I said last year I was not going to go another year with out AC. Well that is not looking like it is going to happen unfortunately.
We have no duct system. So to have AC we would need to install some or do a Mini Split. Our smallish home is not a great mini split situation.
So as a stop gap measure wondering if this is worth consideration for the main room. I know it is not ideal. We do put a small window unit in a bedroom. And use a box fan to blow some cooler air out. Makes a very small difference. Would this be a total waste of $300. We do not have much humidity here. Thanks guys.

If you have other recommendations I am all ears.


https://www.doitbest.com/produ...er-500-sq-ft-467688/

Evaporative coolers work best in REALLY arid conditions, like a desert.

They do not work well in humid areas.

Thanks PH, that is fine for my location. Humidity is not a problem. Not a desert though

I've had both over the years. Biggest drawback is how hard your water is. The cooler pads and pump turn to white dust in hard water.

An evap cooler is certainly better than nothing, but if you want true comfort you'll eventually want to spring for A/C.

quote:

Our smallish home is not a great mini split situation.

Not sure why you've come to that conclusion...Generally a 'smallish home' is ideal for mini-splits! You can cool the 'main room' and your bedroom w/ two units, either wall mounted or ceiling cassettes, depending of what works best, and you'll significantly increase the comfort level in the rooms you use most. If there are rooms that are not utilized, just keep those doors closed, and they won't contribute to the heat load or dilute the cooling concentrated in other areas.

Another solution you did NOT mention, is a Whole House Fan, which 'should' work well at your 'secret location' in the PNW. You need to be strategic on how you operate it, but the 'can' be very effective. I installed an AirScape Sierra series WHF (5300 CFM in a 3100 sq. ft. Colonial) in Sept.'21 and I've been quite pleased with it. It has a 'Powered Airlock' with insulated gasketed doors, so it isn't a chimney, venting all of the heat to the attic during the winter and a Variable Speed ECM Motor. My total installed cost was $2700, which included the WHF, as well as ALL materials. I chose to run a dedicated circuit to my attic to power it, so there's 50ft of 14/2 Romex (overpriced due to inflation!) in that number. The fan itself was $2400, but it would've cost 10 times that amount to do mini-splits in my home!

https://airscapefans.com/products/airscape-sierra

Evaps work awesome but they are far from inexpensive ,

They pads are costly, especially if your water is mineral ridden.

How many cu. Ft. Are you trying to cool ?

Where are you ORC? We live at an elevation high enough that we don’t really need A/C, but we do have a whole house fan. That really helps on summer nights when the inside of the house feels warmer than the temperature outside. I lived in the desert, in my experience, most who had evaporative coolers also had A/C. When monsoon season arrives, the ol’ swamp cooler is worthless. As pointed out, maintenance of an EC is no fun.

ETA: I should have followed your link. I have never known anyone with a small portable EC. No idea how that might address your needs.

I wouldn't use a swamp cooler here except maybe in an open door shop, lots of moisture added to the air along with all the issues of dealing with getting it water.

Woot has a portable AC unit link for $150 with dehumidifier good for 300sq ft I run a little larger unit in my office during the summer vs the whole house AC all day. It will flat cool that room down, mine also has a heater/fan mode.

Two of these, one in the bedroom and one in the family room should cool the house down and it won't add moisture to your home.

EVAPS are good in Nevada, AZ, NM or CA dry low humidity areas.

The whole house fan is a great option if you have cool enough weather, it will pull lots of air through the house. We have one we use in the winter to pull through fresh cold air.

The USGS has a zone map showing the areas that are good for EVAP if you are in zones A or B it's a viable solution.

Link

I'm not sure what your location is, but when I lived in New Mexico with a swamp cooler there were days with really bad air quality from wildfires where it was recommended to NOT run your swamp cooler in order to avoid sucking all that crud into your house. It didn't happen often, but it wasn't much fun when it did happen.

Also I never had a seasonal startup where something wasn't broken on the damn thing.

I had a mini-split installed last year to supplement my main a/c. Great results, house is cooler and elec bill went down since main unit isn't running so often.

I've never used one but those U-shaped window units look promising. They are advertised as being whisper quiet and energy Star efficient. Costco has a 12,000 btu on sale for $300.

https://www.costco.com/midea-u...duct.4000234455.html

I live in the Chihuahuan Desert. Everybody I know who has an evaporative cooler would prefer to have refrigerated air, instead. Swamp coolers are a pain in the ass.

My experience with swamp coolers is from the 80’s so I imagine technology has improved over the years.

Nine years in south central New Mexico. Ok during the day but once the sun went down it became damp and uncomfortable.

The area I was I had a high alkali content so pad changes at the beginning and the middle of the season were not uncommon. Rust out of the metal housing combined with the pita of having to go in the roof to maintain it was another negative.

If we received any rain it became useless, just dumped more humidity into the house.

Thanks guys, Kind of what I thought. According to the map we are in (A). But Arfmel's pia comment resonates. I do not need more hassles.

Our window unit is an older Sharp 5000w. Sounds like spending that $300 on the Costco 12000watt unit would be $ a lot better spent. Wonder if my electrical circuit could handle the draw. Any thoughts on that. I am assuming that Costco unit would pump our more that twice, maybe 3 times the cooling capacity of my old 5000 watt unit?

Right now I just do not have an installer near me to get a mini split system or conventional system I could spring for.

You mean BTU and not watts, correct? 12,000BTU would probably draw about 9amps at 120volts. Neither of the 15,000BTU ACs on my RV will startup on 15amps. I’m guessing a 12,000BTU window unit just makes the cut on a 15amp circuit.

12,000watts would be 100amps at 120volts.

quote:

Wonder if my electrical circuit could handle the draw.

From the spec. sheet in the ad. Looks like it would need a little over 6 amps so a 15A should be good to go.
I'm not an electrician so check my math.


BTU Cooling
8,000 TU

CEER
15

Sound Performance dB
32 dB

Refrigerant
R32

Plug Type
LCDI (5-15P)

Watts
720W

Rated Cooling Amps (AHAM)
8.78

There are some FAQ's on their web page and an online tech person to answer questions about specific power demands.

https://www.midea.com

IF I didn't have my roll around unit I'd grab one up at Costco at that price...

^^^That spec sheet says 8,000 not 12,000.

Specs for the unit ORC is looking at from the link HRK provided:
Power Supply
1Ph, 115V-, 60Hz
Plug Type
NEMA 5-15P
Cooling Watts
1140W
Rated Cooling Amps (AHAM)
12.17

Take the cooling watts divided by 120volts and you get 9.5amps.

Why not get a portable to cool your main living areas during the day and use the window unit at night?

Ours was a 14,000 BTU (I think) similar to this:



In our old house (1,800 sq feet, built in 1910), we had no AC and that's how we did it, the portable cooled the entire first floor during the day then at night we'd turn that off and turn on window units in the bedrooms. Wasn't perfect but better than nothing.

Had we stayed there we would have gone mini-split system but we ended up buying a larger home nearby with central AC.

With a $300 budget, I'd probably just add another window unit in a different room.