Bought a house with a swamp cooler 8 years ago and just learned I've been running it wrong the whole time

Last month my neighbor Frank, who's lived here since the 90s, saw me fiddling with the cooler on my roof and asked if I ever opened a window. I told him no, I thought you just closed everything up to keep the cool air in. He laughed and explained the whole thing needs airflow to work properly, and I've basically been wasting water and electricity for almost a decade. Has anyone else here had a similar dumb moment with their evaporative cooler setup?

3 comments

3 Comments

iris_mason881mo ago

8 years of running it with all the windows closed, that has to be hundreds of dollars in wasted water and electricity! I had an old swamp cooler in my first apartment and made the same mistake for like a whole summer before my landlord finally saw me and set me straight. It is crazy how these things aren't explained better when you buy a house with one.

the_julia1mo ago

That is exactly what I was thinking, the wasted money has to be insane. I actually read somewhere that swamp coolers work by pulling in hot, dry air over water pads, so if you don't have a window open, you are just recirculating the same damp air and the unit basically suffocates itself. It was probably running at full blast trying to cool a space that never actually got fresh air, which is why it cost so much and didn't even work right. The fact that nobody says a word about it when you move in is wild. Landlords and home inspectors really should have a little checklist about how to use them.

the_wyatt1mo ago

8 years with the windows closed, that's an all time record.