How to Inexpesively Cool a House in a Dry Climate

A Roof Mounted Evaporative Cooler

Living in a hot, dry climate means that the summer days are hot, and the evenings cool down quickly. You can take advantage of the low humidity by cooling your home with an evaporative cooler, which is inexpensive to buy compared to air conditioners and costs little to run. This article will tell you what kind of cooler might work best for your home.

Difficulty:

Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• A home improvement store
• You'll need to know what the square footage of your house is.
• You'll need to know what kind of duct work is inside your home.
• You'll need to know the standard window sizes in your home.
• A digital camera and printer

Save Money by Using an Evaporative Cooler.

1. Fixed evaporative coolers come in two styles: roof mounted and window mounted. The kind of cooler you choose will depend on your duct work. If you have modern, flexible duct work, you may want to use a window evaporative cooler. The flexible duct work was not designed to have a constant blast of air blowing through it, and it could weaken the ducting. Take a picture of your duct work, so when you talk to the person at the store, they can tell if your home is suitable for a roof or ground mounted evaporative cooler that will blow the air through the duct work. If you live in two-story home, you will probably need two coolers: one for the downstairs, and another for the upstairs.

2. After you have decided what kind of cooler will work best in your home, you will need to decide what kind of pads you want. There are coolers that come with thick media pads that do a great job of cooling in hot, dry weather. These pads cool the air a few degrees more than the thinner pads made from aspen or a blue polyester material.

3. Making the decision about which kind of evaporative cooler to buy based on the pad thickness hinges on your water quality. Homes with water that is relatively low in salts can benefit from the coolers with the thickest pads. Homes with very hard water should use cooler pads that are thinner because they can be easily changed and thrown away and are not nearly as expensive as the thick media pads.

4. Unless you are a good mechanic or handyman, have a professional come to your home to install the cooler. You will have to coordinate with the home improvement store when the installation will take place. You will have to have someone at home at that time, because they will need access to the interior of your home for the installation.

5. When installed, turn the cooler on and let the pads get wet before turning on the blower, and enjoy cool air in hot arid climates, while saving up to 70% on your electricity bills.

Tips & Warnings

• Evaporative coolers will work during the hot summers when the humidity is low. If you have a prolonged humid season after a hot dry spring, you might have to use an air conditioner to get through the rainy summer months.

• Evaporative coolers create humidity in the house. If you have a mold problem already, clear that problem up before installing an evaporative cooler, or the added humidity will just intensify the mold.

Resources

• Learn More About Coolers.