Las Cruces - swamp cooler or AC?

[mgarcia121]

It's 6 p.m. and 85 degrees outside and 80 degrees inside. I just turned on my swamp cooler for the first time this season. March 12.

MGarcia121

[TonyT]

I spent several years living in Palm Springs, CA. My first home there had dual swamp cooler/AC. Personally, I preferred the swamp cooler over the AC hands down. I could come home from work, outside it would be over 100, inside nearly 90 and after running the swamp cooler for about 30 to 45 minutes, drop the indoor temperature nearly 15 degrees. My swamp had a thermostat so I could set it and let it go off an on all night long and keep the house at around 72 degrees or less. Electricity rates in the Palm Springs area are quite high so the swamp really helped keep my bills down.

The thing about swamp cooler usage is that they work best when the relative humidity is under 35% and the dew point is under 55 degrees. The local news station in Palm Springs would always provide as part of their weather forecast if the conditions were good for swamp coolers or better for AC. But you can log onto weather websites and get the humidity and dew point info.

If I ever lived in a desert climate like that again, I would definitely want the swamp cooler with AC as well for those high humidity days.

[NMRNEd]

Does anyone here have any experience with the newer 2-stage evaporative coolers? I've been researching them, and everything sounds good. There's nothing like personal experience, though. Comments??

[mgarcia121]

I think the combo swamp/AC is a great way to go, but the real estate agent I've been dealing with says almost no homes in Las Cruces have them. To add AC is about $5K.

Some people with allergies don't use swamp coolers because they aggravate their allergies.

NMRNEd, I don't know about the 2-cycle coolers, but I've heard that MasterCool swamp coolers are supposed to be more energy efficient.

MGarcia121

[NMRNEd]

Has anyone ever taken the relative humidity inside the house with the evap system running?

For instance - even though the air coming out of the refrigerated air vents is very cold (hopefully!), the whole house isn't the same temperature - it's usually warmer, but comfortable.

The air coming out of the evap system is very humid, but how humid is the rest of the house??? I realize that it does depend on how humid the outside air is, etc. I guess what I'm looking for is some sort of comment from everyone about their satisfaction with the evap system, plus some actual data to support it.

Thanks for sharing experiences....

John

[TKO]

Originally Posted by NMRNEd

Has anyone ever taken the relative humidity inside the house with the evap system running?

For instance - even though the air coming out of the refrigerated air vents is very cold (hopefully!), the whole house isn't the same temperature - it's usually warmer, but comfortable.

The air coming out of the evap system is very humid, but how humid is the rest of the house??? I realize that it does depend on how humid the outside air is, etc. I guess what I'm looking for is some sort of comment from everyone about their satisfaction with the evap system, plus some actual data to support it.

Thanks for sharing experiences....

John

My house is running about 60% right now with the swamper on. It's perfect. I like swamp coolers but there are about two or three weeks during the monsoon season (usually mid July) when they really don't work well. 75% and maybe high seventies in the house.

One solution I haven't seen mentioned here (and the one I use) is a window unit for my bedroom. I put it in for the month of July then take it out. It doesn't cool the whole house but makes for good sleeping.

[GraphicQueen]

We live in the Las Cruces area and have for quite a ,long time now and our swamp cooler has been more than satisfactory, but we do enjoy the fresh air as opposed to having the windows closed the whole time it is hot. We have yet to have had a need to turn ours on this year. The breezes coming in the window have been more than enough for us.

So, have you bought your home yet MGarcia?

GQ

[mgarcia121]

Well, I just had a friend come over to fix my leaking swamp cooler (stuck float which I was too ignorant to know).

He has done HVAC work professionally and lives in a home with both swamper and AC. We got into a long discussion about the pros and cons; he said that he never uses his swamp cooler and thinks that a high SEER AC, using a set-back thermostat, is just as energy efficient.

I primarily use my AC, which is NOT a high SEER, on a set-back thermostat, and my annual average electric bill is $47 (water heater and range are gas).

MGarcia121

[GraphicQueen]

So, I guess that means that you bought your home already? How do you like it down here? Great people here and friendly too.

GQ

[Irelyndsgrandpa]

For anybody with questions about the care of evaporative “swamp” coolers, I found a really helpful book. It's called “Easy Cooler Care”. It shows how easy it is to service and repair the cooler yourself. It can save you a lot of money.

The book even talks about ways to make the cooler more effective. The website www.easycoolercare.com (where you can get the book), also goes into detail about some new magnetic technology to deal with the mineral (scale) build-up without wasting any extra water - no bleed-off!

There is even a page to list all the sizes of the parts so you don’t have to climb up on to the roof just to measure before going to the store. I don't know about you, but I always forget my pad sizes. Now I just go to my bookshelf, not the roof.

Hope this helps.

Irelyndsgrandpa