A Conversation for House Hunting

Oh the suspense

Post 1

spimcoot

I naively thought I'd find out the answer this week, but no! And I suppose you're going to be ornery until next week too.

What's a swamp cooler? A 'gator with sunglasses?


Oh the suspense

Post 2

Amy Pawloski, aka 'paper lady'--'Mufflewhump'?!? click here to find out... (ACE)

I told you the answer would be in House Hunting 2 (I think I did...)

A swamp cooler is a cheaper kind of air conditioner, though they work quite well. I think the real name for them is evaporative coolers... But I've only ever heard them called swamp coolers except for once...


Oh the suspense

Post 3

spimcoot

Hm, you said there would be a House Hunting 2 but weren't explicit in saying that I'd have to wait till then for my answer. Could have inferred it, of course, but was being a bit of a thickie.

I prefer my definition of swamp cooler.


Oh the suspense

Post 4

Amy Pawloski, aka 'paper lady'--'Mufflewhump'?!? click here to find out... (ACE)

Well, maybe, but I wouldn't want one of those on my roof...


Oh the suspense

Post 5

Lady Scott

It should be pointed out that swamp coolers only work where the humidity is relatively low - the first time I ever heard of one all I could picture was an alligator drinking a lemonade..... but this is how it was described to me:

The swamp cooler unit sits on the roof of the house, and pours water all over the roof and down the sides of the house. Then aided by fans or simply by the wind, the water is evaporated. This can cool the interior of the house as much as 20 degrees cooler than the ouside air. But since it relies on evaporation to work, it simply does not work in areas where the humidity climbs right along with the temperature... For instance, where we live in Pennsylvania, the humidity is often well over 90% in the summer heat, so since the air is already nearly saturated, there is no way for the water to evaporate quickly, therefore it does not cool. But in areas of the country where the humidity remains low, it works very well.

I really wish it wasn't so humid here in the summertime, because a swamp cooler is a much more efficient way to cool a building than an air conditioner.


Swamp ing

Post 6

vogonpoet (AViators at A13264670)


Swamp cooling sounds a lot better for the environment too - it cant take much energy to pump some water from ground to roof level, and then distribute around and about it.. and the energy issue is pretty tiny compared to the refrigerant issue too - people may like to think CFCs may be a thing of the past, but at the end of the day refrigerants are usually pretty nasty chemicals anyway, even if they are more photochemically stable than the old CFCs.

Water on the other hand... well, technically the stuff is in pretty short supply in some parts of the world, and wasted dreadfully by other parts of the world, but I cant imagine the drain (so to speak) is that major - water which immediately rejoins the atmosphere isnt going to get lost under ground or get contaminated presumably...


meanwhile, the home hunt continues...?


Swamp ing

Post 7

Amy Pawloski, aka 'paper lady'--'Mufflewhump'?!? click here to find out... (ACE)

Yes, the hunt continues (see the other thread on this page)--we've an appointment to look at another tomorrow...


Swamp ing

Post 8

spimcoot

Fascinating Lady Scott; never heard of such a thing before, here in Blighty we just open a window during the summer season (17th-21st July). But I'm still slightly baffled as to why the thing is so named. I'd imagine that swamps are fairly humid sorts of places aren't they, and so the cooler would be ineffective there? Incidentally, does one receive a shocking cataract of water down the back of the neck when exiting a building with a swamp cooler on the roof?


Swamp ing

Post 9

Lady Scott

I have no idea why its named that or even what it looks like, since I've never seen one before, or even visited a place that was low enough in humidity to be able to use one. Maybe some day... or perhaps Amy will be able to find out enough about them to tell us more.


Swamp ing

Post 10

Amy Pawloski, aka 'paper lady'--'Mufflewhump'?!? click here to find out... (ACE)

I don't know why they are called that either. But no, no waterfall down the back, and they do work quite well, and are cheaper to run than an A/C unit, electricity-wise...


Key: Complain about this post