Anyone use a swamp cooler?

desura

Diamond Member
Mar 22, 2013
4,627
129
101
Summer is on the way and I'm curious about swamp coolers. I generally don't like air conditioners because they tend to make the house too cold and because they have a smell to them.

It looks like a lot of designs of swamp coolers are essentially fan + water.
 

IronWing

No Lifer
Jul 20, 2001
73,135
34,441
136
Humidity < 15%, swamp coolers > A/C
Humidity 15% < 30%, swamp coolers okay.
Humidity > 30%, swamp coolers suck dog's balls.

<== lived with swamp cooler for ~20 years
 

Pink Jazz

Senior member
Jan 30, 2016
228
8
81
Here in the Phoenix area, they haven't been used on new homes since the 1980s. More often than not, homes with swamp coolers will also have air conditioning.

In Tucson they are somewhat more common, with over 50% of homes equipped with them until around 2006 from what I read.
 

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
70,746
13,855
126
www.anyf.ca
The issue is they don't get rid of humidity, they actually create more. On super hot days when it's like +30 it would probably even start to cause water issues as the pipes and toilet and other items that have water in them and are cooler are already condensating quite a lot as is. That's probably why they say not to run plumbing directly above the electrical panel. When it gets really hot the pipes condense and can drip. My main passes dangerously close to it and it always makes me a bit nervous seeing all those water droplets. Not an issue anymore now that I have A/C though.

Also depending on the source of the water, they may not even cool the room/house down at all. Ex: if you are just using tap water that water is already in the house in the pipes. Suppose if you let it run long enough until it's very cold then you are getting water that is colder that does not originate from the house. You can think of the house as a closed system, and if you consider the laws of thermodynamics you can't cool it without interacting with the outside.

Same with those ice bucket AC units people make where you put ice in a bucket and have a fan blow over it and there are holes. Those are only effective if the ice was made outside the house. If you're grabbing ice from the freezer and then making more, the energy required to make that ice is going to generate more heat than what the ice will cool down.

Traditional A/C units work because of the outside unit. The heat is "sucked" into the coil of the indoor unit which is why the coil gets really cold, and then the heated gas travels outside and then the heat is expelled through the outside coil. There's a whole science as to why that happens and basically has to do with the compressing and expanding of gases. Kind of the same idea as why rubbing alcohol makes your hands cold. They suck the heat out and then it evaporates.
 

Humpy

Diamond Member
Mar 3, 2011
4,464
596
126
Also depending on the source of the water, they may not even cool the room/house down at all. Ex: if you are just using tap water that water is already in the house in the pipes. Suppose if you let it run long enough until it's very cold then you are getting water that is colder that does not originate from the house. You can think of the house as a closed system, and if you consider the laws of thermodynamics you can't cool it without interacting with the outside.

Evaporative coolers don't really depend on the temperature of the water to work.
 

rchunter

Senior member
Feb 26, 2015
933
72
91
I have one out in my metal shop here in AZ. Rarely use it.. It gets super humid when i'm running it in this metal building unless I keep the roll up doors completely open. Anyways i'm moving soon anyway so all my shop equipment is at the new place already.
 

IronWing

No Lifer
Jul 20, 2001
73,135
34,441
136
I have one out in my metal shop here in AZ. Rarely use it.. It gets super humid when i'm running it in this metal building unless I keep the roll up doors completely open. Anyways i'm moving soon anyway so all my shop equipment is at the new place already.
That's a good point. Swamp coolers rely on continuous air exhaust to the outside so the building has to have windows open or other vents.
 

Fir

Senior member
Jan 15, 2010
484
194
116
Drain the swamp first and there will be nothing left to cool.
Mission accomplished!
 

Raduque

Lifer
Aug 22, 2004
13,140
138
106
Here in Yewtah, almost all the houses have evap coolers instead of central air. We haven't had to use it yet, as it still seems to be winter here. High today was 38 and it was snowing/sleeting most of the day.
 

desura

Diamond Member
Mar 22, 2013
4,627
129
101
Maybe evaporating water off of the roof is the best way to achieve an evaporative cooler? Some people have installed misting systems on their roofs for during especially hot summer days. It looks like it works pretty well, but also increases wear on the roof.
 

Fir

Senior member
Jan 15, 2010
484
194
116
Never seen on a house for people.
Hens definitely. And those have steel roofs.
Sprinklers on asphalt roof is gonna be moss city.
Have fun getting new shingles every 10 years!
 

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
70,746
13,855
126
www.anyf.ca
Idealy your roof should be outside the thermal envelope of the house, so it probably would not do much difference. The attic should also be properly ventilated. For a house that has a conditioned attic it would maybe make a difference though, if the roof is really hot it will increase the rate at which the heat can travel through the insulation and to the inside. But even a roof with a conditioned attic should have some air/ventilation channels above the insulation.