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Ask HuSI: Home cooling solutions

By Rogerborg (Tue Jul 04, 2006 at 12:22:46 PM EST) (all tags)

Jings! The White Face. Crivvens!

Evaporative coolers; better than nothing, or worse than useless?

HuSIans, seek your say.

Cheap-O evaporative cooler (£50 from Maplins, uses water and/or a 2.5L ice compartment, worst case if it's already humid then just use it as an expensive fan), or spring for a basic hose-out-the-window A/C (£200 and up)?

That's it, really. House sale goes through on Friday, so I'll be minted, but the Jockish tight fistedness grips my soul like a vice.

"What is a corvette then?" asks Farmgirl.

"Euuhhh," is all I can manage to gasp. Females, eh? Right, that's my test for trannies now. Never mind the Adam's apple, ask them if they know what a corvette is.

< A Day in the Life | BBC White season: 'Rivers of Blood' >

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Ask HuSI: Home cooling solutions | 25 comments (25 topical, 0 hidden) | Trackback

Depends... by Metatone (4.00 / 3) #1 Tue Jul 04, 2006 at 12:28:13 PM EST

how desparate you are.

When you're dirt poor and it's 40 odd degrees Celsius (c.f. the unwritten classic, Metatone Down Under) then evaporative coolers hit the spot.

But, if you're not literally dying from heatstroke you'll turn on the evap and think "this is no better than a fan" and worse, you'll be mostly right.

Out the window job by hulver (4.00 / 2) #2 Tue Jul 04, 2006 at 12:34:53 PM EST

We've got one of those.

It's ace, but noisy as fuck. Also the hose gets hot and radiates heat into the room, so you can't sit too close (not that you'd want to, too noisy).

Still, it cooled our living room (fairly big room) down to a nice 24^o yesterday, while the rest of the house was 28^o. If we'd have been able to seal up the gap in the window that the exhaust pipe was hanging out of we might have been able to cool it down further.

Opening the attic hatch had a huge effect. Kept the upstairs a lot cooler than usual.
--
smart, pretty, sane. pick two - georgeha

: Opening the attic hatch by Cloaked User (2.00 / 0) #22 Wed Jul 05, 2006 at 06:09:03 AM EST

Now there's an idea - might have to try that later.

--
This is not a psychotic episode. It is a cleansing moment of clarity.
[ Parent ]

50 Squids? by ammoniacal (4.00 / 3) #3 Tue Jul 04, 2006 at 12:38:26 PM EST

If you were a proper Scot, you'd have factored in the cost of the water.

This coomenat has be n soidnsord by hurricanbe ice malt liqur

: See comment #4 by Rogerborg (4.00 / 1) #5 Tue Jul 04, 2006 at 12:45:51 PM EST

OMFISG, that transporter accident... I'm the pussy split-Rogerborg.

-
Metus amatores matrum compescit, non clementia.
[ Parent ]

NEWSFLASH: I am wearing sandals by Rogerborg (3.33 / 3) #4 Tue Jul 04, 2006 at 12:42:54 PM EST

No, don't get up, I'll beat myself up.

-
Metus amatores matrum compescit, non clementia.

: Rated down by idiot boy (2.00 / 0) #11 Tue Jul 04, 2006 at 02:04:37 PM EST

due to nasty images of borgian toes.

[ Parent ]
: Self hatred? by ambrosen (2.00 / 0) #14 Tue Jul 04, 2006 at 03:28:46 PM EST

So you are a liberal.
Also, it appears you're not man enough to take a little pleasant warm weather.

[ Parent ]

Swamp coolers are great by calla (4.00 / 1) #6 Tue Jul 04, 2006 at 12:46:36 PM EST

if you live in the desert. They don't work much elsewhere.

I miss my old swamp cooler...

"Are Linux chicks worth it?" fencepost

So, by blixco (4.00 / 1) #7 Tue Jul 04, 2006 at 12:46:43 PM EST

how humid is it where you are? Anything more than 20 percent humidity, you're not looking at a lot of help. At it's best, an evaporative cooler will only cool 20 degrees F. At it's very best.

They make sense in the desert. But in humid climes, you are best served by a window AC unit and some fans.
---------------------------------
Taken out of context I must seem so strange - Ani DiFranco

"how humid is it where you are"? by Rogerborg (4.00 / 3) #8 Tue Jul 04, 2006 at 12:52:19 PM EST

How humid is it not? Not very not, that's how not.

-
Metus amatores matrum compescit, non clementia.
[ Parent ]

: You're better off by blixco (4.00 / 2) #10 Tue Jul 04, 2006 at 02:03:33 PM EST

pelting one another with ice cubes under a cieling fan, then.
---------------------------------
Taken out of context I must seem so strange - Ani DiFranco
[ Parent ]

uh, oh, I'm in trouble by lm (4.00 / 6) #9 Tue Jul 04, 2006 at 01:09:27 PM EST

lm: hey, jenn, what's a corvette?
lm's wife: a car

There is no more degenerate kind of state than that in which the richest are supposed to be the best.
Cicero, The Republic

I can buy a window AC for $89 USD by georgeha (4.00 / 2) #12 Tue Jul 04, 2006 at 03:08:31 PM EST

don't you have Wal^H^H^HChinese slave labor outlets near you?

Feel free to adopt the Shawshack's by spacejack (2.00 / 0) #13 Tue Jul 04, 2006 at 03:18:31 PM EST

cultural tradition of wearing skirts. I hear the updraft has an excellent cooling effect.

As an Aussie by Phage (2.00 / 0) #15 Tue Jul 04, 2006 at 03:36:34 PM EST

Evaporative coolers are rubbish.

Fans (to ~30C)
Aircon (>30c)

Aircon can also efficently heat the house through the wonders of reverse cycle.

The Czar of Accounting. No Nit Too Small To Pick

Alternative Aussie viewpoint by stevew (4.00 / 1) #21 Wed Jul 05, 2006 at 05:50:07 AM EST

I'll grant that I never found them much use on the coast and working in S.E. Asia they weren't much better than a fan but when it is well into the forties in the outback and the solar setup won't run an A/C - they are the difference between sleeping and stewing at night.
I wouldn't bother for Scotland though. Anywhere the grass stays green in the summer is really too humid for evaporative cooling.
I've also found those cheapies often have foam and straw water wicks which grow some great mould if you don't run some bleach through once in a while.

[ Parent ]

: Spot on by Phage (2.00 / 0) #23 Wed Jul 05, 2006 at 06:37:57 AM EST

I have seen truly impressive growths on those coolers.
Outback / Arizona they'll help...

The Czar of Accounting. No Nit Too Small To Pick
[ Parent ]

Aircon: by komet (2.00 / 0) #16 Tue Jul 04, 2006 at 07:03:27 PM EST

sit in your Rover with the engine running and the AC on overdrive. It's the only way.

If it's efficient, decent air cooling you want, you do need a split unit. They may be a bit more expensive but make it up in better energy efficiency - and those A/Cs do eat up a lot of power.

So, what kind of people did you con into buying a worthless house? Terrorists or deaf people?

--
<ni> komet: You are functionally illiterate as regards trashy erotica.

Colour me a hopeless geek by TurboThy (2.00 / 0) #17 Tue Jul 04, 2006 at 08:12:20 PM EST

It took hulver's post to make me realize you were talking about AC, not CPU coolers.

Oh, and FYI a corvette is a type of warship in size between a frigate and a cutter, normally used for fast patrol duties.
__
You can't fix anything, you can't change anything, so just tell them that everything is A. The Fuck OK. —Rogerborg

: Oh, really? by dn (4.00 / 1) #18 Wed Jul 05, 2006 at 04:11:45 AM EST

This is a corvette. All y'all is so lame ...

I ♥
TOXIC
WASTE

[ Parent ]
: oh no! by martingale (4.00 / 3) #20 Wed Jul 05, 2006 at 05:07:46 AM EST

Now you've done it. Besides the fact that this means you're gay(*), the cam-inator has no doubt picked up the trail and will not stop until he's shown us his collection. Who's got the 12-gauge?
(*) Sorry, them's the rules. Rogerborg spelled them out clearly. Complain to him if you must.
--
$E(X_t|F_s) = X_s,\quad t > s$
[ Parent ]

Just how hot can it get it Scotland? by nebbish (4.00 / 9) #19 Wed Jul 05, 2006 at 04:39:02 AM EST

Get a grip you big jessie.

--------
It's political correctness gone mad!

: Nine million degrees by MrPlough (2.00 / 0) #25 Thu Jul 06, 2006 at 11:45:03 AM EST

Oh wait, I forgot I'm just outside Berlin at the moment.
No work.
[ Parent ]

Defn: CORVETTE by ObviousTroll (4.00 / 1) #24 Thu Jul 06, 2006 at 11:12:39 AM EST

A small corv.

--
Faith, and the possibility of weaponized kissing?

Ask HuSI: Home cooling solutions | 25 comments (25 topical, 0 hidden) | Trackback

-	Proper aircon	18%
-	Evaporative cooler	9%
-	Fan only	18%
-	Punkah-wallah	9%
-	------------------------------------	0%
-	The ship or the car?	36%
-	Kittens! Knitting!	9%


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