Gotta love Swamp Coolers

It's that time of year again. The heat is here. Know how I know? Yes, the thermometer is high, but that is not why I know. My wife lets me know. The hotter she gets, the quicker she lets me know how hot it is. It is almost like clockwork. This part of the summer isn't so bad. She keeps it in check. But by August, watch out!

We are lucky to have both an Air Conditioner and a Swamp Cooler. I am sure , you all know what a swamp cooler is. For me, it's a life saver! I love it! We had a new A/C installed a couple of years ago now. When that was installed, the Swamp Cooler was working, but we were not using it. The cooler would allow the cool air from the A/C unit to escape out the duct work, and our electric bill was enormous. The company who installed the new A/C unit fixed the cooler so the air could no longer escape. But it also rendered it unusable. So for the last 2 summers, we have only used the A/C. Comparatively, the A/C is much more expensive. How much more? The cooler costs about 80% less to run than the A/C (according to the Internet).

This year, the wife (and myself) let me know that it was hot early. So we decided that this is the year we were going to repair the cooler. I had to remove the barometric damper that the A/C company had sealed. After a brief struggle, and a really big mallet, I was able to remove it. Next came the rest of the repairs. I got lucky, the main motor to the blower still works! After about $45 of minor repairs, our cooler is now working! When I turned it on once it was running, the inside temperature of our house was a nice 87 degrees. Just a bit warm to sleep in. Before bedtime, the cooler had reduced it to about 79 degrees. We left it on low and woke up to 69 degrees! Yes, in the summer, our house was below 70 degrees!

Now, the cooler only works in ideal conditions, like right now, and at the end of the summer. It can only cool about 25 degrees, so when temps hit above 105, or if it is humid out (monsoon season), its power to cool is gone. But for now, swamp cooler yes, A/C no.

I think tonight we will put the cooler on high and see just how cool we can get our house. Blankets will me needed!