Didn't work in my situation

I was excited about this unit. Our humidity has been below 15% and I hoped that in front of a window it would cool the west-facing side of the apartment. It certainly humidified the large living room very well.

However, the fan isn't powerful enough to push air all the way through the two bedrooms to the window I need to vent it. A proper swamp cooler has a very powerful fan and fills a window, so it pulls outside air directly in and pumps it through a space with some force. This one doesn't do that. If I had a smaller room with a window to use as ventilation I'm sure this would work well.

There is a design flaw: the water container is a large open basin, much wider than it is deep. If it's even half full the water will slop over the sides upon any movement. I've already thought of a jerry-rigged solution, which is to use a flat piece of plastic or a few old-fashioned ice cube trays to prevent waves from forming. But I'm returning the unit, so I can't report on whether that would work.

[Monday, June 04, 2007]

Wonderful

I live in Colorado, so the climate is perfect for a swamp cooler. I researched a few (some were VERY expensive), and thought I would try this one to start. It wasnt very expensive, and I figured if it didn't work out I could maybe look at something bigger or even whole-house. But, this worked out GREAT! It is perfect for one room, and cools things down almost immediately. I definately did not regret the order. If you're planning to move it from room to room, its a little heavy and unwieldly when full of water. But its easy when its empty, and not an issue when its staying in one room.

[Sunday, July 16, 2006]

Suprised at the positive reviews

This is the fourth portable evaporative unit I've owned. None have been impressive but this is by far the worst I've had. It was expensive, heavy, bulky and is only fairly cool if you're standing right in front of it. The "paragraph" considered the owners manual was useless (download it- you won't believe it). It constantly needs water. The freestanding unit this replaced used about one gallon a day. This uses a minimum of seven or more. Everytime I go in that room it's hot because the water is gone. If I stayed there all day and actually filled it as needed I can't imagine how much it would use. All the other units I've owned had a convenient fill area at the top or side. This one requires you to pour the water directly into the back. I use a gallon jug to do this which never fits between the unit and the wall or window- whichever it's sitting in front of. That means I have to move it (with water in an open pan in the bottom). Everything within a three foot radius is constantly soaked. Worst of all, IT DOESN'T HAVE A WATER LEVEL INDICATOR! That was a first! For anyone who hasn't used a cooler of this type, an indicator is basic and necessary. The manual says to look inside the front (between the grates) to see how much water is left. Needless to say you can't see down in there and even if you could it's impossible to estimate water volume. You are warned "not to overfill" because the excess water will run out of unit and allover you, your carpet, and your furniture. Because if this guessing game it is either constantly underfilled or leaking. I hate this thing. What a waste of money. When it's replacement gets here it's going to the curb.

[Thursday, July 14, 2005]