Evaporative Coolers

[CommonRail]

Anybody have any experience with evaporative coolers such as a Kuul-aire or Port-o-cool?

Looking at one of these for one of my shop bays that is about ~600sq.ft.

I would love to get a big port-o, but they're too much coin right now.

http://www.kuulaire.com/evaporative/packa77

Thanks in advance.

 

[Stephenw]

Where do you live?

They only work well in dry climates.

 

[930dreamer]

I just installed a large evap cooler in my shop. I placed it in a side door opening and put a piece of plywood on top of it to block the rest of the opening. It does add humidity to the shop. It's on a rolling cart for easy movement.

 

[jcouch1]

well, we have one a couple at work. ( a welding shop)... One had the cv motor and the other is 3 speed. Over time the cv is still running strong, while the 3 speed makes aggrivating bearing noises as the 3 speed is pulley driven and the cv is direct drive. Other than that, we've only had trouble keeping the pumps working. (they don't seem to like all the **** that is in the air in a welding shop. But as far as the dry climate.... well I'm from louisiana and you can deff tell a difference even w/ our high humidity.

 

[Chris Adams]

Where do you live?

They only work well in dry climates.

Well, they work much better in dry climates, but they work almost anywhere.

If the humidity is above 80% they are weak, but still lots better than nothing

Here in the desert I use a small one on wheels and it will not cool the entire 672 square feet but it will keep you cool if it is pointed at you.

I have a HUGE one, on wheels, rated at 1600 square feet but it's too big to point through the door
So I use a portable refrigeration unit with an exhaust tube running the hot exhaust outside the shop and the small swamp cooler to keep my work area reasonably comfortable.

I point the refrigeration unit at me, then blow the damp air across it, drops the shop about 20 degrees, and my work area about 30.

 

[nate379]

Kept my small house in Idaho nice and cool. Would hit low 100s at times and I don't think it ever got over mid 80s in the house. Swamp Cooler is what they called them down there.

 

[alabamavolvos]

The MWR Auto shop I used to frequent has several large (5x5) swamp coolers on carts for use in the summer. We ran one pointing down the middle of a 12 bay shop. 2 lifts and 5 bays on one side and 5 bays on the other. Doesn't cool the shop really but when you need a cool down, just stepping back from the vehicle into the air steam felt real good. These units used a lot of water. We quit trying to use the drums and just keep the water hose connected and turned down to a trickle. This is in North Alabama with high heat and humidity.

 

[toymn6366]

if you know somebody with a chicken houses see if you can find a old coolcell a 48 in fan and a harber frieght pump and make you a redneck version we had one we made and was using where we was bagging feed it helped a bunch

 

[Gbart14]

Getting the man cave together in Fresno requires some kind of cooling. Our relative humidity in the hot months averages in the 20's in the afternoon so evaporative cooling works great. I was sick of my old swamp cooler and messing with keeping it clean, etc. I just bought a Port-a-Cooler and I can tell you that is a serious piece!! It only adds about 2-5% to the relative humidity. Not like the swamp cooler where it wanted to rain inside. I have 1200 sq ft with 12' at the peak. It is a steel building and you cannot work in it in the heat of the day in the summer. However, this Port-a-Cool unit is awesome. I bit the bullet and bought last years model 24" unit that is supposed to cool up to 1800 sq ft. It is quiet and industrial strength. Since I plan on doing more and more out there as I approach retirement, I want to be comfortable and I do not want to do it again. So, the Mohawk A7 lift is in, the walls are being finished out in plywood with 1" foam insulation, Race Deck Floor and now I have a cool place to work - next is storage. FYI, Sears has storage on sale for 30% off now. If anyone in the Central Valley CA area wants to have a look at this unit, let me know. I bought if from a great place WJ Heinrichs in Reedley and the guy delivered it. Great service gets my attention.

 

[Nighttrain]

We had the porta cools at work. Two locations in Texas (Houston & Austin) and some over in Mobile Al. After several months the guys only used the fan portions and not the water. They made too much of a mess with water on the floor and mold/gunk in the baffles. Seems like an expensive box fan! These were big facilities with lots of different guys using them, so as with anything when you have more than one person using them they may not run a the optimum. Some rental places rent them, you may want to try it for a week or so and see if it will work for you in your garage and climate.

 

[Gbart14]

Guys, I was instructed to run the fan for 15min at the end of the day to dry out the media (cooling media / baffles) to prevent mold. We had temp near 80 today and it worked great. The hot stuff is just around the corner so anxious to really give it a trial. I cannot imagine how it would work in a humid climate like Houston. I used to live there and it can be really humid in the summer.

 

[MKIndustrial]

I lived in several homes in Tucson Az that had them.. They work well if you have low humidity to start with outdoors but anything over say 25% and they just don't work that well. If you have such a small space won't a small window shaker A/C do the job?

 

[Steves32]

Just a note about swamp coolers & garages......
Any bare metal will rust while you watch.