Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Arizona > Tucson
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Closed Thread Start New Thread
 
Old 07-18-2009, 08:09 AM
 
Location: TUCSON
106 posts, read 364,274 times
Reputation: 87

Advertisements

In looking at houses for sale and for lease, I note that many are equipped with evaporative central cooling systems. How well are these working during this monsoon season for you folks who have such systems?

BTW, I have previously looked for and found considerable information on other boards. Just wanted the 'personal experience' response from folks living in Tucson. I have lived in Oklahoma and in west Texas where we used evaporative cooling systems and they worked very well for all, except those who did not keep windows open six inches or so to allow the air to flow through.

TIA for your personal experience input.

Have a great day.
Joseph

Last edited by joskel; 07-18-2009 at 08:50 AM..

 
Old 07-18-2009, 10:21 AM
 
Location: Tucson, AZ
1,389 posts, read 3,532,343 times
Reputation: 700
They don't work all that well when the humidity is up. All in all - its just maybe a couple weeks total through out the year.
 
Old 07-18-2009, 10:41 AM
 
Location: Southern Arizona
9,599 posts, read 31,685,641 times
Reputation: 11741
I agree with Chorizo, Joskel.

Swamp Coolers are great for about ten months a year here in Tucson and not quite practical during July and August but better than nothing. They even work well during warm afternoons during the Winter months.

Also, you are absolutely correct, top performance requires a few "air escapes" around your home.

Bottom line . . . Dual Cooling systems are the best of both worlds but, due to additional installation costs, they are becoming more rare.

 
Old 07-18-2009, 10:49 AM
 
Location: Baja Arizona
2,916 posts, read 8,346,834 times
Reputation: 1141
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bummer View Post
I agree with Chorizo, Joskel.

Swamp Coolers are great for about ten months a year here in Tucson and not quite practical during July and August but better than nothing. They even work well during warm afternoons during the Winter months.

Also, you are absolutely correct, top performance requires a few "air escapes" around your home.

Bottom line . . . Dual Cooling systems are the best of both worlds but, due to additional installation costs, they are becoming more rare.
What Bumster & Reezo sez...
 
Old 07-18-2009, 11:46 AM
 
Location: Sonoran Desert
39,073 posts, read 51,199,205 times
Reputation: 28313
When I lived in Tucson, evap is all we (and most) had. Since I left, people have gotten too soft and have too much money so now a/c is the norm. Evap worked fine for all but a couple days and even those were not bad.

In lieu of opening windows, you install Up-dux in your ceiling.
 
Old 07-18-2009, 12:02 PM
 
Location: Tucson
42,831 posts, read 88,134,698 times
Reputation: 22814
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chorizo View Post
They don't work all that well when the humidity is up. All in all - its just maybe a couple weeks total through out the year.
It's more like a couple of months and counting! If this year is a sign of any pattern forming, I wanna commit harakiri!
 
Old 07-18-2009, 03:13 PM
 
Location: TUCSON
106 posts, read 364,274 times
Reputation: 87
Dual Cooling systems are the best of both worlds but, due to additional installation costs, they are becoming more rare.

So if I had a place with a pre-existing central swamp cooler unit, you are suggesting a refrigerated AC unit in a separate duct system. I presume this would be an add-on to the central heating system. I had something like this in west Texas where the swamp cooler had a duct system in the attic space and vented through the ceiling. The heating system was a central unit with ducting that was under the floors and vented upward.

Any experiences with the mini split AC units? I think I would opt for these, probably only in the bedrooms (Products List - HEAT PUMPS / DUCTLESS AIR CONDITIONERS / ACCESSORIES and Energy Savers: Ductless, Mini-Split Air Conditioners [The first link has a good explanation of split unit installation, for those who have no clue to what I am referring.] We used the dual zone split system in our house on the Nayarit coast (Mexico) and it was great. We cooled only the room(s) we were in and left the rest open for ventilation and ceiling fan cooling.

Any experience with the mini split units in Tucson? How large a BTU would likely be needed to keep a bedroom (say 12 ft x 13 ft) comfortable during monsoon season in Tucson?
 
Old 07-18-2009, 03:15 PM
 
Location: West side
153 posts, read 522,048 times
Reputation: 85
Imagine a swampcooler in the monsoon season as if you are sitting in a sauna that is putting out cold steam instead of hot. You are swaeting, but sweating cold. Good thing about swamp coolers is that they are less expensive to operate I think.
 
Old 07-18-2009, 03:32 PM
 
Location: Tucson
42,831 posts, read 88,134,698 times
Reputation: 22814
Quote:
Originally Posted by szupergipsy View Post
Good thing about swamp coolers is that they are less expensive to operate I think.
That would be about the only good thing about them.
 
Old 07-18-2009, 04:23 PM
 
Location: Southern Arizona
9,599 posts, read 31,685,641 times
Reputation: 11741
Quote:
Originally Posted by joskel View Post
So if I had a place with a pre-existing central swamp cooler unit, you are suggesting a refrigerated AC unit in a separate duct system. I presume this would be an add-on to the central heating system. I had something like this in west Texas where the swamp cooler had a duct system in the attic space and vented through the ceiling. The heating system was a central unit with ducting that was under the floors and vented upward.
Definitely no expert here, Joskel.

Both the Heat Pump and the Swamp Cooler of my "dual system" are located on the roof and use the same overhead ductwork. Maybe not ideal but they seem to work just fine.

As for the separate units . . . friends of mind have one of those Mitsubishi systems and they love it.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Closed Thread


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Arizona > Tucson
Similar Threads
View detailed profiles of:

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 03:02 PM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top