Clearlake, California CSI

[sonarrat]

I thought this was going to be about a special CSI episode.. I can see it now. "Bait for Trouble."

[Profiler]

Well, I did think it was a good hook but it was a serious post and I arppreciated all the great reponses I've received so far. Now what I would like to know, what is a swamp cooler? I,ve never heard of it, here you have central air/reverse cycle air conditioning or window units. Very few furnaces and nobody has a boiler except for the newer tankless water heaters. They,re listed in the real estate ads and I was wondering if they were as good as AC or a poor substitute. In that vein how many days on average do you have to have the air on when you like it a chilly 72 inside. Another thing are termites a big problem there and is dry rot a problem with wood there like it is here.

[Mr5150]

Originally Posted by Profiler

Now what I would like to know, what is a swamp cooler? I,ve never heard of it, here you have central air/reverse cycle air conditioning or window units. Very few furnaces and nobody has a boiler except for the newer tankless water heaters. They,re listed in the real estate ads and I was wondering if they were as good as AC or a poor substitute. In that vein how many days on average do you have to have the air on when you like it a chilly 72 inside. Another thing are termites a big problem there and is dry rot a problem with wood there like it is here.

A swamp cooler aka an Evaporative Cooler uses water and a large mesh (an inch thick) plus a fan to cool air. Cool water flows thru the mesh and a fan sucks air thru the mesh into the house. I knew a number of people in Mendo and Lake Co who had them.

Personally I hated being in many houses when the swamp cooler was on. On the plus side they use way less electricity and cool the house by 20-25 degrees. On the minus side (in the climate that exists in Mendo/Lake county) the interior humidity would go up by at least 20%. So in many houses it was a sticky 74 degrees inside when it was a relatively dry 98 degrees outside.

So why, you may ask? As the air is sucked thru the water, some of the water evaporates into the air being sucked and ends up in the house, thus raising the interior humidity.

The thing is, swamp coolers work really well in truly dry climates. Places where the humidity runs 8%-18%. Places like the desert and the Sierras or the Rocky Mtns. In Lake Co your typical summer humidity is more like 25%-28% and a bit higher in Mendo co.

In Lake Co, you can expect temps of 90+ most days from May thru early October. It's not bad tho. You get used to the heat and it does cool off at night.
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I have two questions. Where are you from and where in Lake Co are you considering?

[Profiler]

I'm from Florida and I'm shopping in Clearlake, City of. I see theres a lot of wood homes for sale which don't do well in the kind of storms they have in Florida. The damp weather rots them out eventually if the storms don't get them first.

[Hawk J]

Many folks that live in Arizona have swamp coolers. Places with dry heat/low humidity use them effectively.

[Profiler]

Thanks, now that we know my wife thinks they had something similar when she was a kid. Bad idea in Fl. with all the humidity here!