"SQLit" wrote in message
news:mIjDd.78924$QR1.55624@fed1read04...
"SteveB" wrote in message
news:vvfDd.51954$Cl3.7522@fed1read03...
I live in Las Vegas. We use evaporative coolers here. I want to add a
5,000 cfm for one side of my house.
My questions a
Is there a special ducting that is used for this and is different than
AC
ducting? Do I need to run ducts to all the areas, or would just ducting
into the largest room do it? (The kitchen, living room, and family room
are
all open to each other.)
I have to make a stand for this to go in through the attic. Making a
hole
in a wall is not an option.
TIA
Steve
Ahhh the ole swamp cooler.
aluminum ducting is best, holds up to the moisture better. You'll crap
when
you see the cost.
Sheet metal is ok and used a lot in Phoenix. Plastic ducting is a no-no,
can
not handle the pressure for long. No fiber ducts and no insulation on the
inside. If you do the moisture and dirt in time WILL grow mold. (Did in
my
first Phoenix home).
Trying to cool part of the home is not a good idea unless you have a
physical barrier like an outside door between the parts of the home. I had
a
home with 2 5500 coolers, had to run them both or the home would not cool
well.
You need ducts to each room just like A/C, only bigger. Install upducts 1
per each 12 square inches of register, cause you need an exhaust from each
room especially if you close doors. When I ran a cooler on my last home
(6500) mounted on the roof. I had a damper that prevented the cooler air
from going into my a/c- gas furnace. Since the air handler was in the hall
closet I used it as the up duct for the whole house. Really needed one in
the kitchen especially when cooking.
A 5000 cfm cooler will really only deliver about 4500 cfm, a mere whisper.
Bigger is better with coolers. You will need an amp meter to set the unit
up
the first time. Set the motor to FLA, that is the only way to get close
to
the advertised air flow. You may have to change pulleys, I have several
times.
2 speed motors help a bit in the early cooling season. As well as a
t-stat.
The stats do not have actual temp settings just numbers 1-5. They do
prevent
you from waking up and having the house 60 degrees. The stats also have a
pre wet timer, helps stop that 120 degree air blast in the beginning. The
single pad units are the best performers, 12 inch wet section, there is an
8
inch section as well. Forget about the "pre coolers". Unless they want to
give you one. A friend had one and I did not. We would call each other and
I
was always within a degree of his output temp. A degree is nothing. The
precooler was always clogging up and he finally ditched it.
A timed dumping pump helps keep them clean. A little more in cost than a
regular pump. You will replace the pad every couple of years, $100-200
bucks
depending on who you know. Calcium is the killer here, no matter what
chemicals you use. I ran my last cooler on soft water. Slowed the calcium
down to changing the pads every 3 years. The soft water was an accident.
Go with 220v for everything if at all possible. There are lots of places
to
get motors and pumps on weekends.
Coolers are NOT for setting and forgetting. They need to be clean to work.
I
know you get the same kind of dust storms that we do here in Phoenix. I
cleaned mine 3 times a cooling season. I was experimenting with air
filtration when I moved. Coolers put a lot of dirt in the home. Now that I
am approaching 55 I do not want to get on the roof nor do I want to clean
them anymore. Del Web the original Sun City in west Phoenix mounted the
a/c
and cooler units on the gable ends of the homes. That way they were not on
the roof (ambient summer heat) and there was a straight shot into the duct
work. Better air flow.
Several HVAC companies here sell cooler kits for installing into duct
work.
Do you have the chain called Evergreen Hardware there?
Coolers only work until the dew point reaches 45 degrees, for me it is 40
degrees. It is just to humid after 40. I used to get a couple of months of
cooling early in the season and maybe a month on the end. What I saved in
electricity was used up in water and maintenance. Water here in the summer
time gets pricey. A cooler can go through several hundred gallons a day. I
would have 60 dollar electric bills and 80 dollar water bills, a/c cost
150.
Good luck to ya.
I think you are way off on the water use. They may use a few hundred
gallons a month:
This study goes along with my experience. (3.5 gallons per hour without a
bleed. 10.5 gallons per hour with a bleed). Instead of a bleed I ran a
hose down with a faucet on the end so I could dump the reservoir every now
and then.
I found they became marginal when the humidity level was above 30 to 35%.
http://phoenix.gov/WATER/evapcool.html
http://www.snwa.com/html/ch_evap_cooler.htm