Evaprative air conditioning...?

Question

We live on the darling downs in central queensland where it is a very hot dry climate. The house we have just moved into has ducted evaporative air conditioning. We have never used this type of air con before and some people tell us to leave windows doors open ect, others say to close the house completely as you do with refridgerated air con and some say a tiny gap is enough? It is just not really cool, and occasionlly gets muggy. What is the most effectave way to use these types of air con?

Answer 1

Evaporative air conditioners aren't that great, in my opinion. They do indeed lower the temperature -though not by as much as some makers claim. Not being really cooling and being a bit muggy is par for the course, I'm sorry to say. I just haven't had a good experience with them, but they might be fine for you since you live in a hot, dry climate.

Some windows do need to be open since evaporative coolers (in the US some call them swamp coolers) work by circulating outside air with fans, and then sending the hot air out.

I prefer air conditioning since it really does make the air cold, but not every one finds that necessary. Here's an excerpt from a web site that is in favor of evaporative coolers:

"Because swamp coolers cool outside air and blow it into the house, however, to work effectively they need at least one window open. The cooled outside air vents through open windows or doors, pushing out hot inside air and any smoke, odors and pollution that may be present. With evaporative cooling, a complete air change in a home occurs every one-to-three minutes. This flow of fresh air means that evaporative coolers can be operated without using the water pump to replace warm stale air with cooler nighttime air, much like a whole house fan does. That's an added benefit.
Because swamp coolers cool outside air and blow it into the house, however, to work effectively they need at least one window open. The cooled outside air vents through open windows or doors, pushing out hot inside air and any smoke, odors and pollution that may be present. With evaporative cooling, a complete air change in a home occurs every one-to-three minutes. This flow of fresh air means that evaporative coolers can be operated without using the water pump to replace warm stale air with cooler nighttime air, much like a whole house fan does. That's an added benefit."

web address: http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/home/heating_cooling/evaporative.html

Answer 2

I had a swamp/evaporating cooler in my home for many years. My issues with them were that they do not run by a thermostat, they have a high or low setting. I always have some windows open a few inches in my home, no matter the weather. I think that the reason for doing this with a swamp cooler is to help pull the cooler air throughout the house. Yes they do feel muggy and they can smell bad, especially if they haven't been used for even one day. They smell like bad water in an aquarium, but that goes away after the water has recirculated a bit.

I changed to central air about 3 years ago and I will never use a swamp cooler again!

Answer 3

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