Do You use a Swamp Cooler?

Question

The new house we're going to be moving into has something called a Swamp Cooler inside, It has air conditioning too, but which is less expensive and more efficient, effective?

How does a Swamp Cooler work?

Answer 1

A swamp cooler sprays water that the air passes through. They are very good in dry climates and are healthier too when maintained. They can drop air temps by a maximum of about 10 degrees and are efficient to run.

Air conditioning uses a lot of power but can cool faster and to lower temps. They are not as healthy because of this and thermal shock.

Answer 2

A swamp cooler works using the evaporative property of water as a cooling medium, instead the compression/decompression of freon. And, swamp coolers are extremely effective, energy efficient, and environmentally friendly when used in hot dry areas, such as the western states.

In a freon air conditioner, The freon is compressed and all of the heat in the freon is compressed with it. This causes the temperature of the compressed freon to rise. This is then pumped to a heat exchanger (type of radiator) where the heat is lost to the ambient air. The freon - and thus the residual heat - is then decompressed, causing the freon to rapidly cool. This then runs through another heat exchanger, where the heat in chill water is absorbed by the cooler freon. It's then pumped back to the compressor to repeat the cycle.

A swamp cooler uses the loss of the latent heat of vaporization in water to cool the chill water that goes to the AC unit. When water evaporates, it takes a lot of energy (heat) to convert the liquid state to a gaseous state. If you have a heat exchanger with AC chill water running through it, and then have a continuous supply of water running over the outside with a fan blowing on it, the constant evaporation of the water will cool the chill water, enough to cool the air in the house.

A swamp cooler is environmentally friendly, because there's no potential for the leakage and discharge of greenhouse gases (like freon) into the atmosphere. However, it really only works well in hot, dry conditions and it requires a steady supply of water to operate.