Swamp Cooler vs Air Conditioner (Denver, Evergreen: rental, houses, tenant)

[ermo18]

How important is it to have central air up there? I see a lot of houses they don't come with it. Being from Houston, it's hard to fathom life w/o AC.

[gpraceman]

Our agent tried to tell us you don't need A/C in the Denver Metro area. We knew better since we were born and raised here. In the summers it can get into the 90's and sometimes even over 100. We have much lower humidity than you do in Houston (30% or less generally), but I still wouldn't want to be without A/C.

[BlueWillowPlate]

Yes, it's sort of a matter of pride or toughness or whatever that "true Coloradans" don't need AC because of the low humidity. Or something like that.
We never did have AC, but we did have a swamp cooler, which worked very well.

[xxman777]

Cil is right, the test of a true Coloradan is if they can do the summers with a/c (or swamp cooler). I am proud to say that I never had either. My parents even grew up in the area and still don't have either. We would simply open up the windows at night and blow the house out, then in the morning seal it up. We had good insulation so it was late afternoon before the house became warm. Usually you could make it until about 4 before it was too warm. Of course by 5 it starts to cool down again so you had about an hour a day for a few weeks that was uncomfortable.

If you do decide you need something a good swamp cooler should work fine. Theres no humidity so AC isn't neccessary and swamp coolers a cheaper.

[2bindenver]

Woo Hoo! I have never had A/C in a personal residence, and I have lived here since 1989. In 2005 we had 0 days over 100, if it gets real hot, we head to Estes or Glenwood. I went to Alaska in July once...that was cool, in every sense of the word.

But always in my rental properties. Never let the tenant get hot

[gpraceman]

Test of a true Coloradan? Hogwash! That's OK. While y'all sweat your buns off, I'll be relaxing in my nice cool house After living in San Diego for 16 years with routine 100+ heat, I value my A/C.

ermo18 - If you've grown accustomed to A/C, I think you'd be miserable without it.

[BlueWillowPlate]

heehee
There definitely were a few days when I could have used some AC!

[BenWolfe]

In my opinion the precise location of your home will answer this question. We live in Larkspur at an elevation of about 7,000 feet and the additional elevation and shade from the pines reduces the need for A/C. We do not have A/C or an evaporative (swamp) cooler we turn on the whole house fan when it cools down in the evening. If you are looking at the Conifer or Evergreen areas the same will be true. If you are looking at homes with radiant floor heat they have the added benefit of a cleaner heat and no cold tile floors when you wake up. I would not let the presence of forced air dictate which house you buy. If you like the house and find that it is too warm in the summer you can easily add an evaporative cooler, they work quite well.

[gpraceman]

In newer areas governed by covenants, you may not be able to add a swamp cooler (they are not too attractive IMO). I do wish that we had a whole house fan like we did in San Diego. In the late afternoons, when it starts cooling down, it would be nice to blow out the hot air from our vaulted ceilings. It would reduce the amount of time that the A/C would need to run and save $$$. I just may have to break down and add one.

Also, with my wife's asthma, I'd be concerned about mold from a swamp cooler.

[BenWolfe]

Originally Posted by gpraceman

I do wish that we had a whole house fan like we did in San Diego. In the late afternoons, when it starts cooling down, it would be nice to blow out the hot air from our vaulted ceilings. It would reduce the amount of time that the A/C would need to run and save $$$. I just may have to break down and add one.

We had one installed it was very easy. The unit only cost $200 - $300 and it took less than an hour to install. My recommendation would be to get one of the large units, we installed the the small dual fan unit, but it does not work as well as the larger unit installed in a client's house.