Air-Conditioning in Texas

[doctorjef]

My paternal grandparents' swamp cooler on their house out in Wink (near Kermit and about 50 miles from Odessa) simply blew through a single ceiling vent into the house, I think. My North Texas maternal grandparents' strange old condensation system used duct work throughout the house. The thing had a wooden cooling tower with slats all along the sides. It was set off from the house by about 10 feet and was probably around 8 to 12 feet tall. It was replaced in the mid-1960s. I wonder if anyone else here has seen one of these. This was on a ranch and I doubt you would have encountered one in town, but I don't know. I thought attic fans were pretty common in a lot of pre-WWII houses like ours in Preston Hollow, Dallas. In our case central ac had been installed sometime thereafter but my parents still used the attic fan in cooler weather.

The last swamp cooler I ever had was in Grand Junction, CO -- high desert and very dry climate. It worked just fine and IIRC it was vented through the duct work. That was in the early 1980s. I wonder if swamp coolers are still used or made anymore?

[debzkidz]

Originally Posted by doctorjef

My paternal grandparents' swamp cooler on their house out in Wink (near Kermit and about 50 miles from Odessa) simply blew through a single ceiling vent into the house, I think. My North Texas maternal grandparents' strange old condensation system used duct work throughout the house. The thing had a wooden cooling tower with slats all along the sides. It was set off from the house by about 10 feet and was probably around 8 to 12 feet tall. It was replaced in the mid-1960s. I wonder if anyone else here has seen one of these. This was on a ranch and I doubt you would have encountered one in town, but I don't know. I thought attic fans were pretty common in a lot of pre-WWII houses like ours in Preston Hollow, Dallas. In our case central ac had been installed sometime thereafter but my parents still used the attic fan in cooler weather.

The last swamp cooler I ever had was in Grand Junction, CO -- high desert and very dry climate. It worked just fine and IIRC it was vented through the duct work. That was in the early 1980s. I wonder if swamp coolers are still used or made anymore?

Most definitely still made and used. There are plenty of homes in West Texas and New Mexico that still have them.

[Cathy4017]

Originally Posted by debzkidz

There are homes in the Permian Basin that had swamp coolers that were actually ducted like central air.

Yes. This is what my parents did when they built their house in the early 1950s. The ductwork was in place to add refrigerated at some later point when they finished paying for the house.

We used big window evaporative units until that time. There was no hole in the roof, since the plans were for a ground-mounted refrigerated unit.

My house in NM has a roof-mounted combination refrigerated/heating unit, and I've never liked having it on the roof.

The one huge advantage is that the condensation always drains DOWN, and won't pool in places.

[debzkidz]

Originally Posted by Cathy4017

Yes. This is what my parents did when they built their house in the early 1950s. The ductwork was in place to add refrigerated at some later point when they finished paying for the house.

We used big window evaporative units until that time. There was no hole in the roof, since the plans were for a ground-mounted refrigerated unit.

My house in NM has a roof-mounted combination refrigerated/heating unit, and I've never liked having it on the roof.

The one huge advantage is that the condensation always drains DOWN, and won't pool in places.

In our first home in Midland, apparently they had used those too. There was still one mounted in a window in a kitchen door. I had forgotten about it until I read your post. I guess the ductwork didn't get enough cool air into the kitchen. When we bought the house it was covered up by drapes. We had the door replaced before we moved in. I'd forgotten all about it. When the previous owners replaced the evaporative system with refrigerated ac, they actually put in a natural gas ac system. I hated that thing. I could never cool the house down when it got really hot outside. We always wanted to replace it, but we could never afford to.

[doctorjef]

Before I was born my parents actually had an evaporative cooler unit that was made to fit in a car window! They used it on a move out to California, going through the Mojave Desert. That would have been the late 1940s. These must have been a real rarity.

[Willsson]

Originally Posted by debzkidz
There are homes in the Permian Basin that had swamp coolers that were actually ducted like central air.

I saw those in Abilene, back in the 50's. I wondered why we didn't do the same to our house.

Originally Posted by doctorjef

Before I was born my parents actually had an evaporative cooler unit that was made to fit in a car window! They used it on a move out to California, going through the Mojave Desert. That would have been the late 1940s. These must have been a real rarity.

I've seen that in west Texas as well. Somebody was realllllly styling.

[Cathy4017]

When the previous owners replaced the evaporative system with refrigerated ac, they actually put in a natural gas ac system. I hated that thing. I could never cool the house down when it got really hot outside.

Natural gas AC? Boy, that's something I've never heard of! But at that time, an evaporative probably worked pretty well in Midland.

Midland is far too humid (though still dry compared to most of the rest of Texas) now for evaporative.