[Merrily Gather]

We just had our water heater replaced around Christmas time when the old one busted a leak and flooded our storage room and patio. Now it runs hot in the summer time, but our bill has been lower until now.

Then this last month our AC unit had a rust leak in the pan. All the condensation was pouring on us for about two weeks. It was a real mess coming from our ceiling in our apartment. We had to get a five gallon bucket to catch it as it drained until someone could look at it and remake it and attach it to the unit. We thought it was going to get replaced too but they patched it instead. The chemical smell for that gave me a bad headache each time they did that until they came up with a more permanent fix. It's fixed now but I believe it cost us in electricity. The unit still worked and it ran constantly.

[OmegaSupreme]

$300 for us 1600sqft house and a pool... Swamp cooler sitting idly by, waiting to be installed... I'll try to do it this week

[OmegaSupreme]

ok i think i found the perfect spot for the install, just need the ok from the wife

we have several of those square windows (about 23"x22") that don't open (i believe it's also double paned), I was hoping to remove one of them and use the space

question is, are those windows easy to remove?

[OmegaSupreme]

Originally Posted by vegas taco

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Originally Posted by LVAllen

....

One last question, about the bonaire durango... before I return it

Seems like the only acceptable spot for install (according to the boss) would be in a bedroom DOWNSTAIRS!

Now, will this thing work? The air would have to blow out of the bedroom, loop around the stairs and then go upstairs in a split level house

I understand if I keep the windows cracked open upstairs, then I might have a chance?

[vegas taco]

Originally Posted by OmegaSupreme

One last question, about the bonaire durango... before I return it

Seems like the only acceptable spot for install (according to the boss) would be in a bedroom DOWNSTAIRS!

Now, will this thing work? The air would have to blow out of the bedroom, loop around the stairs and then go upstairs in a split level house

I understand if I keep the windows cracked open upstairs, then I might have a chance?

ours is located in a downstairs window across the living room from the stairs works fine the bonaire pushes a ton of air thru the house it will go to whatever windows you have open

[beachhead]

Like vegas taco said, the air will go to wherever you have a window cracked. The fan is blowing air IN to your house (with no way to escape, ie no windows open, you create a high pressure area), so by cracking a window, you create a path to a lower pressure area, and the air will flow out through that crack, wherever it is. You can control how much in which area by the relative size of the opening. You still want to maintain positive pressure in the house so the air will move.

Once you install it, play around with opening different windows. You'll hit on a combo/combo's that will work best for how you live in your home. As long as humidity is down, and you maintain them, swamp coolers do a great job. Back in the old days, that's all many houses had, and they are great when it comes to saving electricity compared to a regular a/c unit.

[OmegaSupreme]

Originally Posted by vegas taco

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Originally Posted by beachhead

...

thank you for all your advice

so far not too impressed with the install, not sure if the handyman affected the performance of the unit, but i notice he did two things:

1. inside the unit, there's a little flotation device with a metal rod (like in toilets), he bent it in a way that allowed more water to fill the tank or whatever it is

2. there was water dripping from a black hose at the bottom of the unit (looked normal to me), he tied it up so it didn't drip

perhaps i'm just being paranoid, any thoughts?

also, i decided to get it installed in the wall, but the handyman couldn't install it flush because of the mounting brackets, so now it protrudes 3-4 inches... anyway to get this flush?

it looks really ugly like that, but if nothing can be done, so be it

initially the air was blowing at 78 degrees or so, an hour later it's at 73, which i'm happy about. i measured it using an infrared thermometer (measures surface temps), by pointing it on the plastic vent

looking forward to seeing my electricity consumption tomorrow

[vegas taco]

connect a garden hose to where the black hose dripped this is to keep the pads as mineral free as possible pads for this are not cheap we water a near bye tree with the discharge as far as the instal goes i am not sure i have ours mounted to plywood that sits in a window so we can take it down offseason

enjoy the lower power bills!

[OmegaSupreme]

Originally Posted by vegas taco

connect a garden hose to where the black hose dripped this is to keep the pads as mineral free as possible pads for this are not cheap we water a near bye tree with the discharge as far as the instal goes i am not sure i have ours mounted to plywood that sits in a window so we can take it down offseason

enjoy the lower power bills!

Thanks I have a few trees that need extra water...

What temps do you get for your house with the Bonaire?

My house is at 82 right now (upstairs) but it doesn't feel bad since there is fresh air blowing in

[beachhead]

Originally Posted by OmegaSupreme

Thanks I have a few trees that need extra water...

What temps do you get for your house with the Bonaire?

My house is at 82 right now (upstairs) but it doesn't feel bad since there is fresh air blowing in

When we used to have a swamp cooler, our best strategy came by getting the house as cool as possible in the morning when the ambient air is cooler, so it works better. Even if you run it all night, it will be cheaper than refrigerated air.

So, my bet is by the morning, your house is going to feel downright cool, and it might warm up a bit during the afternoon. The breeze from the air moving helps make it feel cooler, and you can supplement with either ceiling fans or those stand up, oscillating fans.

I used to drain and clean the bottom of mine every couple of weeks to help with the scale build up, and keep the musty smell away. You can buy additives for the water in many home improvement stores that sell the coolers too. At the end of the season, you'll also want to drain and clean everything, as you don't want the water to just sit there and stagnate. You may also want to find a way to cover the pads during the winter so warm air doesn't escape since you put it in the wall. (The ones we had, were window mount, and I would just push them back a few inches, and close the window.)

I'd love to put a couple on my house, but I don't have anyplace where I could keep them "hidden".