Swamp Coolers (Phoenix, Tucson: low income, transplants, new home)

[Prickly Pear]

Personally I really like swampies. They are cost efficient, and seem easier to maintain and take care of.

However their numbers seem to be shrinking in favor of central air here in Phoenix

Which one do you prefer and why for the Phoenix area?

[TempeAZnative]

My house has both the evap is perfect beforehand and after the monsoon season when the dew point drops.

[DougStark]

Ditto here. I use mine only part of the cooling season (April to June, then again Sept to Nov.)

As a side comment, I find it hard to find technicians who are well trained on the most advantageous place to install an evap cooler. I think it's a dying trade, unfortunately. My late dear Uncle used to install hundreds of them in Denver. He was always busy.

[maverick974]

I can't vote in this poll because I prefer to have both. I won't live in a house here in the desert without both.
If I must choose just one, then I favor A/C only because it works in all conditions but there is a price to pay for that. A/C is expensive to run, expensive to maintain and hugely expensive to replace when it fails. However, I very much prefer using the swampy whenever possible. I prefer the swampy if the conditions are right and most of the year the conditions are right here in the valley. An evap cooler is inexpensive to use, easy and inexpensive to maintain and are cheap and easy to replace if necessary but there is very little to go wrong with a swampy. Any junior high school kid could easily maintain a swamp cooler. I
I love how I can leave the doors and windows open when I use my evap cooler. It will be 110 degrees and I've got a few doors and windows wide open with fresh air blowing through the house.
I just love that about using a swamp cooler.

[Pink Jazz]

What I don't understand is what in Tucson many people chose to stick with them in comparison to Phoenix, despite Tucson's higher average humidity. In Tucson you will still find plenty of homes that still have them, although it is less common on homes built in the mid-1990s or later. In Phoenix you will rarely find any home built in the 1980s or later with a swamp cooler.

[DougStark]

Originally Posted by Pink Jazz

What I don't understand is what in Tucson many people chose to stick with them in comparison to Phoenix, despite Tucson's higher average humidity. In Tucson you will still find plenty of homes that still have them, although it is less common on homes built in the mid-1990s or later. In Phoenix you will rarely find any home built in the 1980s or later with a swamp cooler.

Pink Jazz, if I had to guess, I'd say there are two reasons.

First: Tucson doesn't get as hot as Phoenix does (so an evap may be adequate there but inadequate here during extreme weather conditions.)

Second: I'll generalize and say that Tucson has a slightly lower standard of living than Phoenix: I'd guess Tucson has a higher percentage of low income residents and a higher population of NA and Hispanic residents than Phoenix does. These groups may have grown up using evap coolers regularly during the summers there.

Just my 2 cents.

By the way, I'm in Denver a lot, and I'm also seeing a LOT less evap coolers here in Denver now than I remember as a kid back in the '60s. People will, over time, tend to opt for maximum comfort and the least maintenance for their cooling needs, even if it means higher energy bills. I still see a ton of evap coolers when I drive through Albuquerque, though.

[Colt AZ]

Just gimme that good ol' Arizona fresh air when I'm "Back in the Saddle Again..."

[Bummer]

I have Dual Cooling (Evaporative Cooler and Heat Pump) and use them both.

The Heat Pump during the Monsoon Season (primarily July and August) when the temperature and humidity are up there and the Swamp Cooler when I prefer the Fresh Air of the Desert Southwest.

Personally, I feel Dual Cooling is the ONLY WAY TO GO.

[tumamoc]

Originally Posted by Pink Jazz

What I don't understand is what in Tucson many people chose to stick with them in comparison to Phoenix, despite Tucson's higher average humidity. In Tucson you will still find plenty of homes that still have them, although it is less common on homes built in the mid-1990s or later. In Phoenix you will rarely find any home built in the 1980s or later with a swamp cooler.

I don't understand it either, but I'm glad they did. They're cheap to operate, easy to maintain, and I'd argue are better for the environment. It's true they suck when the humidity is up (+/- two months of the year), but when used with an area fan, they're still a whole lot better than nothing. They do draw in outside odors, so if your neighbor burns mesquite, your house may smell like a campfire for a bit.

DougStark may be onto something that there are a higher percentage of lower income Tucsonans and folks who have used it all their lives. We don't quite have the ungodly high heat as Phoenix, so we haven't all resigned ourselves to use central A/C.

[Prickly Pear]

Originally Posted by Pink Jazz

What I don't understand is what in Tucson many people chose to stick with them in comparison to Phoenix, despite Tucson's higher average humidity. In Tucson you will still find plenty of homes that still have them, although it is less common on homes built in the mid-1990s or later. In Phoenix you will rarely find any home built in the 1980s or later with a swamp cooler.

Originally Posted by DougStark

Pink Jazz, if I had to guess, I'd say there are two reasons.

First: Tucson doesn't get as hot as Phoenix does (so an evap may be adequate there but inadequate here during extreme weather conditions.)

Second: I'll generalize and say that Tucson has a slightly lower standard of living than Phoenix: I'd guess Tucson has a higher percentage of low income residents and a higher population of NA and Hispanic residents than Phoenix does. These groups may have grown up using evap coolers regularly during the summers there.

Just my 2 cents.

By the way, I'm in Denver a lot, and I'm also seeing a LOT less evap coolers here in Denver now than I remember as a kid back in the '60s. People will, over time, tend to opt for maximum comfort and the least maintenance for their cooling needs, even if it means higher energy bills. I still see a ton of evap coolers when I drive through Albuquerque, though.

Originally Posted by tumamoc

I don't understand it either, but I'm glad they did. They're cheap to operate, easy to maintain, and I'd argue are better for the environment. It's true they suck when the humidity is up (+/- two months of the year), but when used with an area fan, they're still a whole lot better than nothing. They do draw in outside odors, so if your neighbor burns mesquite, your house may smell like a campfire for a bit.

DougStark may be onto something that there are a higher percentage of lower income Tucsonans and folks who have used it all their lives. We don't quite have the ungodly high heat as Phoenix, so we haven't all resigned ourselves to use central A/C.

1. Tucson's housing stock is older than ours in general... less new homes in general. In Phoenix anything newer than 1975 seems to forgo the swampy, which is really sad. I don't know if you can install swampys on homes that only have central air...

2. Tucson is low income, so yeah cheaper ANYTHING is preferred down there.

3. Tucson isn't prone to transplants who don't know a single thing about living here. A Chicagoan or New Yorker sees an evap cooler and has never seen it in their life, gets central air because they are familiar with it, not knowing the huge cost savings or our huge electric bills in the summer...

4. Tucson is slightly cooler, but not significantly, personally I don't chalk up 3 degree differences in something to have this much difference in air cooling types.

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As far as me as an individual, central air or swampy, I am always running fans. Fans are easily the best invention of all time. I find that with fans on and being used, there is even less of a difference between the two. Fans + swampy is great, though I can understand using a swampy by itself is not as pleasant. Then again, if it's not pleasant on swampy alone it's probably because it's insanely hot, and even with central air, you're probably still running a fan at that point.

Anyone know if you can add swampys to central air? Obviously the two in combo are common in the older housing stock, but what about new housing stock that is central only?