Does this work for an A/C?

Devi Xiao · Jun 19, 2013

So I know that a full-on air conditioner is the best option for a chin room, but I was wondering if this evaporative air cooler would work as well. It works by sending warm air through a water-saturated wick, evaporating the water and effectively cooling the air. So it cools the surrounding air, but not the same way as an air conditioner. I live in SoCal, so it's quite dry.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Sunpentown-Portable-Evaporative-Air-Cooler-Humidifier-and-Fan/5799326

Jazicat · Jun 19, 2013

My concern with that fan is that it has no exhaust hose to let the warm air out of the house. We use a cooler because it isn't humid here and it works but I don't really trust it the same way I would air conditioning. Because of this we rarely leave the house on hot days which is our choice. We are saving for an air conditioning unit that will work for us.

Basket_of_Chinchillas · Jun 19, 2013

I've used a unit like that before. Downside is you can't leave the house for very long and its ability to cool the air is dependent on the temperature of the water that you fill the water container with. What I mean is, this type of air cooler has a water reservoir. You fill this container with water and freezer packs and ice cubes and it will cool the air as long as that water it's using remains cool. However, once the water reaches room temperature (sometimes only a couple hours), it is basically a glorified fan, fanning moist, barely cooler than room temp. air into the room. You cannot leave the house for any length of time on a hot day because you have to constantly be re-cooling the water container, since temperature, not fanning, is what keeps a chin cool. The added moisture is also really unpleasant and dangerous for your chin if you do get a really humid day.

Chinmama · Jun 19, 2013

We bought this little window unit when our central air went out and moved the chinchillas into a smaller room so they could stay cool. We've been running it for around three weeks now and it's worked great for such a cheap little window unit. http://www.walmart.com/ip/Haier-Min...ditioner-HWF05XCL-L/17477197?findingMethod=rr

AZChins · Jun 19, 2013

Evaporative coolers work wonderfully to cool down the air. BUT, the problem is that you have air conditioning in the rest of the house and you will put a larger load on the house A/C because it will have to pull the water vapor out of the air. That means that your air conditioner has to turn gas into a liquid and that takes a tremendous amount of energy to do. Basically you will be creating a water transportation system through the air from the evaporative cooler to the air conditioning unit.

It would end up making it more expensive to run your other air conditioner unless you can completely block off the room that you are cooling with the evap cooler. In that case you would need to leave a small window open at all times to keep the air from becoming fully saturated. There are advantages and drawbacks to this type of cooling, but when it comes down to it an air conditioner is going to be easier to deal with even if it uses a more electricity to run.