SWAMP COOLER v. A.C.

[PTPatrick]

Ok guys...here is a little pole. I guess this applys mostly of us folk in the western half of the country as I dont think anywhere in the east is appropriate for swamp coolers. I live in Denver and I am moving to a relatively small apartment(850 SQF that has an open floorplan). Our last summer was ungodly hot, like at least 5 days over 100, and I dont know how many in the 90s...but our humidty is very low, especially in the afternoon. They say a swamp cooler is supposed to cool air to within 5-8 degrees of the wet bulb. From what I can find, the average wetbulb is highest in July and Aurgust, around 68-70. I know a few people here that have swamp coolers and love them, I guess I just am curious what you guys' experiences with them are. I mean can it really cool a room to 70 if the outside temp is 100? Just food for thought, in July in denver, if the temp is 95, then it most likey is around 30% humidty. I know alot of your comfort also has to do with the type of place you have(shade trees v. no shade, tighter new construction v. old).

I guess my concern is if the temp outside is 100 and the swamp cooler takes my apartment down to a humid 80, I will not be happy. I mean will the apartment feel like 100% humidty? because if it does that may not feel good even at 75? I guess groing up on the swamp in Mississippi I have become very spoiled on A.C. I had never even heard of evaporative cooling til I moved here. I saw tons of them in vegas(and as hot as it is there, I should think a swamp cooler would work well here with our measly 100 degree days. Any comments guys?

[Nimbus]

Some of the high efficiency window air conditioners pick up about 20 percent extra cooling capacity by swamp cooling the condensor coil. All the swamp cooling happens outside so it may not increase the humidity inside that much. You would probably run into practical problems of scale if you relied strictly on swamp cooling without a gas cycle.

[PTPatrick]

so are you saying that should get a window unit and use it along with the swamp cooling during extra hot times? As far as capacity this is supposed to be a very big swamp cooler window unit. I think the size of the apartment should be to our advantage, and the back room which will serve as an office can be closed off. All and all the size of the area that will be cooled(our kitchen, living and bedroom...all open to each other) is about 600 square feet I think. and what do you mean by gas cycle?

[Nimbus]

It sounds like you have a large hybrid unit with plenty of capacity. By gas cycle I mean you probably have a compressor pumping R22 refrigerant gas through a condensor and evaporator cycle.

You should get by on less than 2000 BTU's of cooling power with good insulation. I think the swamp cooling of the condensor coils will give you enough extra capacity on hot dry days.

[Aslkahuna]

Swamp coolers work great here in AZ until the monsoon starts then they are worthless. One bad thing about swamp coolers is that they use a lot of water and in a drought situation that is something you should be conserving on. I haven't used my swamp cooler in over 10 years now and now use A/C.

Steve

[Stephanie]

My father's girlfriend lives in Denver and has a swamp cooler. If she didn't tell me what it was, I wouldn't have know the difference between the two.

[PTPatrick]

I think the newer swamp coolers are more efficient with water. Also, you have to think its conserving power, which is conserving water at the power plant.

[Aslkahuna]

Most generator plants now have cooling towers and the water is restored to catch basins. In fact, this worked out so well that the catch basins for the Sulphur Springs Electric plant near Willcox AZ is now a winter wetlands habitat for the Sandhill Cranes from MN. The problem still arises that evaporative cooling will only take you so far when the ambient humidity is high and usually not cool enough to be comfortable-then what do you use? As for me, I have a decently high tolerance for heat so my A/C's don't run that much.

Steve