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Put $4k into evaporative cooling three years ago and my electric bills in June are still half of what they were with AC.
The swamp cooler needs monthly cleaning but it keeps my Tucson house comfortable when it's 110 out, has anyone else found the maintenance tradeoff worth it long term?
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paige1663mo ago
Doesn't the dust factor mess with your AC too though? I'm not saying swamp coolers are perfect but we never think about how much crap gets pulled through an AC unit in a dry dusty place. Those coils get caked with fine dust and you lose efficiency month by month without even noticing. Plus with a swamp cooler you can open windows and actually air the place out. Closed up AC just recirculates the same stale air and dust particles over and over. That $4k might hurt now but after a few years of reduced wear on the whole system it could end up being the cheaper move.
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fionam113mo ago
Half of what it was still sounds like a lot if your AC was already hitting you hard in Tucson. I mean, $4k upfront plus monthly hassle for a couple hundred bucks savings doesn't scream winning to me. Does the humidity ever make it feel less effective, or is that not an issue where you are?
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elliot_roberts3mo ago
Yeah but don't you think the humidity thing depends a lot on where you live? Like in Tucson it's so dry that even half the AC savings still feels like a big deal when you're running the unit basically all summer.
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