[big shrek]

If ya know how to make one, it's great for your porch area...or as a secondary cooling system inside when it gets Dawg Hot.

I was thinking about it as the temp reached 100 outside...then thought, OH YEAH!! There's a way to keep things decent while I'm working on my lawnmower!!!

So I grabbed my big fan, placed an ice chest fulla ice & water directly in front of it...and VOILA!! MUCH cooler while working on the porch

There are more technical ways of doing it, but for the time I was out there, it paid off

Misting Fans do basically the same thing...without ice. I'm thinking one of those should end up permanently mounted on the porch soon

[Archetype_wyo]

A drenched towel over the fan will work just the same if not better. But just make sure that there's no bare spots in the wiring on your fan lol.

[Big Dog]

Hmmm..... good idea for my shop building! I do keep a box fan out there, and simply keeping the air moving helps a lot. Adding the cooling effect of water/ice would be better!

[Palladin8]

Swamp coolers work best in lower humidity climates but they do help out in humid climates. We had one on wheels that my dad used in the garage and it was great. I just recently bought one so I can have it in my garage here in Vegas for when it gets really hot. So far it works great and the dog prefers that over being out in the 100+ degree heat. If you want to get real fancy all you need to do is get a fish tank pump some sort of a frame that can hold a filter or something that water can run down and then place it infront of a fan. That is all a swamp cooler is. They use less electricity than an air conditioner but they don't cool nearly as well as a traditional AC unit. I think they will reduce the inside temp 10-15 degrees below outside air temps.

[larmus]

in high humidity area's swap coolers dont work with the water on, shut the water of and just use the vent option... in low humidity areas they work just fine, but if you have a swamp cooler you need to clean you guns more often then if you had an AC unit, i have had both, in ac houses i could clean my guns once a month with a swamp cooler house i clean my guns every two weeks and check them every week for surface rust...

[Rex in OTZ]

A neighbor back home had rigged up a old tractor radiator & boxfan to his garden hose so it ran from the hosebib to the radiator/fan on outside to the lawn sprinkler that cold water would condense moisture out the air on that radiator adding to the already cool water cooling that old metal shed a mite in the summer.

A solar ran fan and fountain pump and a kiddie pool in a cool shady place shady side the building or in a basement or cellar would do the same thing, the idea of the sun powering the fan & pump sounds do-able I seen that sort stuff in garden catalogs, a one time investment in a solar powerd water pump and fan would save in summer cooling bills and rig it up to a radiator/exchanger.

[Palladin8]

Larmus you did touch on a + or - depending on how you look at it. The swamp cooler in dry climates like out west helps in keeping the air in your home a little moist. So if you have hardwood floors or lots of wood in general it aids in keeping it from drying out. The downside would be the moisture in a gunsafe or closet. I used to have a dehumidifying rod in my safe when I was living in a house that had the swamp cooler. Now that I have central air I don't worry about it getting to moist in the safe.

[Cyrano]

Quote:       Originally Posted by big shrek

So I grabbed my big fan, placed an ice chest fulla ice & water directly in front of it...and VOILA!! MUCH cooler while working on the porch There are more technical ways of doing it, but for the time I was out there, it paid off.

Hey, that's how the Paris Opera House was cooled for many years: big fans driving the air down to and then over a reservoir of cold water under the opera house, then back up into the building. They only went to central air conditioning in the 1980s, if memory serves. I read somewhere that the old reservoir is now used as a wine cellar for the opera house.

[Snowman]

Quote:       Originally Posted by larmus

in high humidity area's swap coolers dont work with the water on, shut the water of and just use the vent option... in low humidity areas they work just fine, but if you have a swamp cooler you need to clean you guns more often then if you had an AC unit, i have had both, in ac houses i could clean my guns once a month with a swamp cooler house i clean my guns every two weeks and check them every week for surface rust...

This man speaks the truth.