We’ve all heard that AC units are the proverbial gas guzzlers of the house, but if you live in a suitable climate cooling your home doesn’t have to be as expensive as you’d think!
Depending on the model, smaller swamp coolers can be mounted in a window or placed on the floor. Both types are easy for able-bodied homeowners to place or install on their own. In larger homes, it’s more efficient to install a bigger outdoor unit that cools the entire house through its ducts.
But before we dive in and talk about swamp cooler benefits, let’s discuss briefly how they work.
How it works:
An evaporative cooler uses evaporation to help cool down the surrounding air.
- In most evaporative coolers, the primary piece that makes it all work is the pump.
- This is one of those parts of an evaporative cooler that will circulate water from a reservoir towards a cooling pad, which as a result, will become increasingly wet.
- A fan will then draw outside air and push it through the moistened cooling pad.
- As the air is passed along here, it will get cooled down via evaporation.
The key to making this process work is to ensure that the cooling pad remains constantly saturated with water at all times while the device is operating (if the water can’t cool down the air, then evaporation can’t occur, and it won’t release cold air in return).
- Both the size of the fan and the motor of the portable evaporative cooler play a role in the quality of airflow being delivered.
- As long as these parts are well-maintained and/or replaced when they need to be, the lifespan of an evaporative cooler can extend very far.
Benefit #1: Lower Installation Cost
Installing an evaporative cooler is much cheaper compared to a traditional air conditioner. The average cost for installation by a licensed contractor is around $650 – $1,050 with some more expensive units costing $2,000 – $3,000.
Installation of comparable traditional air conditioners can run $7,000 – $20,000 depending on the size of the unit and the distance to the outside condenser.
Benefit #2: Low Operation Costs
One of the best swamp cooler benefits that you’ll find is that dramatic decrease in operational costs that you’ll be required to pay.
- Systems only require enough electricity to power their pumps and fan units, you’ll end up paying around 50% less in operational costs each month.
- Traditional air conditioners require a lot of electricity to power air blowers, pumps, and compressors.
On average, home owners should expect to pay anywhere from $200 to $1,400 in repair costs for an evaporator.
Keep in mind that an air conditioner can cost three times this amount of fix. Some air conditioners might not even be worth fixing after they’ve been worn down. In the long run, you’ll be able to save a significant sum of money on an evaporative cooler in your home.
Benefit #3: Eco-friendly
Traditional Air Conditioning uses a chemical process to cool refrigerant, this chemicals can damage the atmosphere as they are released by the unit over time.
Evaporate cooling, on the other hand, is based completely on natural processes (in this case, air being cooled by water).
- Won’t dry out the air in your home, or cause your eyes or throat to become irritated.
- No foreign chemicals, safer for the environment.
- Keep the doors and windows in your home open, don’t worrying about losing air flow.
There is no air being recirculated so fresh air will replace the stale air in your home all day long.
Other Benefits:
- Easy to Maintain: No complex design means DIY is possible, just a flush is usually enough.
- Fresh Air: High flow rate of fresh air through your home means less unwanted particles.
- Minimal CO2 Emissions: Evaporative Coolers don’t pose a risk to the environment.
- Increase humidity: Adding moisture to the air in your home can alleviate many common respiratory ailments.
- Quiet Operation: With only a pump and fan running the units produce very low noise.