Originally Posted by
sandybeach
Also called evaporative (or evap) coolers. It is a LARGE metal box with a huge drum inside. One side is completely open and has various types of pads that have water running down them constantly. The drum pulls air through the wet pads and forces it inside the house through your ductwork. They work wonderfully when there is no humidity, but not when the humidity gets up at all. And they only cool about 20% lower than the outside air temp. So pretty much useless when the temperature hits 110 or more.
I actually turned on my AC last night, but after about 2 hours it was hotter than when I turned it on. So it looks like I will be calling an AC repairman soon. Thank God for the swamp.
No wonder I had never heard of the swamp cooler. Living in the northeast there's too much humidity for them to be useful. Thanks for the explanation. Nice to learn something new each day!