of the day.

A couple questions:

a. What can I do to aid the unit to blow out cool air (say 72 degrees) on a consisant level?
b. I have hard that the hotter the air out side the unit will produce cooler air. Is there any truth to this?
c. Our humidity level here is about 33%. If that is lower will I get more cooling?

Thanks.

A. You will never get a constant temperature with a swamp cooler.

B. No. What you will get is a differential based on a combination of the ambient(outside) air temperature and the humidity(dew Point).

C. Yes. The lower the humidity the greater the differential between the outside and inside( output) temperature

 

[fishmen111]

Re: swamp (evaporative) cooler question

Someone help me out here. I have never heard of a swamp cooler. What is it?

 

[dchris]

Re: swamp (evaporative) cooler question

A swamp cooler is a fan blowing air thru a wet filter usually made of shreded wood fibers. The water evaporates and cools the air. They are very dependant on the dew point. The lower the dew point, the better they cool. Somewhere about 45-50deg dew point, they quit cooling the air temperature.

 

[Shizzy]

Re: swamp (evaporative) cooler question

also NOT used in areas with humid weather....

here in MN its not the heat, its the humidity that kills you. nothing like 90 degree weather with 80-90% humidity...

 

[Pierutrus]

Re: swamp (evaporative) cooler question

Someone help me out here. I have never heard of a swamp cooler. What is it?

To have one......To work that is....

NO HUMIDITY IN THE AIR.....

Best place in the US is South West US.

 

[Pierutrus]

Re: swamp (evaporative) cooler question

Oh, and anybody ever heard of a glorified swamp cooler?

That's where we run freon instead of water thru the fins

Oh, and by the way.......

This is the guy who takes care of....402, life safety

Next time you hear the fire alarm go off....

That would be ME!

And enjoy your stay in Las Vegas.

 

[rwise]

Re: swamp (evaporative) cooler question

I was always told that they work better in sun light than shade, but I have not used one since I was a kid,,,,

109* with 60%+ humidity here yesterday,,,,,,do I drink they water or just poor it over me??????

 

[arboldt]

Re: swamp (evaporative) cooler question

Many years ago my sister in SE Minnesota used a swamp cooler for their house. I guess it was ok, but their water bills were HIGE. Especially in the arid Southwest, is this really a viable way to go?

 

[SnappingTurtle]

Re: swamp (evaporative) cooler question

Many years ago my sister in SE Minnesota used a swamp cooler for their house. I guess it was ok, but their water bills were HIGE. Especially in the arid Southwest, is this really a viable way to go?

Many, many years ago, it was the only way to go.

I think a modern unit in a well insulated house would be much more efficient today.

We could only use them about six weeks a year though, as has been pointed out, they will turn a room into a Sauna, if the humidity goes up past a certain point.

We always had them in the cabins because the AC window units never lasted. Every year they grew legs, and took off when it got hot.

The evaporative coolers were really big, awkward to carry, too big for a car, relative inexpensive, and therefor they were never stolen.

As far as putting them in the sun, I can't say if they work better there or not, but ours were always on the sunny side because that was the hot side.

 

[eavega]

Re: swamp (evaporative) cooler question

Another thing you have to worry about with swamp coolers is any wood in the house. You can bet as soon as the dewpoints got into the mid/upper 40s, all the doors in the house would start sticking because of the increased humidity. Still, I have seen evaporative coolers cool down huge aircraft hangars. If the conditions are just right (as they were for most of the year in Tucson), they could actually make a room downright chilly.

-Eric

 

[SS MAYFLOAT]

Re: swamp (evaporative) cooler question

The basics to this is the rate of evaporation. When the water evaporates, it produces the cooling effect. When the humidity is high things take longer to dry. This limits the cooling effect as it cannot evaporate the water at a higher rate. This is why they are only good in certain areas of the country.