A/C vs. swamp cooler? (2023 Update)

[Jimmy Wilkinson Knife]

Why does anyone want humidity? If it's hot, humid air makes it feel hotter, as your sweat can't evaporate so easily. In cold weather, the damp cools you down more. So it's never wanted.

[KenK]

Uncle Monster wrote in news: [e-mail]:

It's very arid where I live, SW AZ. A swamp cooler works fine, just that a window AC is easier for me to maintain.

[KenK]

trader_4 wrote in news: [e-mail]:

However, the cooler has a much larger fan, actually a big blower. It has to move air through wet pads, not just a coil. The AC of course has to run the compressor.

[gfretwell]

Heat pumps are not used much here in South Florida either. I have a Mini split heat pump and I don't think the heat function has ever been used. There are heat strips in the air handler for the central air system and I doubt they have ever been on either. My wife has a little 1.4 KW heat strip in the electric fireplace in the living room and that is all she ever uses. That is still very seldom. Nobody has a furnace.

[Jimmy Wilkinson Knife]

I looked into buying one in the UK. The cheapest one runs both ways.

[Jimmy Wilkinson Knife]

Then you need more heat pumps. I've been told they tend to be 400% efficient even in winter. Maybe not if you live somewhere like Alaska where it's way below zero. Do you guys say "way below thirty two"?

[Jimmy Wilkinson Knife]

I guess it depends on the weather where you live as to what gets manufactured.

[gfretwell]

You really should get out of Scotland sometimes. There are plenty of places where the humidity is very low. The house being too dry is a problem. People run humidifiers in the winter. The other thing you miss is if it gets much below zero C, your heat pump stops working. There just is not enough available heat to do you any good and the outside coils ice up. Even at 5-7 C they are not very efficient. That is why they usually have toaster wire strips in them. When you want to heat something up, it is hard to beat burning gas if you have it. Gas is really cheap here.

[rbowman]

Maybe it's not wanted on that swampy island where you live. It's a different story in arid climates. Do you know what virga is? That's rain that evaporates before it reaches the ground.

[Jimmy Wilkinson Knife]

Why? What's so bad about dry air?

Funny how a domestic freezer can easily make it down to -20C on the cold side.

Here too, but a heat pump sounds simpler.

[Jimmy Wilkinson Knife]

What does it feel like to be in a house that's "too dry"?

[Jimmy Wilkinson Knife]

I don't believe you on the cooling the skin. Your body sweats to evaporate. Evaporation works better if the air is drier.

[Jimmy Wilkinson Knife]

Why is it called a swamp cooler? It doesn't cool swamps.

[angelicapaganelli]

We say "way below freezing".

Average January nighttime low where I live is -7.8 C. Record low is -25.0 C. We can usually count on at least three nights that are below 18 C.

Average July daytime high is 28.4 C. Record daytime high is

35 C.

Cindy Hamilton

[Jimmy Wilkinson Knife]

That doesn't actually sound too much different to Scotland. I'd rewrite your statement as:

Average January nighttime low where I live is -3 C. Record low is -19.0 C. We can usually count on at least three nights that are below -7 C.

Average July daytime high is 25 C. Record daytime high is

33 C.

[rbowman]

The furniture tends to fall apart, to say nothing of your skin. It's rough on many musical instruments too. I went to a uilleann pipes concert in March and the guy was crouched over a vaporizer trying to keep them functional.

The interesting part is you don't sweat like most people think about sweating. Your pores are putting out moisture but it evaporates immediately.

You should try a holiday in the southern Mahgreb to expand your horizons.

[rbowman]

Evaporation works all too well in Arizona.

[rbowman]

When we say 'way below zero' it's way below -18 C.

[Jimmy Wilkinson Knife]

But that's the point. As soon as your sweat evaporates, it's performed it's purpose, you cool down. It can't evaporate too fast, that would make you colder and you just sweat less.

[Jimmy Wilkinson Knife]

Why on earth would you still use an antiquated measurement system that doesn't have a zero in a sensible place? C is easy - 0 is freezing 100 is boiling. Of water, the most important thing on the planet.