Anyone using portable swamp cooler?

[Isaac-1]

We are heading to Wyoming this summer, so I decided to buy a cheap portable swamp cooler with 2 gallon water tank off Amazon Resale shop (used to be called Amazon Warehouse) that was like new in box for $25 (new they are $140) just to try it out. (There are a lot of good deals on such things this time of year, I assume the algorithm see no one has been buying them in months so slashes the prices ).


So tell me was this worth buying or did I waste $25? We will be camping off grid for about 2 weeks combined in Yellowstone and Grand Tetons. Powering it will be no issue, it only draws 65 watts and we have 1,110 watts of solar on the roof.


I suspect it will not be needed or minimally needed in Yellowstone, not so sure a about Grand Tetons the first part of July.


We have been to Wyoming and Montana during summer heatwaves before with no air conditioning before we bought the motorhome, it was no fun.

[Cajun 143]

They work in low humidity climates They are useless down here in the swamp.

[bigb56]

It's very important that a swamp cooler draws fresh air constantly. If you place it indoors where it ends up recirculating the air it will just become a humidifier.
Use it outside or place it in a window where it will draw in fresh air, and leave other windows open so the air can constantly exhaust/change over.

Most people that complain about the swamp cooler don't understand that you can only cool the air once, then you have to let it go and bring in more air. Try and keep it and you will create a miserable environment, thus the requirement for open windows and a constant air changeover.

They do work best in low humidity but with a constant air change combined with a high CFM you can extend the range in which they will be useful. If the dew point is over about 50 they will not work very well no matter what, but you can shut off the pump and use it for a fan when that happens.

CFM is also a big part of swamp cooling. Those little coolers that barely make a breeze are useless unless you sit right in front of them.

I've owned two Turbo Kool RV roof mounted swamp coolers and they worked great, even when traveling to the East they were useful. 750 CFM.

Regards,
bigb livin in the desert with swamp coolers since 1969.

[Isaac-1]

I would plan on also running the roof exhaust fans, as to CFM the one I bought is advertised as 1620 CFM, but I don't know if that is under real world conditions or may be a metric translation error

[Arch Hoagland]

Isaac-1 You don't have an air conditioner in your RV?

[bigb56]

Originally Posted by Isaac-1

I would plan on also running the roof exhaust fans, as to CFM the one I bought is advertised as 1620 CFM, but I don't know if that is under real world conditions or may be a metric translation error

That would really help with the air flow. I've seen warehouses with the paper media and water pumps at one end and exhaust fans at the other end, drawing outside air thru the water soaked pads and constantly changing over the air, very effective.

[Isaac-1]

Originally Posted by Arch Hoagland

Isaac-1 You don't have an air conditioner in your RV?

I do, but I have to run the generator when dry camping to use it, at least for very long as it draws around 1,500 watts while running, where I only have 1110 watts of solar panels, which given that they are flat mounted will rarely output even that much power. By contrast the evaporative cooler draws under 75 watts

[twogypsies]

We've dry-camped in Yellowstone and the Tetons and didn't feel hot. You'll be at 6200' EL and above.

Close the windows and window coverings on the sunny side and turn on your roof Fantastic vent if you have one.

[Isaac-1]

I have been there dry camping before too so know the average, I have also experienced 88 degrees at sunset at 8200 ft in southern Wyoming. Highest temperature on record in July in Yellowstone was 99F about 23 years ago, sometimes you draw the short straw.

[twogypsies]

Originally Posted by Isaac-1

I have been there dry camping before too so know the average, I have also experienced 88 degrees at sunset at 8200 ft in southern Wyoming. Highest temperature on record in July in Yellowstone was 99F about 23 years ago, sometimes you draw the short straw.

Here's the average temperature for Yellowstone and Grand Tetons. You must be parking outside the parks. You state "southern Wyoming"... that would make a difference. Anyway, hope you have a cool summer!

https://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvis...m#onthisPage-4

https://www.nps.gov/grte/planyourvisit/weather.htm

[GypsyR]

I've been using swamp coolers in humid South Carolina for years. Even though some people still try to insist they "won't work". Anyway... The bigger it is the better. We have one of those monster football team type ones at work and it is impressive. My personal one is much smaller. The limitation on it is the "squirrel cage" fan and ducting design on it means it flows cool air in a fairly straight line. Much off to one side or another and you feel zero benefit. The bigger ones are the same but the effect is much less noticeable.

One (or more) will drop interior temperatures some but much less noticeably than AC. Like AC, you feel the difference lost in the direct air flow.

The drier the ambient air, the better they work. But even in high humidity they still have at least some effect. The air blown will "feel" cooler than a regular fan even at humidity extremes where we are told one "shouldn't" work. We've done side by side testing. The shop's old school plain air circulating fans got kicked to the curb years ago.

[Fpmtngal]

When I was in Quartzsite at the RV show, there was a vendor selling a personal sized swamp cooler. I impulsively bought it because I was curious, figuring I had tossed away a fair amount of money. I figured there was a good chance I would use it, find it useless and toss it out right away.

Some of my conclusions - the one I bought won’t replace my AC (no surprise). As was pointed out above, AC works best in a closed environment, while a swamp cooler needs ventilation. So it’s an either/or situation, it’s not any good to supplement the AC on super hot days. The one I bought isn’t big enough to cool the whole trailer, but if I have it on the dinette table, it keeps the dinette in the slide comfortable (usually the hottest place in the trailer). I leave the two ceiling MaxAir fans running, a couple of windows and a door or two open to provide the ventilation needed.

I’ve been using it all spring (Mesa AZ) when the outside temps have been in the mid-high 80s, and can be comfortable sitting at the dinette. The rest of the trailer is hotter, to the point that I would otherwise have turned on the AC. Since I’m on metered electric, using the cooler helps keep the electric bill reasonable (fewer days running the AC, and more days when I can turn shore power off completely and power the rig with batteries and solar. It’s not enough when the temps get to be 90.

It sounds like the one you bought is bigger than mine and draws more power, but it’s not that much more. Yours may be able to cover a larger area. I would try yours and see what you think. You spent hardly anything on yours compared to what I spent on mine. I like mine enough that it has earned a place in my rig (space being an issue in a travel trailer).

I had zero expectations and have been very pleasantly surprised by how useful I’ve found it. I’ll never get as much money out of it as I paid to get it, but that’s OK as I do find it useful and my electric bill has been lower.

Good luck with yours.

[bigb56]

Originally Posted by Isaac-1

I would plan on also running the roof exhaust fans, as to CFM the one I bought is advertised as 1620 CFM, but I don't know if that is under real world conditions or may be a metric translation error

1620 CFM would be a pretty big unit for a portable. Just for comparison a 3,000 CFM roof top unit measures about 30" square and has a squirrel cage blower and a 1/3rd HP motor and can cool a small house.

Care to link the one you got?

[Isaac-1]

Sure, though as I mentioned I am not sure I trust that advertised CFM as others that are about the same physical size are listed as around 700-800 CFM. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CXXJ94BV If anyone wants one, they show more either used very good, or used like new in original packaging for around $25, new they are $169, in theory mine will be getting here tomorrow, though about all I can do is test it for basic function as I doubt it will do much cooling in our Louisiana humidity.


p.s. note my customer satisfaction on how this performs will likely be much higher at paying $25 than if I were to have paid $169 regardless how it performs as long as it works at all.