# Swamp Coolers
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swamp-coolers/304883
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [May 21, 2005, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swamp-coolers/304883 "2005-05-21T17:08:10Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@remisser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/remisser)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2005, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swamp-coolers/304883/1 "2005-05-21T17:08:10Z")
Anyone know of a good swamp cooler? I can’t use air conditioners here… but I can use swamp coolers. Something under $120 if possible.
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### Author:  [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2005, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swamp-coolers/304883/2 "2005-05-21T18:55:31Z")
Where are you that you can’t use an AC?
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### Author:  [@KlondikeGeoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KlondikeGeoff)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2005, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swamp-coolers/304883/3 "2005-05-21T19:00:12Z")
> [@remisser](#):
>
> Anyone know of a good swamp cooler? I can’t use air conditioners here… but I can use swamp coolers. Something under $120 if possible.
Uh, swamp coolers don’t work unless the humidity is pretty low, and is it ever low in Quincy? 🙂
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### Author:  [@remisser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/remisser)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2005, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swamp-coolers/304883/4 "2005-05-21T20:29:46Z")
We live in an old house with bad wiring, so that’s why we can’t really use an AC… unless you can point me in the direction of an AC that doesn’t need to be put in a window that isn’t too expensive. Know of any?
And yeah, Quincy is pretty humid in the summer months. Unfortunately. So you’re saying a swamp cooler wouldn’t help?
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### Author:  [@mike1dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mike1dog)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2005, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swamp-coolers/304883/5 "2005-05-21T21:10:03Z")
Swamp coolers cool air by evaporation, and since the humidity is high where you live, they won’t work. They work well in dry, desert climates like Nevada or Arizona. [Link.](http://www.wonderquest.com/swamp-coolers.htm)
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### Author:  [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2005, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swamp-coolers/304883/6 "2005-05-21T23:08:11Z")
> [@remisser](#):
>
> We live in an old house with bad wiring, so that’s why we can’t really use an AC… unless you can point me in the direction of an AC that doesn’t need to be put in a window that isn’t too expensive. Know of any?
Depends - what’s your budget, and how much power can your house wiring provide?
There are floor-standing ACs that use compressors, [like this](http://www.brilliantstore.com/air/sunpentown_wa1210e.htm). But it works the same way as window-mounted ACs - it consumes as much power as a window AC, and has a hot-air exhaust hose that must be connected to a window.
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### Author:  [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)
#### Post date: [May 22, 2005, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swamp-coolers/304883/7 "2005-05-22T00:43:44Z")
Could always run a dedicated circuit to wherever you wanna put the AC unit. Like they do for fridges.
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### Author:  [@Stainz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stainz)
#### Post date: [May 22, 2005, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swamp-coolers/304883/8 "2005-05-22T03:22:51Z")
They also have to be directly in front of an open window, and blowing towards another open window - I had one once without this type of cross-ventilation. The plants loved the humidity, but to me the house always felt kind of muggy, albeit slightly cooler.
Why not buy one from Costco (I saw one there today for about $200 CDN, so I would guess it would be around $150 US)? If you don’t like it, you can always take it back.
I believe it might draw a fair bit of electricity as well though …
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### Author:  [@remisser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/remisser)
#### Post date: [May 22, 2005, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swamp-coolers/304883/9 "2005-05-22T03:41:52Z")
my budget for any cooling device is about 125. :\
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### Author:  [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)
#### Post date: [May 22, 2005, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swamp-coolers/304883/10 "2005-05-22T04:27:21Z")
> [@remisser](#):
>
> my budget for any cooling device is about 125. :\
Methinks you can afford some ice and a fan. As opposed to a window AC unit, mini-splits offer great cooling without giving up a window, and they’re also quieter than a window unit. But you aren’t gonna get one for $125 unless it _fell off the truck_. Good luck.
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### Author:  [@Tabby\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabby_Cat)
#### Post date: [May 22, 2005, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swamp-coolers/304883/11 "2005-05-22T07:47:01Z")
I’m wondering why they’re called swamp coolers, I mean, aren’t swamps mostly humid?
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### Author:  [@mike1dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mike1dog)
#### Post date: [May 22, 2005, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swamp-coolers/304883/12 "2005-05-22T15:17:12Z")
You could try one of [these.](http://home.usadatanet.net/~jbplock/ISO5011/SPICER.htm) I don’t know if you could afford all the ice it would undoubtedly use though.
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### Author:  [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)
#### Post date: [May 22, 2005, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swamp-coolers/304883/13 "2005-05-22T16:59:25Z")
> [@Tabby\_Cat](#):
>
> I’m wondering why they’re called swamp coolers, I mean, aren’t swamps mostly humid?
They’re properly known as evaporative coolers, but the nickname swamp cooler is widespread and well-known, particularly in the SE US. One explanation is that during late summer rains, the evaporative effect is diminished, therefore making the house feel muggy, as in a swamp.
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### Author:  [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)
#### Post date: [May 22, 2005, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swamp-coolers/304883/14 "2005-05-22T21:08:11Z")
Do you have extra Sox tickets? I’ll shadow after you waving a paddle fan in your general direction for Sox tickets and a weekly case of Sam Adams.
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### Author:  [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)
#### Post date: [May 22, 2005, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swamp-coolers/304883/15 "2005-05-22T22:24:27Z")
> [@danceswithcats](#):
>
> They’re properly known as evaporative coolers, but the nickname swamp cooler is widespread and well-known, particularly in the SE US. One explanation is that during late summer rains, the evaporative effect is diminished, therefore making the house feel muggy, as in a swamp.
Can you even use a swamp cooler in the Southeast? The Southwest, sure, (in fact, we just switched over to the swamp cooler Friday, and there is even a local columnist who writes two of his columns a year as Dr. Swamp Cooler), but all my experiences in the South and Southeast has been that it’s just too humid to even contemplate using one. In my experience, the only people that use the term evaporative cooler are the people printing up labels for the stuff at Sears.
I do agree that when we start getting T-storms the usefulness of a swamp cooler gots to pot. Also, with the increased interest in water conservation, more and more people are going to an air conditioner instead of the older swamp cooler, as you then use more electricity but no water. I haven’t really met anyone that has made the switch, but it’s becoming popular in new developments. You would also get the benefit of being able to go from heating to cooling by just throwing a switch instead of having to do all the rigamorale of getting a swamp cooler working. You basically have to pick when you’re going to switch to/from heating/cooling and then you’re stuck for the next several months when it’s time to switch back. There is a whole thread possible just for various types of swamp coolers and when you should get up on the roof and get it going.
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### Author:  [@The\_Vorlon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Vorlon)
#### Post date: [May 23, 2005, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swamp-coolers/304883/16 "2005-05-23T00:24:27Z")
Where in Quincy are you? If you are east enough, the sea breaze will help out considerability.
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### Author:  [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)
#### Post date: [May 23, 2005, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swamp-coolers/304883/17 "2005-05-23T02:17:59Z")
DAMNED typo! I _meant_ to type SW. I’d never seen one until visiting my brother in New Mexico years ago, and got an education on how they work-we had to fix his.
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### Author:  [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)
#### Post date: [May 23, 2005, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swamp-coolers/304883/18 "2005-05-23T03:04:12Z")
> [@danceswithcats](#):
>
> DAMNED typo! I _meant_ to type SW. I’d never seen one until visiting my brother in New Mexico years ago, and got an education on how they work-we had to fix his.
Did you get to go through the usual steps–get up on the roof, get to what you need to fix, find out that you left a vital piece of equipment down on the ground, go down to get the tool, get up there, fix what you know was broken, find that something else is busted, go to Sears to get the replacement, go back up on the roof (except now it is much much hotter), and so on?
Here’s a quote from Jim Belshaw’s latest column–a swamp cooler column.
> [@](#):
>
> ```
> It's admirable that you would be willing to wait until July or so to hook up the swamp cooler. This is the traditional New Mexican's timetable: Early July, 99 degrees or when you notice the dog is no longer moving in the back yard, whichever comes first.
>
> ```
I don’t konw of anywhere you can get his columns online, which is a shame, as the swamp cooler ones are a hoot if you are in the right place to get the humor.
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### Author:  [@remisser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/remisser)
#### Post date: [May 23, 2005, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swamp-coolers/304883/19 "2005-05-23T11:14:29Z")
> [@The Vorlon](#):
>
> Where in Quincy are you? If you are east enough, the sea breaze will help out considerability.
I’m not close enough that the sea breeze reaches me. It gets hot. 🙂 I want to be able to have a room where both me, my wife, and my cats can cool off. I’ve taken to trying to find a used indoor air conditioner on any site… maybe I might get lucky? ☹
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### Author:  [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)
#### Post date: [May 23, 2005, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swamp-coolers/304883/20 "2005-05-23T14:44:58Z")
As a sidebar, we used to have a local home improvement chain called Eagle until they were bought out a few years ago by Lowe’s. I heard the story that when the Lowe’s accountant was going over the inventory for the Eagle stores he asked, “What’s with all these swamp coolers? Why would anyone want to cool a swamp?”
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