Swamp Coolers? (houses, square footage, maintenance)

[jskains]

How well do these things work? There is one on the roof of our new place (not moved in quite yet). Do they actually keep the house cool? Is that relative? Will it be like 80 in the house when it is 100? Is it better to swap it out for a real A/C?

[Chango]

I use one. It doesn't work as good as an AC, but it is A LOT cheaper to run and it more or less does the job. Like most things in life, it's a trade-off.

[irman]

Swamp coolers are OK, under certain circumstances.
If the outside humidity is relatively high, you will never get *DECENT* cooling.
The principle of cooling the air, comes from the fact that the air pulled in is cooled by the damp filters. The air picks up moisture and thus feels cooler, but when the air is already almost saturated with moisture, not much more moisture is picked up so the air does not feel cooler.

That said, *swamp* coolers, or evaporative coolers thus work rather well in relatively dry climates.
My personal experience from Utah is that they *work* 90% of the time.

What needs to be done in addition to running the cooler, is to make sure that each window is *cracked* open, just a bit to allow *flow through* of the incoming air.

Replacing it with an air conditioning unit ? Much more money and *potential problems* then one thinks. If the original ducting is not designed properly for that purpose (cooling), even a *million dollar* unit will have a hard time working efficient.
A professional *looking over* of the existing system is required to make a sound decision.

One thing we have done on our system, is to build a small roof over the swamp cooler, so the unit stays more cool in the really hot sun on that roof where you almost fry an egg on ....
The roof over the cooler keeps the unit colder then otherwise and the water inside the cooler stays thus cooler overall.
I have no real proof or test data, but just checking the unit during hot days, proves to me that the unit is way cooler to the touch than before *roof*.

As some advice, when the swamp cooler just feels like it is not enough, we have a small *window* AC unit, that keeps our bedroom cool during the late hours or night. Really nice to *retire* to a nice cool room, no ?
Luckily, the window where that cooler is mounted is on the East side ...

LBNL, the OP seems to have NO experience with swamp coolers.
Here some pointers.
Right before the cooling season have a professional do a thorough job of cleaning the unit out and replacing anything that is not *up to par*.
There are several types of filters available, and I feel that the the wood chip type just works as good as the other kinds, so price makes a difference for ME. Others may think different, so no argument required here.
To keep the water somewhat clear and not smelly, use the bypass feature on the pump, and water your flowers with it. Our bypass line goes to the veggie garden.
I also have a filter on the inlet side of the cooler.
Doing all this, I only service the cooler once a year, right before the cooling season. Then at the end of the season, I remove the old filters, clean everything, lube the rotating parts, and cover up the cooler. My cooler has a *plate*, that you can shove between the cooler and the house, to close off the duct work.

Oops, almost forgot .... yes, the temp difference is about 15 - 20 degrees, if the cooler is in open sun. Ours is about 25 degrees lower because of the roof over the cooler.

[skibarbie]

We ditched the swamp cooler and got ac after 1 month of living down here. I found the noise to be irritating and on humid days, well, you just felt humid. Our ac unit was installed at the end of July of 08-ran every single day, all day for 30 days and the power bill was 100 bucks. Power bill from the first 30 days we lived here-running the swamp cooler was 78 for comparison. House was built in 1960, about 3000 sq feet, not a ton of insulation and I keep the thermostat right around 75 in the summer..Don't forget to get the swamp monster serviced, new pads, water turned on etc..

[jskains]

Sounds like supplimenting it with some window units might do well. I just want to keep my 2 year old healthy and not heat sick.

[eggalegga]

Swamp coolers cool well when your square footage, floorplan and swamp placement are all ideal. I have a 1550 sq ft, split-entry, twin home with a roof mounted swamp that vents into the hallway at the top of my stairs. The louvres on the swamp cooler vent are four sided adjustable so that I can direct the air into the kitchedn living room or down the hall to the bedrooms. Two of my 3 bedrooms are on the north side of the house so that helps with the summer heat. All of my bedrooms have ceiling fans and so does the dining room and there's one over the stairs to help circulate the air.

I much prefer the coolness of a swamp than the frigid cool of central air. Further, I also prefer the power bills with a swamp. What I dread is the twice per year servicing as the thing is up on the roof and I can't easily get off my roof and back onto a ladder--so I have to hire someone twice year to service it. Or if the pump dies or some other issues arises, I'm waiting on someone else to fix it.

I keep my blinds closed during the day when I'm not home. I set my swamp to 79 when I'm not home and 76 if I'm home. It cools my home comfortably.

There are on average about 5 summer days per year where the swamp can only cool my house to about 80 degrees. On those days, I just plan to hang out in the basement or go somewhere else to cool off.

Next week I'm replacing my furnace and adding central air. At least the central air unit will be on the ground where I might have a chance a changing a filter or troubleshooting for repairs.

[dcisive]

I just feel they are dirt and bacteria collectors. Sure in under 15% humidity they can cool a bit, if you don't mind the big draft that results. I prefer the quiet cooling and consistency of a central air system. I wouldn't want to go back. The maintenance of those swamp coolers is a pain in the arse.

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

I prefer the swamp cooler. It's gets so cold in the summer that I have to turn it off at times. My house was built in 1921, deigned for the cooler and has tons of insulation. Elec bill in summer is around $45.

[michelleleigh]

I like swamp coolers, the noise they make help me fall asleep, then again growing up in New Mexico that is what I am used to.DH hates swamp coolers, hates any tempature above 68F and hates large water bills. So we have AC now. I told him if he flips over the high electric bill he owes me $50. Witch I know I wont get because he will say it went to the high electric bill.

[Katzpur]

We had a swamp cooler for years and now have central air. Aside from the fact that a swamp cooler is cheaper and will add moisture to the air (which can be nice, I suppose), they are noisier than all get out and do not cool most houses evenly. We'd have some rooms ice cold and others as hot as they'd have been with no cooler at all.