Evaporative air coolers?

[zircon]

Jill and I moved into a great new apartment here in Philadelphia about a month ago. It's cheaper than my last one, bigger, and it is now well-furnished and decorated. However, a huge disadvantage is that it has BAD problems managing heat. The house is shoved right up against another house, looking into an alley filled with garbage, so opening windows is usually not an option. Plus, the temperature outside is often upwards of 90 degrees. We have one small window air conditioner that we've had to run constantly at 60 degrees (max fan speed) for the entire month we've been here, which is trying to cool down the entire apartment. However, it doesn't work well because there are multiple rooms in the apartment and the air barely circulates outside the bedroom.

We can't get another window AC because there are bars on all of the windows, and the landlord won't let us touch them. We can't get a portable AC because they're both expensive, and still require window access. We do run two fans 24/7 attempting to circulate air from the bedroom through the hallway to the living room, where we spend most of our time.

So, this leaves us feeling overheated most of the time in our living room. I'm looking into something called an "evaporative air cooler" which apparently doesn't require window access, is energy efficient, and can lower room temperatures up to 15 degrees.. which would be great, since even 10 would be fantastic. However, they supposedly don't work in high humidity conditions (Philly is usually 50-70% I believe) and can reduce the lifespan of electronics.

Has anyone used this type of cooling system (evaporative)? Do we have any other options?

[HalcyonSpirit]

Evaporative Air Coolers:

Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. Unfortunately, whether or not they work when you need them to is largely out of your control, as it depends on ambient temperature, humidity, and what's in the room. Basically, it probably won't work very well if the temperature in the room is extremely hot in the first place, if there is high humidity, or if there are a lot of electronic devices around the room that give off large amounts of heat (the cooling effect won't be able to keep up with the heat being generated). From what I understand, on really hot days, the air simply heats up so fast as the cooler pushes it out that it has little effect on the overall temperature of the room. Also, these units tend to increase humidity levels to uncomfortable levels if the ambient humidity is high enough.

In short, while it could work for you, there's also a chance that it won't.

A likely better option would be to get a better AC for the one window you do have access to. Of course, window size is a limiting factor (as is money), but I've seen really small AC units that can cool two or three moderately sized rooms (with a fan or two helping to distribute the air). Could you tell us the size of the window, and what the AC you currently have is? If getting a new AC is an option for you, I may be able to find one that suits your needs without being too expensive.

[Shadowe]

Theoretically you may have some legal leverage against your landlord. I don't know what the law is like up there but down here in florida if your landlord refuses to let you get decent air conditioning you've got a good case against the bastard.

That aside I would suggest getting some good quality window air conditioners and then hacking together a stand, drainage pipe, and some kind of airtight seal connecting it to the window. It should (again, theoretically) function just as though it were sitting in the window normally.

I think there are also units out there that are designed for use with barred windows and have a really small hanging bit.

[edit]

And evaporative coolers suck. You're basically harnessing the awe inspiring power of a bucket of water and a fan. You'll also be getting a solid 80-90% humidity in your apartment if you go with that. Not only is it uncomfortable as hell but it's going to make dealing with mold a bitch. You're also going to get condensation all over anything lower than ambient temperature which, given the nature of the system, will be just about everything you do NOT want having water condense on it. The motherboard I had before this one died partially due to heat death and partially because of condensation frying it.

It's a really nice concept, and it works decently for some industrial applications, but there are just too many risks and downsides for it to be useable for any place you want to live in. Put it this way: I live in an apartment that basically has no AC at all during the day, in orlando, and we're going to wait for the right AC system to arrive rather than deal with evaps.

[Black Mage]

As Jedi said, the effectiveness of a swamp cooler varies depending on factors like humidity. As the water runs through the filters, it cools the air and in doing so is evaporated into the air that is being blown into the room. It works well in low humidity environments (like here in Utah) but on humid days, the cooling capacity drops noticeably. In my house on a hot, dry day (30%) we get about 25 - 30F cooling capacity. So when it's 100 outside, it stays 71-ish inside. But if it 95F and 75% humidity, we're lucky to get 75, plus the added moisture from the filters ramps up the humidity inside.

It all just depends on the relative humidity in PA, which is generally pretty high, if I recall correctly from my last visit there. So I'm skeptical as to how effective it would work back east.

[zircon]

Thanks for the info, guys.

A new window AC isn't really an option. It's a fairly standard size window... not too big, not too small... the thing is, the AC came with the apartment. We don't really have the spare cash to get a whole new one. It DOES work fine for cooling the bedroom. Very comfy temperature in there. It's just other rooms that don't get the cool air circulation due to the apartment's design (a narrow hallway running along one side with rooms off to each side, thus the air from the bedroom simply hits a wall).

[Effef]

Is cutting a hole in the wall an option? It sounds kinda extreme, but its really not. There are smaller fans that you can buy that are specifically made for this application, which would be to have a fan or two near the floor in the wall to circulate the air in the cool room into the others.

Its surprisingly effective.

[zircon]

Is cutting a hole in the wall an option? It sounds kinda extreme, but its really not. There are smaller fans that you can buy that are specifically made for this application, which would be to have a fan or two near the floor in the wall to circulate the air in the cool room into the others.

Its surprisingly effective.

Need I remind you, this is an apartment... I can't really do much of anything to it structurally. This includes cutting a hole in one of the walls.

[The Coop]

Evaporative coolers are only worth the space they take up in dry climates. The moment the humidity level gets above 50%, they're basically just wasting your electricity, pumping even more moisture in the air, and making it more uncomfortable. They're great for mostly dry areas like the desert Southwest, but in the more moist regions like the East coast, they're not really going to offer you much help except on the occasional drier days.

I'm not really sure what advice to give you, except to say that maybe there's a compromise that can be worked out with your landlord. Something like getting bars that bend outwards a bit more, so that you can put a second small air conditioner on the other side of the house.

[Effef]

Need I remind you, this is an apartment... I can't really do much of anything to it structurally. This includes cutting a hole in one of the walls.

I thought as much.

As for cooling options....there isn't much. Evaporative colers don't work in humidity (or very well at all for that matter). Peltiers (read: refrigerator) style coolers are horribly inefficient.

Really, you can just deal with it, or see if you can work something out with your landlord.

[Schwaltzvald]

Could always move to a more friendlier place...

In the end I've always found bars on windows a fire hazard. Especially in apartment complexes. Best find a better plae asap...

[Drack]

Why not combine the cooler with a dehumidifier?

[Dhsu]

BRILLIANT!

[Habeas Porpoise]

Why not combine the cooler with a dehumidifier?

That would be like countering the effects of a humidifier with a dehumidifier, which can lead to disastrous results. Haven't you seen that episode of Pete & Pete?

[Dhsu]

I hereby nominate Habeas Porpoise for best name of the year.

[zircon]

Could always move to a more friendlier place...

In the end I've always found bars on windows a fire hazard. Especially in apartment complexes. Best find a better plae asap...

All apartments and houses in my area have bars on the windows, it's a security precaution.

Moving is not an option. I'll just deal with the heat.

[Schwaltzvald]

All apartments and houses in my area have bars on the windows, it's a security precaution.

Moving is not an option. I'll just deal with the heat.

You have some gang-bangers or burglars running about your areaa?

In any case --> http://www.bizrate.com/airconditioners/products__keyword--air+conditioner__search_box--1__sfsk--2.html

I've only ever had experience with regular AC's and Central Air, but I assume portable AC's uses the hose to connect to outside or does it act similarly as say... a dehumidifier except it cools the air?

[Darth Lime]

I hereby nominate Habeas Porpoise for best name of the year.

Agreed.

Like some have said, try to talk with your landlord to try and work out the problem. And if all else fails, find a better apartment complex.

[Schwaltzvald]

Agreed.

Like some have said, try to talk with your landlord to try and work out the problem. And if all else fails, find a better apartment complex.

ditto on the name but he's already stated that moving is not an option.

Assuming you can go with a portable AC what's your price range/budget..?

[Darth Lime]

This is a rather tight predicament, zircon. If we knew your price range, we could help you better.

The bars on the windows really limits options. I was going to say put the AC in the living room and direct fans down the hall. But seeing as there are bars, it won't work.

[zircon]

I do appreciate the help but as I said I'm probably out of luck. We've looked into portable A/Cs and they require window access also, plus floor space that we really don't have. As I said, we can live with it. Maybe a third freestanding fan would help.

[HalcyonSpirit]

Yeah, if you can't get anything to actively cool the room, I would get two or three fans going from the bedroom to the living room to form an "air corridor" of sorts. Keep the A/C you have at max power and use several fans to direct most of the air directly into the hallway and right through to the living room. You'll ideally need powerful fan right at the A/C itself pointing to the hall, another at the entrance to the hall, and then a third at the entrance to the living room. And, hey, if you have more fans, even small ones, you can space them in between those three!

Other than that... yeah, it seems you're out of luck at the moment. Good luck, it sounds like you'll need it.

[supremespleen]

Those vertical tower fans rock hard.

[zircon]

Yeah, if you can't get anything to actively cool the room, I would get two or three fans going from the bedroom to the living room to form an "air corridor" of sorts. Keep the A/C you have at max power and use several fans to direct most of the air directly into the hallway and right through to the living room. You'll ideally need powerful fan right at the A/C itself pointing to the hall, another at the entrance to the hall, and then a third at the entrance to the living room. And, hey, if you have more fans, even small ones, you can space them in between those three!

Other than that... yeah, it seems you're out of luck at the moment. Good luck, it sounds like you'll need it.

That's exactly what we're doing, but we need a third fan

[KWarp]

Those vertical tower fans rock hard.

I second that. Those things on max power took 100 degree Los Angeles Weather down to 85. It's the only way I could sleep in USC's dorm rooms last summer.

[Effef]

I second that. Those things on max power took 100 degree Los Angeles Weather down to 85. It's the only way I could sleep in USC's dorm rooms last summer.

And they save space too.