Swamp Cooler Operation (Las Cruces, Alamogordo, Alamo: how much, maintenance, living)

[TigerLily24]

The thermostat should be set to high or low cool depending on how cool you want it.
Open the window about an inch in the room you want to cool fastest.

There are several threads about proper operation, etc. of your swamp, or evaporative, cooler. Do a search for 'cooler' - they should come right up

[xleyxashx]

Thank you! I will check that out.

[Poncho_NM]

Originally Posted by xleyxashx

Should the thermostat be set to high cool or pump only? Are the windows supposed to be open or closed?

Set the thermostat to whatever you desire, it controls the blower/fan speed, high obviously high speed more air circulation and hopefully cooler.


Normally you need the pump on, otherwise your cooler will just suck outside air in without any cooling. With the pump on, water is pumped to the pads which wets them and will cool the air thrugh evaperation. Works well on hot dry days.

You must have some windows/doors/opening to the outside for the cooler to work. Open a window and you should feel air moving out, put a square of toilet paper on the screen, the air flow should hold it in place.

These two threads should help explain swamp coolers:

https://www.city-data.com/forum/albuq...-question.html

Swamp cooler on



Rich

[Phawk57]

Make sure that the water going to your cooler is on and if yours has them that the spiders(holes where the water comes out and soaks the pads) are clear of caliche.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by xleyxashx

I have just moved to New Mexico from New York and am having trouble with controlling my swamp cooler. I didn't even know what a swamp cooler was before I moved here, so I am pretty clueless on how to operate it. Should the thermostat be set to high cool or pump only? Are the windows supposed to be open or closed? I just want my house to be cool! Any information on these cooling systems would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

set it for cool and yes, keep the windows open a little at least to give a cross breeze. Swamp coolers work great most of the time. When temps get about 95 or the humidity climbs they are almost useless. We did fine with them for 7 years, only rarely was the house really warm, then we got a couple of rotating fans and things worked better.

Nita

[JDTH]

I use mine in AZ as much as possible. As long as the dew point is not above 45 or so it will work even if the temps are over 105.

[Mike Horrell]

Originally Posted by JDTH

I use mine in AZ as much as possible. As long as the dew point is not above 45 or so it will work even if the temps are over 105.

I agree. We had a couple days hovering at 100 or so a week ago and the coolers
worked pretty well. I'm still considering converting to refrigerated air at some point
because I want instant cool-down and I don't like leaving windows partially open
all the time, but they are working better than I had thought.

[aries63]

Have you done more than just fool with the switch? I mean, have you actually opened up the cooler and gotten it ready for operation? Involves things like:

Connecting to water supply without leaks at both ends
Turning on water supply valve and power supply
Checking that the floater regulates water level properly
Overflow tube in place without leaking
Making sure the pump is clean and working
Making sure the fan belt is attached
Changing filters (if necessary)
Adding a couple of drops of oil to motor (if needed)
Cleaning out spiders (as mentioned-- to be sure pads are getting wet evenly)
Opening register or removing the panel which closes off the air flow in winter (if applicable)

[mortimer]

Originally Posted by nmnita

When temps get about 95 or the humidity climbs they are almost useless.

That should read as follows:

When temps get about 95 [and] the humidity climbs they are almost useless.

High humidity decreases the effectiveness of an evaporative cooler, but even
at 90 deg and 90% humidity there is still a cooling effect from the evaporation
of water. That being said, swamp coolers are wonderful if humidity is below 30%.

A swamp cooler works just fine at 105 degrees if the humidity is below 10%.
Your output air ( input to the house ) will be below 70 degrees.

Also note: Do not just "crack" the window. The window opening should be approximately the same
area as the input pads on the cooler. The system works via air-flow. Cracking the window too little
restricts air-flow and simply builds pressure and humidity inside the house. Part of what makes the
swamp cooler effective is moving air which gives humans the illusion of lower temperatures ( ironically
using the the same principle of physics that the machine on your roof or wall is using to cool the air ).

? high cool or pump only ?

The control for [cool] generally controls the water pump.
Water makes the air cool.
Hi/Low generally just means lots of air flow and low air flow.

My philosophy on "Hi" air flow is that it doesn't get as much benefit from the water and thus
does not cool as effectively, costs more money to operate and probably wears out the fan
faster than it otherwise would. It's mostly good for blowing out a hot house.

BTW, for the newbies here; one of the ways an Evaporative Cooler saves money is that it
doesn't need to be on when you are not home. Cooling only takes a minute or so after it
is turned on.

Of course, one of the benefits of refrigerated air is that all the "stuff" in your house is
kept cool via the a/c and you don't sit on a 90-degree couch to start watching the news.

[jiminnm]

Originally Posted by Mike Horrell

I agree. We had a couple days hovering at 100 or so a week ago and the coolers worked pretty well. I'm still considering converting to refrigerated air at some point
because I want instant cool-down and I don't like leaving windows partially open all the time, but they are working better than I had thought.

Conversion is certainly doable Mike, providing you have forced air heat complete with cold air returns. If you have radiant heat, as we do, it can get pretty expensive to install cold air returns. I am not a fan of swamp coolers, but they do cool things off.

We have several skylights in our house and had two of the fixed units replaced with skylights that are screened and open/close. We keep them open pretty much all summer, except for only the windiest storms, so we don't have to leave any windows open when the coolers are on.