Swampy Mighty Kool swamp cooler

[jony101]

Right now water usage for the swamp coolers is probably lower than in the summer months. I usually just run one of the fans and I notice that does reduce water consumption.
This is mostly just a hobby for me to try and keep cool. But the results so far exceed my expectations as far as what the portable swamp coolers can do. For me this is an item that even though its winter it's still attached in the back of my van always loaded with water and used almost every day. I have limited space in my van and the swamp cooler has earned its permanent spot therein.
They are mainly spot coolers to keep your little area that your in cool, but if your vehicle is well insulated it can keep a larger area cool. I even cut a 6 inch round hole on the side of my van and thats where the swamp cooler gets it's air intake. Thats the important thing, without outside air, you wont get the best results. I also have a 240 watt solar panel on the roof of my van to provide me unlimited power to run the swamp cooler.
The design isnt perfect with noise on the high side and the exterior of the units are not beautiful but performance is great, I test run each one that I build for a week in the back of my van to make sure it keeps me cool and doesn't leak water everywhere. After building several swamp coolers, I notice design flaws on the other swamp coolers that are sold through the internet. The biggest flaw I see is lack of ducts or non standard ducts, you need round ducts to attach flexible ducting on both intakes and exhausts. That is also the biggest flaw on the portable 120 volt models they sell for home use.
Its not as good looking as a swampy but it does the job at less than half the cost. So far I got 2 small and 2 large ones built and will start building a third this weekend. When I get boxes to ship them I will put them on ebay 140 for the small one and 150 for the big one that includes shipping, just enough to cover parts and build more. But just looking at the pictures some of you can probably build your own or something comparable, it's just a more sophisticated version of the burningman swamp cooler.

[Vegasrandall]

very nice design! what is the climate where you live?

[jony101]

southern california area near the border/ocean. temperatures in the 60's 70's in november, humidity can get up to the 70's but more in the 40's. Swamp cooler works good in this area, on high humid days the output air feels humid but still has a cooling effect, its better than nothing.
It's usually sunny year round and as soon as the sun comes up it heats up the interior of the van which is why I run the swamp cooler even though it's technically winter.

[BroncoHauler]

Hadn't seen this swamp cooler talked about. No personal experience, I just came across it on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/GoCool-Portable-C ... B00DMR4HBG

GoCool 12V swamp cooler.

[daveb]

Interesting Herb. If it works as good as it looks it would be a winner. Slightly high priced but has some nice features.
Here is a short vid:
http://www.getgocool.com/

[twogone]

Dang, another temptation... I'm looking for reviews!

[Chance]

Originally Posted by BroncoHauler

Hadn't seen this swamp cooler talked about. No personal experience, I just came across it on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/GoCool-Portable-C ... B00DMR4HBG

GoCool 12V swamp cooler.

40 pounds of ice doesn't provide much cooling before it's all melted.

Ice works well in a cooler to keep food cool, but heat load is next to nothing by comparison.

[jony101]

From what I can see the gocool is not a true swamp cooler, it has no air intake that I can see for evaporator pads. it circulates ice cold water in front of a fan through a water/air heat exchanger, its actually a primitive AC unit.
The use of ice for cooling would be a deal killer for me, unless you have access to alot of ice.
once the ice melts, you wont get any cooling effect. I have occasions when I ran out of water on my swamp cooler, and it got unbearable real quick.
When i'm camping I prefer to be self sufficient with power etc, 2 or 3, 2 liter bottles of water will keep a swamp cooler running all day. Theres no limit how much water you can carry with you, I always carry at least 10 bottles of water with me, you can never have too much water. And the water doesnt have to be cold, it can be at room temperature.
This would be easier to build than a swamp cooler, maybe put 2 fans instead of 1 for more airflow. Nothing beats airflow on a hot day.

[xcnick]

Ran across another swamp cooler.

http://lifesmartproducts.com/coolers-ai ... e-coolers/

Anybody use this one?

[Viejo]

It's a nice looking unit.

They list the cooling capacity in sq.ft.

Must have been written by a marketing flak, not an engineer.