Swamp Cooler for Outdoor Party (Lubbock, Luling: to rent, coop, purchase)

[yehudi]

I'm hosting an outdoor cocktail party early September. For a variety of reasons it HAS to be outdoors, so it will be warm.

I've seen large evaporative cooling fans (aka swamp coolers) used at outdoor parties, church picnics, etc...Not to be confused with misters, these are 6' tall and blow air through a wetted mesh which lowers the temp.

Do they work? The event will be on a large deck so there won't be a tent to contain the cooled air, but I know they create a breeze and that they lower the air temp by 10 degrees....but is all that effort lost outdoors in this heat?

[ScoPro]

My grandparents had one in their place of business (a small restaurant) for 10 years after WWII - it worked very well in Missouri.

When crossing western deserts in the late '40s and making summer trips between Texas & Missouri, my Dad rented a small evaporative cooler that hooked to the top of the shotgun passenger window of our '48 Dodge. It worked ok.

That's all I can personally vouch for. However, it's most likely the area in front of the cooler at your venue would be pretty comfortable, although further away from the deck it wouldn't be very effective, if at all.

Also, it might blow some of your guests' fancy hair-dos.

Just be sure they don't run out of cold cocktails.

[cBach]

Is the area at least shaded?

Go to the Salt Lake Barbecue in Driftwood. They have those things on their patio and the patio is a good 10-15 degrees cooler than the surrounding area. The patio is also shaded. That will give you an idea of how effective they are. They have them strategically placed on the four corners of the patio.

Both the swamp coolers and the mistifiers work about the same. The mistifiers get you a little wet wherease the swamp coolers blow cool humid air at you. Both are very effective in this dry heat.

[hamjeepr]

We used to rent them from the Guadalupe Valley Elec Coop down in Marion. You can also purchase them from Tractor Supply.

They do work and are very worthwhile. When I lived in Lubbock, this is all we had on the house.

[JohnHenrySDM]

The coolers work very well and IME are preferable to misters.

[atxcio]

They had swamp coolers at this years Watermelon festival in Luling (late June, already 100+ temps). They definitely worked better than misters; standing in front of one it was really quite cool. But they are big and loud, blow a lot of air, probably need a lot of electricity, etc... they can't be hidden or integrated into the architecture like misters. But they do work better.

[cBach]

Check out Carlos N Charlies for the swamp coolers. Places like Opal Devine's have misters.

In my experience a mister with a fan is a bit quieter and can be placed discretely. However, for a large function, aesthetics are not a concern. Still, the swamp coolers are rather loud and as alluded, they consume electricity (though not nearly as much as air conditioning). Misters don't consume any electricity unless they are hooked to a fan but I think a fan can run all month for a couple of bucks. If you forgo the fan all you need to pay for is the water bill.

All in all it's probably in the favor of a swamp cooler for large events but misters for patios at restaurants or permanent backyard features.