Keep your indoors cool and comfortable by installing a window evaporative cooler

Swamp or evaporative coolers are a great way to cool down your home, especially if you live in a dry climate. Swamp coolers add water to the air to cool it down, raising the humidity in your home. They work best in dry climates. To use a window swamp cooler, you first must pick the right one for your home. Then, you can use it as the weather gets warmer to cool your home. Your evaporative cooler will need to be installed outside of your home. It can be installed in various locations, depending upon the type of cooler chosen. The three types of coolers are:

·         Down-draft (mounted on the roof)

·         Side-draft (mounted on an eave or window)

·         Up-draft (mounted on the ground)

Roof mounted are the most common, although they are more difficult to maintain. Mounted coolers are connected to ducts that bring the cooled air into the rooms of your home. In some cases, existing ductwork is used to move the air to the various rooms. Roof mounted systems are often the easiest to connect to existing duct systems. Alternatively, ductwork can be designed specifically for an evaporative cooler to channel the air into the rooms of your home. This will depend on what type of system that you are installing. The three systems are:

• Stand alone evaporative coolers (designed ductwork)
• Stand alone alternative to a refrigeration system (designed ductwork)
• Combined system (shares ductwork with a refrigeration system)

The only problem associated with the combination system is that refrigeration ducts are often too small to move the amount of air required by evaporative coolers. This causes less airflow and more noise. Also, combined systems require that a damper be installed to separate the units. Otherwise the refrigerated air will escape through the evaporative cooler and the moist air will corrode the refrigeration system. In smaller, open homes, cooled air can be blown into a central location without ductwork.

How swamp coolers work

Evaporative coolers work by cooling fresh air from outside that replaces the warm air in the house. Thus, you need to open windows or doors to let the warm air escape. If this presents a security concern for you, you may want to think about installing ceiling vents.

Your evaporative cooler will also need to be plugged into a nearby 120 volt wall outlet. Be sure that there is an electrical disconnect for your safety during maintenance. There is no special wiring required (unlike air conditioners that often require a high amperage power circuit). You should also install a low voltage thermostat that will turn the cooler on and off automatically. Finally, be sure that there is an accessible cooler water shutoff valve.

Coolers should be installed at least 10 feet away from or 3 feet below plumbing vents, combustion appliance flues, clothes dryer vents, or exhaust fan vents. Keep animals, yard chemicals, and fuels and solvents away from the cooler vicinity. Provide a minimum of 3 ft of clearance to any side of the cooler that requires access for maintenance.

When you install your cooler, check the float valve setting after one pump cycle. This way you can make sure that the float isn’t set too high, which would cause the reservoir of water to overflow.

Installing the right window swamp cooler for your needs can provide a number of benefits which help keep you comfortable and your utility bill low. Getting a unit with the proper BTU capacity for your room will help gradually cycle the air and maintain a cool temperature. If you get a BTU capacity that is much larger than the recommended amount, then the unit will cycle on and off more frequently, which can lead to more user-maintenance and a shorter lifespan. Also, with larger units, air distribution will be sporadic and uneven, while smaller units will cycle air efficiently and for longer periods of time.

Window swamp coolers with the proper measurements and capacity will be more efficient when it comes to dehumidifying your space. Units must cycle for substantial periods of time in order for moisture to condense and drain from the unit. So, when you install a unit with a larger-than-needed BTU capacity, it will cycle for shorter periods of time and will condense less moisture.

Noise is also reduced when a unit with the proper BTU capacity is installed. The unit will have a smaller fan motor and compressor, which will allow the appliance to operate at lower speeds for longer periods of time and reduce loud system startups.