Can a dehumidifier counteract a swamp cooler?

[madoka]

I run a swamp cooler during summer, but I also have a crapton of electronics in my room. If I ran a dehumidifier, could that counteract the moisture the swamp cooler is putting out?

 

[crashtech]

A dehumidifier is basically an A/C unit that can reheat the dried air as necessary. During the summer, a window A/C unit will do more for your equipment room than a dehumidifier. Just keep the door closed between the spaces, since they each defeat the other's purpose.

 

[rommelrommel]

Maybe a bit, I don’t think it would keep up. Swamp coolers depend on a lot of airflow don’t they?

 

[Carson Dyle]

I hate swamp coolers. Get an air conditioner.

 

[who?]

Humidity creates a path for static to go to ground so I don't understand what your problem is. If you dehumidify the air you will create a greater risk of static buildup that might fry something.

 

[Red Squirrel]

A dehumidifier creates heat too, so if you are trying to cool a space with a swamp cooler and then using a humidifier you are actually just going to create more heat. Also since swamp coolers create humidity they won't exactly make you more comfortable. Air conditioners work because they "pump" the heat outside. The reason the evap coil is cold and cools the air is because it's actually absorbing heat. That heat then goes to the condenser coil which heats up and is discharged outside by the fan.

Best bet is an air conditioner, it will cool and dehumidify the air at same time.

 

[feralkid]

Humidity creates a path for static to go to ground so I don't understand what your problem is. If you dehumidify the air you will create a greater risk of static buildup that might fry something.

This.


I don't understand what problem you are trying to solve, OP?

 

[BudAshes]

Only peasants use swamp coolers.

 

[Schmide]

If you have a swamp cooler you live in a dry area and the extra humidity is not a factor.

If you have a swamp cooler and live in a humid area, you now live in a swamp.

 

[IronWing]

Off topic: Yesterday the relative humidity here (outdoors) hit 2%.

 

[13Gigatons]

What hasn't been mentioned is power consumed. Dehumidifiers use about the same power as an A/C unit....so you might as well just get a A/C unit. They have some on sale for $99 every year.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Off topic: Yesterday the relative humidity here (outdoors) hit 2%.

Holy crap do you live inside a factory that makes those "do not eat" packets? did not think that low was possible unless it's arctic weather out.

 

[vailr]

Swamp coolers are only for very dry climates, such as Arizona. Newer air conditioner models are much more efficient that what was common 25 or more years ago. For today's market, it makes much better economic sense to get rid of and uninstall the swamp cooler, and replace it with a modern central AC unit.

 

[Jon-T]

need more data

#1 Humidity in room

#2 Price of Tea in China

 

[lxskllr]

need more data

# Price of Tea in China

 

[madoka]

So I have a small, personal swamp cooler (the kind used by truckers inside their cabin):

It's aimed at my head when I sleep. I've heard that the humidity that swamp coolers put out is bad for electronics (corrosion IIRC). So I was wondering if getting a dehumidifier could take care of that problem.

 

[crashtech]

I feel like I've been rickrolled.

 

[sdifox]

Why not run your ac?

 

[snoopy7548]

OP can afford a brand new McLaren and all the Legos but uses a swamp cooler in his house...

 

[BurnItDwn]

Get something like this. They have these people called "professionals" and they will estimate the proper sizing and such and then they will come and install it.

All they want is some money, and usually it's a veary reasonable rate.

https://www.goodmanmfg.com/products/air-conditioners/18-seer-dsxc18

 

[momeNt]

Why not just sleep in the McLaren and run the A/C in the vehicle? Just make sure to run the exhaust outside if you are in an enclosed space. This way you don't have to go through the expense of purchasing an A/C unit and can utilize stuff you already own.

 

[Carson Dyle]

Why not just sleep in the McLaren and run the A/C in the vehicle?

I think maybe his mom doesn't let him park in the driveway. He'd have to sleep parked out on the street.

 

[BurnItDwn]

Why not just sleep in the McLaren and run the A/C in the vehicle? Just make sure to run the exhaust outside if you are in an enclosed space. This way you don't have to go through the expense of purchasing an A/C unit and can utilize stuff you already own.

Good idea, but, McLaren might not be that comfortable, a Class A RV would be perfect, since they have proper beds, and can hold lots of legos as well.

 

[Ken Barnett]

Lots of bad advice and uneducated comments on this subject!
I live in Albuquerque, NM where swamp coolers are everywhere; and yes they are stupid, considering that they only work in DRY climates!

The dessert South West has a MONSOON season, where we get flooding, massive downpours and high humidity, it just so happens that monsoon season is JULY-SEPTEMBER and like everyone else in the country, that just so happens to be the hottest time of the year!

Now that I got that off of my chest, De-humidifiers are not always Electric devices and in fact the best dehumidifier for a small space is an Eva-Dry it is full of descant beads that pull moisture out of the air and when they are fully soaked you plug it in and 'heat dry' the thing, they cost $15-80.00 and work really well with swamp coolers or just to get rid of humidity!
If you have ever taken an uncomfortable ride on a city bus during the summer, the ice cold AC the bus creates is made with evaporative cooling and a descant dehumidifier, a heater dries the descant every 15 minutes or so to keep even humid regions of the country cool and dry, now you know!
For the record: they don't all use evaporative cooling, but most do, you can always tell, when you smell the heater come on (smells just like a dryer)

What you could do if your concerned about humidity in your electronics is use descant beads, you can even find them at DOLLAR TREE, just keep the container near the device or at the source of the device. The product Dollar Tree sells does not have a heater, it is meant for use in closets, campers, bathrooms or some other small place like under your car seat.
I know this post is 2 years old, but this could be useful for someone

 

[gfmucci]

I run a swamp cooler during summer, but I also have a crapton of electronics in my room. If I ran a dehumidifier, could that counteract the moisture the swamp cooler is putting out?

I realize this OP is 16 years old, but I'm commenting anyway to address several off-the-mark assumptions made about the question that was posed by the OP.

First, there are some situations where an air conditioner is impractical or impossible, such as an interior room, or a room with no windows, or an HOA that does not allow window or through the wall AC units. Comments mocking the request only demonstrate uninformed presumption.

Second, there are several web sites that agree that the proper balance of swamp cooler and dehumidifier settings can provide an optimized humidity and temperature.

For example, I have a garage in a home in central Florida where the humidity ranges between 40 and 55% humidity about 80% of the time and the daytime temp averages around 90 degrees in the summer - in the garage! Swamp coolers work best with humidity below 50%. If I ran the cooler in the garage while the humidity was 50%, after a short time the humidity would rise to 55 or 60% and would lose its cooling efficiency. Lowering the temp down to around 78 to 80 degrees with a bit lower humidity would be a wonderful thing.

If there was also a dehumidifier in near proximity set to kick on at 50% or 55% humidity, a balance of humidity and temperature could be maintained.

I would not expect the swamp cooler to cool off the entire garage but would only use it in close proximity to my work area - for personal cooling, not room cooling.

As for the danger of static electricity, I wouldn't expect that to be an issue above 40% humidity. In fact, the swamp cooler in close proximity to the workbench would assure that humidity would not reach static electricity-inducing levels, while the temperature and humidity in my immediate area would be improved.