Is it too humid here for portable swamp coolers? (Seattle: appointed, apartments) - City-Data Forum

VeronikaW · 07-04-2007, 01:13 PM

My DH and I are dying without A/C. We're thinking of buying a portable swamp cooler to cool our bedroom, but we're concerned that the humidity here will make it ineffective. Any ideas?

V. =)

41Willys · 07-04-2007, 01:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VeronikaW

My DH and I are dying without A/C. We're thinking of buying a portable swamp cooler to cool our bedroom, but we're concerned that the humidity here will make it ineffective. Any ideas?

V. =)

In Seattle?

scirocco22 · 07-04-2007, 01:39 PM

Well, as we've discussed on these forums before, most residents don't think it's worth spending the money on any cooling device other than a good fan.

First, the hot days aren't that common.

Second, which I'm sure you've noticed already, it cools quite quickly during the night here in the western side of the Cascades as far as the ambient temperature goes ...it's referred to around here as nature's air conditioning. So because of this, if you open a window and get the air circulating in your bedroom with the aid of a fan, it usually cools down fairly quickly. Do this before you go to bed.

Most inexpensive portable swamp coolers or portable air coolers aren't that effective, especially when you factor in that you won't be using them that often. Like I say, it's possible to accomplish the same thing with an open window and a fan.

I always used to aim a fan at my head on hot nights and by the middle of the night, I had to roll over and turn if off as it usually got too cool.

My advice would be to at least experiment with a fan before you go out and buy an expensive portable air conditioner, evaporative cooler, or air cooler of any kind. It just doesn't get that hot that often here.

gallo · 07-04-2007, 03:16 PM

It is not too humid in Seattle for swamp coolers. A ton of people have them, and many big-box retail stores here use swamp coolers instead of ac for climate control.

The only problem with swamp coolers, as rocco alludes too, is that they don’t work very well in general.

I would say either go big or go home for this one. That is, buy an ac unit or just a simple fan.

Again, echoing rocco, it really only gets the point here where you are dying of heat maybe two/three weeks of the year.

The warm temps we have had for the past couple of days are above average. It is usually in the low/mid seventies and cools down in the evening to point where you can put a box fan in the window and cool things down quickly.

I HATE the heat. I can, however, usually get by just fine through the summer by closing the blinds and pointing a fan on me during the day and putting a box fan in the window in the evening. I’m also facing the south, which doesn’t make things any easier.

There are a lot of people that don’t have ac here. In fact, most apartments don’t even offer it. At least you weren’t up here last year when we broke records by being in the high 90s for a week straight. Portland hit over 100 a few days during that time.

This is a good question as it seems we always get a bit of a warm streak every year. During these times I debate a swamp cooler myself, but always just opt to stay with fans.

OK, I am off to some BBQ. Have a great 4th everyone.

princessvanessa · 07-06-2007, 06:20 PM

I have a window air conditioner in the bedroom (cost about $100) and it works terrific. I can't have a fan blow directly on me or I get a sore throat, but I can have the room cooled by an air conditioner without a problem Trouble is finding a window air conditioner (or a fan, for that matter) any where in the area now that the heat has arrived--call around first. I have been using the air conditioner for over 5 years and since it really only gets about a month of use each year I expect it will last at least another 10 years

I swear by the relatively inexpensive ($100) window air conditioners.

Wanderlust07 · 07-06-2007, 07:41 PM

I bought a swamp cooler a couple of summers ago at Costco and was disappointed in its performance -- it just didn't seem to cool very well. According to the instructions, you also needed to have a room setup where the air would enter the unit at one point (e.g., through a window) and be able to exit, ideally, through another point like an open door or another window. This could be problematic unless you have the ability to leave a interior door open. Ultimately, I ended up using it as a fan. The following year, I purchased a portable A/C unit (again from Costco, online this time) and it does a great job cooling a room. My windows won't accommodate a window unit, so it's a stand-alone model.

I'd be happy to send you more info. on the model I have if you're interested. I've been using it for about the last week to cool my bedroom at night, and it's kept the room very comfortable.

pw72 · 07-06-2007, 11:11 PM

Hey, guess what, Seattle is one of the most humid cities in the country. This mostly occurs during the cool season. Fortunately, and magically, the humidity drops when it goes above 70. There are maybe two or three days a year when the temp and humidity combine to create discomfort. So don't worry about it!

AzDreamer · 07-07-2007, 08:59 AM

A whole house fan might be worth looking into. It sucks air in through open windows and blows it up into the attic. You can put timers and thermostats on them. They won't be too noisy if installed correctly and you won't have a big blast of air hitting you all night.

scirocco22 · 07-07-2007, 09:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AzDreamer

A whole house fan might be worth looking into. It sucks air in through open windows and blows it up into the attic. You can put timers and thermostats on them. They won't be too noisy if installed correctly and you won't have a big blast of air hitting you all night.

In the same line of thinking, I forgot to mention that I would turn on the fan on my central heating system and it helped circulate the air throughout the whole house on hot days. It didn't cool the interior significantly but helped at night when trying to sleep.

One thing which I'm sure all of you will agree, it's cold in the morning! I'm sitting here almost with my teeth chattering this morning. When the Seattle area gets up into the 80s during the day, as I've said before, it almost always cools down significantly at night and by early morning, it's usually pretty cold out ...the natural air conditioning syndrome illustrated once again.

Down where my home is, they're having quite a heat wave and although not unusual, even early in the morning, it's sometimes in the high 80s or low 90s after being 115 during the day. It's nice to sit out on the patio to have breakfast in the morning in shorts and a t-shirt.

Let's see what happens next week when they're forecasting temps in the 90s here.

jwb123 · 07-07-2007, 10:26 AM

Open your windows first thing in the morning and let the cool air in, and buy a few of those fans that you put in the windows. We found that to be really beneficial. I wouldn't invest in anything to costly - as mentioned several times, in a week or two, you will have a change in weather. While, in July & August, you will have a week here and there of 80+ - it will change after a week and will cool down, until the next spike.