Friday, August 27, 2010

Swamp coolers and philippines


I've been seeing a lot of swamp coolers on electric appliances stores and DIY hardware shops being sold. They are also becoming popular on open air restaurants. But what is this swamp cooler thing?

Swamp coolers , similar to air conditioners, were invented to turn hot air into cool, the science behind each method is quite different.

Let' see the detailed comparison below:

Swamp cooler
Needs to power compressor and pump, generally high energy consumption
Only need to power a water pump and a
fan to draw the air through the pads
Reliably dehumidify and cool
the air, no matter where you live
Unless the relative humidity is less than a maximum of 40%, swamp coolers are not very
Room must be enclosed
keep a window open.
Expensive to buy
Evaporative coolers are less expensive
Repair and maintenance of air conditioning systems should be left to professional service
Easily be serviced by any home owner with a minimum of
mechanical knowledge, a screwdriver and an adjustable wrench

An evaporative cooler (also swamp cooler, desert cooler, and wet air cooler) is a device that cools air through the simple evaporation of water. Evaporative cooling differs from air conditioning by refrigeration and absorptive refrigeration, which use vapor-compression or absorption refrigeration cycles.

Basically, before buying swamp coolers, you should understand first how it works. As described above , the air must be dry and hot for this coolers to be effective. When humidity of air is high, swamp coolers won't even lower the temperature by 1 degree Celsius. Swamp coolers are suited on countries like Africa, Saudi, Australia, India, Mexico and Hawaii.

So should you buy a swamp cooler? 
If you have plenty of money then buy one, you might be able to use it on some occassion when the temperature is hot and the air is dry. But if you want to spend your money effectively, don't buy one. You won't be able to use it most of the time. Its better to spend the money by adding it on your budget for aircon then buy an inverter type. Inverter type air-con consumes almost 50% less electricity.

or better yet, use swamp cooler in tandem with air conditioners for optimal temperature and humidity on your room. Just don't blame me if your electric bill (just like mine) goes sky high.

Original article


DrKeithCurrie said...

central air conditioning

Pinaylover said...

Lol, it didn't took long for the spammers to find your blog Hihey :D

Hihey said...

Actually I'm not yet sure if DrKeithCurrie is really a spammer, i check the website and it's not some kind of virus infested or whatever type of website.
I'm just thinking that he's one of the people who are paid to advertise using blogs comments system.

But i'll definitely add some layer of protection ASAP. :P

Pinaylover said...

Korek, he is most likely someone having an interest to promote that site.

But the fact that his message doesn't have any refer to your article text (what a comment should be after all), being just an advertising text with a direct link to that store, without anyone asking for, kind of qualifies it for the title of spammer, huh ?

hihey said...

Yah, your very much right,

Anyway going back to the topic. From what country are you from, are you also using swamp coolers their?

I've been researching for this cause , as posted above, their are plenty of these coolers on sale here in Phil. What confuses me is if the seller knows that the coolers will not be effective here and why are they still selling.

Pinaylover said...

I'm from Eastern Europe and because we have a continental climate over here, we don't use so much air conditioning at home (but you can still find it in public/commercial buildings). That's why I'm also not so familiar with air conditioning systems (never heard of a swamp cooler till now).
I don't even have an electrical fan at home, lol, even though these past weeks was so hot here too that i seriously considered buying one.

hihey said...

You're one lucky guy. If ever you experience staying here in Manila,Philippines you'll realize your very lucky. Though there are places in the country that has comfortable climate such as tagaytay,cavite or baguio city. One of the highest contributor to our electric bill is climate control.

Pinaylover said...

I know what you mean, you have some nasty weather over there (even though i really love sun and warmth) especially because the humidity in the air is so high and the body can't sweat enough, making the high temperatures even harder to tolerate.
One of the most often words that i hear when i talk to my filipino friends is "init-init" :)

hihey said...

Never thought you know some of the filipino words. I'm starting to like you.

Anyway, for me, the best time to visit this country is during Christmas season or after Christmas. The wind is cool and dry so its very relaxing. But if you really want sun and warmth, its best to visit during late February to Mid april

Pinaylover said...

Salamat po. I like what you are doing here too, that's why i check your blog from time to time. Even if it's not always about the N8, hehe, you touch interesting subjects.
BTW, I had an attempt to visit Tagaytay sometime ago, but the economical crisis that hit a bit my bizz made me postpone the trip.

Hihey said...

Thank you also for appreciating my blog. I'm still consolidating information for N8. As far as my research have reached, latest news only concerns preview etc etc which have been posted already before and has no significant change since then.

As for tagaytay, you should definitely visit that place. You must try their "kapeng barako" (a type of brewed coffee from batanggas) and bulalo (i dont know the english equivalent).

Pinaylover said...

We shouldn't have to wait too much till N8's launch. The end of Q3 is close and i think we will see some "proper" reviews of N8 in 2-3 weeks max.

Thanks for the Tagaytay tips, will definitely try them when I'm there.