Swamp Coolers Vs Air Conditioning

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

Cantral a/c is not needed here if you havce a properly designed house. It's a huge cost and bad for the environment.

[Tim Tim Tim]

yeah but being hot is bad for me.. if a swamp cooler can keep me at about 73 degrees in the summer, I suppose it will do

[momof2penguins]

I have a swamp cooler and it keeps my house at like 68 all summer.

[eggalegga]

As an estimate, swamp coolers generally cool the outside temperature up to 20 degrees.....so on a day when the temps are 100+, your swamp can't cool your home below 80 degrees in the extreme heat of the day.

I don't like how frigid the a/c air is. I prefer the swamp cooler. On those extremely hot days, I'll go to some place that's air conditioned for a while, or spend time down in my family room in my basement. Oh and the benefit of a MUCH lower power bill is very enticing to me.

[jdinchak]

I also moved up from AZ. We rented a house this summer on the east bench (where it should be cooler) and our swamp cooler (to be honest, old and too small for the home) did well when it was <=85. It was also nice at night. Otherwise it was too hot for us. You do have a crack a window and if you don't take care of it (or if it is not taken care of well you get that mildew smell). Window A/C's helped a lot but I they weren't that effective in the upper 90's.

The home we just bought has central air and it was high on our list. From what I was told some houses that have swamp can have central air added later (need to check with a HVAC company for sure on that). If you can find a place with both then you are set! Good luck.

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

You should do more than just crack a window. Any any equipment needs care to stay functioning. The swamper should be drained and the water line turned off in the winter. The pads need replacing periodically. I have not noticed any mildew smell in over 7 yrs of operating one.

[DP525]

Originally Posted by SouthernBelleInUtah

You should do more than just crack a window. Any any equipment needs care to stay functioning. The swamper should be drained and the water line turned off in the winter. The pads need replacing periodically. I have not noticed any mildew smell in over 7 yrs of operating one.

Yeah, that is probably the biggest drag about them. They do need maintenance spring and fall, but it isn't very hard to do. The money you save on your electric bill will be worth it.

[DP525]

Great article on the benefits and drawbacks of "swamp coolers".

www (dot) consumerenergycenter.org/home/heating_cooling/evaporative.html

[Bridget]

We have had both. In our older house we had the swamp cooler and it did fine. On the really hot days, it did have a hard time keeping me and the house cool but it was wonderful at night.

On the newer house we had with AC. It was nice but expensive to run. We would turn it off at night and have our ceiling fan on but it didn't cool us down very well at night.

I think they both have pros and cons.