Swamp coolers instead of air conditioning being installed in some new construction homes

[AZjeff]

The search implied very little difference between a swamp cooler and a air conditioner.

A cooler works well when the humidity is low but the difference between outside air temp and coolered air temp decreases as RH increases. After a summer thunderstorm when the temp spikes back up and it's really humid out and you really need cooling you don't get it. After 2 summers of only a swamp cooler I stopped putting water in it and only ran the blower early in the morning to draw in cool air then shut it off and used 2 window shaker AC units. Better than nothing at all and cheaper to run but there are multiple reasons they aren't standard equipment on new houses.

This is what's in a swamp cooler. To keep one running properly you're on the roof at least once a month.

@GON, I'd love to hear your thoughts after a season with a swamp cooler in Arizona. And your wife's thoughts.

 

[DwightFrye]

I lived in several homes in Sou Cal that had swamp coolers. One was on the roof and blew the air down through a regular duct system to all the rooms in the house. Others were window units. None of them worked as well as a real air conditioner.

I can't tell you how much I hated them. The always seemed like a ghetto solution. On a new construction house, properly built and insulated and using all the modern energy efficient windows, etc. I wouldn't stand for a minute with a builder putting a swamp cooler on the house.

 

[UncleDave]

I lived in several homes in Sou Cal that had swamp coolers. One was on the roof and blew the air down through a regular duct system to all the rooms in the house. Others were window units. None of them worked as well as a real air conditioner.

I can't tell you how much I hated them. The always seemed like a ghetto solution. On a new construction house, properly built and insulated and using all the modern energy efficient windows, etc. I wouldn't stand for a minute with a builder putting a swamp cooler on the house.

So cal is going to be real hit and miss on a swamper. Certainly not as well as Az.

All the places I've had them also had AC, either central or multiple window shakers.

To get good performance out of them they cant really be used stand alone, but must be part of a series of units inside a house.

A downdraft setup like you describe only works well with something like air kings, or box fans pulling at each end of the house, or even each room.
Air kings are certainly less ghetto than a bunch of box, fans, but yeah the whole thing has just a bit of "cobb house" quality to it.

I had a River house that had a ground mount unit that would come in through the garage and go all the way through the house and pull out through a whole house fan in the kitchen cooling the attic at night as well.

 

[Dinoburner]

Surprised no one has mentioned Legionnaires disease in swamp coolers.

 

[AZjeff]

The older houses here with coolers usually have them distributing air through the furnace ductwork. Since almost all houses are on slabs the furnaces are in the attic or on the roof or in a closet like a mobile home furnace and the ductwork is in the attic with the registers blowing down from the ceiling. Our 1985 house only had a cooler on the roof and there was no evidence of window AC units in use before we bought it in 2005. Some people over the years convert to AC or add AC into the duct work. I looked into it in that house and because it was an electric furnace in a closet the conversion was painfully expensive and intrusive to install. Window shakers got the job done.

 

[burbguy82]

I would be in favor of window units. One for each room, lower overall energy, and when they go out, a trip to home depot and boom, done.....No rape session from the HVAC company

 

[fdcg27]

I would be in favor of window units. One for each room, lower overall energy, and when they go out, a trip to home depot and boom, done.....No rape session from the HVAC company

Good point. We have a boiler and no ducts so depend upon window units. They get the job done, are cheap to run and also cheap to buy.
It does get plenty hot and humid here in SW OH in July and August, so there's no good sleeping without some AC.

 

[burbguy82]

Good point. We have a boiler and no ducts so depend upon window units. They get the job done, are cheap to run and also cheap to buy.
It does get plenty hot and humid here in SW OH in July and August, so there's no good sleeping without some AC.

If I ever build a new house, that is what I am doing for sure.

 

[Donald]

It would seem most people would want a heat pump these days and not a plain A/C

 

[BobsArmory]

Just east of Phoenix AZ at the Canyon Lake Marina there is a swamp cooler in the office out on the docks. I think they pull water directly from the lake. At well over 110 degrees the day I was there it was down right pleasant in the office. Pretty efficient contraptions

 

[SHOZ]

I use to spray water on my old AC condenser. Really made that thing cool! Soft water ate up the aluminum fins and the hard water built up scale.

 

[Snagglefoot]

The older houses here with coolers usually have them distributing air through the furnace ductwork. Since almost all houses are on slabs the furnaces are in the attic or on the roof or in a closet like a mobile home furnace and the ductwork is in the attic with the registers blowing down from the ceiling. Our 1985 house only had a cooler on the roof and there was no evidence of window AC units in use before we bought it in 2005. Some people over the years convert to AC or add AC into the duct work. I looked into it in that house and because it was an electric furnace in a closet the conversion was painfully expensive and intrusive to install. Window shakers got the job done.

Interesting. I’ve seen heat pump inside unit installations in a standard mobile home closet. Here’s a shot. The unit is actually upside down and blows into the mobile home’s ducts under the floor.

 

[4WD]

Nah, won’t cut it here - we looked at VFD and then I asked about thunderstorms - he was honest - Then asked what do you have - 2 stage - so we got that …
I use a swamp cooler on the patio

 

[supton]

Good point. We have a boiler and no ducts so depend upon window units. They get the job done, are cheap to run and also cheap to buy.
It does get plenty hot and humid here in SW OH in July and August, so there's no good sleeping without some AC.

Ditto. Already running a dehumidifier now to control humidity, and ac won’t go in for another month,

 

[Cujet]

On a side note, there have been successful complex experiments of various configurations, where staged evaporation coolers could provide cold, dry air.

The first unit is oversized, and provides cooler dry air to the second unit. The second unit sometimes uses a heat exchanger to keep moisture out of the air.

The third unit can condense the moisture out using existing cold water from the system.

 

[Langanobob]

We have a Bonaire Durango here in the northern Nevada high desert (6,000 ft.) and it works great. On hot days it sometimes gets too cold inside the house.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

Does anyone know why swamp coolers are being installed in some new construction homes in the SouthWest of the U.S,? I did some google searching on the difference between a swamp cooler and air conditioner, and wasn't able to holistically grasp the benefits of air conditioner over a swamp cooler.

They're not or only by the cheapest builders.

 

[SHOZ]

Back in the day we would run cold well water through a old car radiator and a window box fan......

 

[Hillbilly Deluxe]

Here is one- unless I am mistaken in thinking this is a swamp cooler. But why would they mount a AC on a pitched roof with ample space at ground level.

https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/1810-Camino-Lebanon_Rio-Rico_AZ_85648_M10913-26847

That's a ducted air conditioning system. Contractors have been mounting condensing units on pitched roofs in the southwest for several years.

 

[alarmguy]

Probably to avoid the dirt/dust in the air at ground level.

Evaporative cooling pads are used in the livestock and greenhouse industries. Exhaust fans on the opposite side pull air thru the wet pads.
View attachment 206704View attachment 206706

Yes, exactly, even here in the Carolinas they are used in all the poultry coops
That photo in exactly right.