Swamp cooler problems? (apartment, renting, how much)

[Everymanalion]

Moved into a new home two months ago, was told it had refridge air which I did not like but the thermostat says "pump only" as an option and it is not digital, friend said it must be a swamp cooler then, so we ran the swamp cooler thinking our bill would only go up $30 bucks like it did in our apartment that had a swamp cooler, which was MUCH bigger than this house, wrong, our bill went from $25 to $120 for LITERALLY 14 hours of use total over two weeks. What the hell is the deal? It didnt even cool the house THAT much and was not worth the extra $. What are we doing wrong? Smaller space to cool than our apartment yet $100 increase and we werent even THAT cool? Is there a possibility we have refridge air even though the thermostat is obviously a swamp cooler? we are so confused and dying in this heat in this home now from this.

[chaparrito]

You need to call somebody. A switch with "pump only" on it is a cooler switch in my experience, not an AC. But no cooler should cause much of a bump in your power bill. Mine isn't noticeable at all and I run it 24/7. If you're renting, get a clarification from your landlord.

[wit-nit]

A switch with 'pump only' usually means it's the switch to turn on water to the swamp cooler. Can you see the unit. Is it on the roof. Look at it and if you see cooler pads then you have a swamp cooler. You could also have a piggyback unit which is a ac and swamp cooler combo.
You may want to call an ac person out to check everything out.

[Coop01]

Originally Posted by Everymanalion

... thinking our bill would only go up $30 bucks like it did in our apartment that had a swamp cooler, which was MUCH bigger than this house, wrong, our bill went from $25 to $120 for LITERALLY 14 hours of use total over two weeks ...

Someone must be tapping your electricity. It is unlikely that 14 hrs of use will increase the bill by $95 unless there are other power hungry loads (pool pumps, electric dryers, and water heaters) that are driving your cumulative usage into the area where Kw/Hr are very costly. Once you pass those total usage limits, you are paying a much higher rate per Kw/Hr.
Go out side and measure your current power usage with the A/C, (swamp cooler) off and then turn on the A/C and record the power used after an hour. You can calculate your estimated usage.

If you are on APS, the online account will provide the best diagnostics and usage charts for you to analyze your daily and hourly usage. It will show you how much and when you use your power. You didn't mention the size of the house, rate schedule, etc. I've heard horror stories where a thermostat was wired incorrectly and some combination (heat/cool) units and have a strip heater for warming and BOTH were running simultaneously.

[Bummer]

Not certain what and/or why but something is just NOT RIGHT with this one, Everymanalion . . .

I have "Dual Cooling" in my home and the control / thermostat for each system is totally different and fairly obvious which system is being controlled.

Also, the sound originating from each system is completely different.

The hefty "spike" in usage you are describing would definitely be a concern for me as well.

[maverick974]

That kind of spike in electric usage is virtually impossible with even the largest swamp coolers. 2, 3, even 4 swamp coolers running full out for days wouldn't use anywhere near that much electricity.
I have a 6500 cfm swampy and on high it uses about 10 cents per hour. One of the largest residential evaporative coolers available.
There is something else hugely wrong that we aren't privy to yet.

[kell490]

Sounds like a piggy back system I bet the AC was running and the swamp cooler had the damper was stuck open so your AC was just going out through the Swamp cooler. Your home didn't cool and the thermostat kept it going because it never got cold ran the entire time.

When you look up on the roof do you see 2 boxes one on top of another, or 2 next to one another?

This happen to me when I first moved to AZ I had no idea what a swamp cooler was. I turned it on and the damper got stuck open and when i turned on the AC it blew a little but never really cooled the house. Like others have said get an AC guy to fix it.

[maverick974]

Something is still amiss with this scenario. Almost 100 dollars for 14 hours as the OP says is pretty hard to swallow even if you left on several large residential A/C units for several days with the windows open.
A more likely scenario is the power company read the meter wrong.