Evaporative Cooler

[bsmeaton]

Years ago I use to have an evaporative cooler on my RV instead of an AC - in fact I think it was a pickup camper. Anybody remember these and would they be any good on the Monty covering one of those multiple vents up there? Was just thinking of boondocking because I think they run on 12V.

[ole dude]

I would think they would do well as long as the surrounding humidity was really low. If high humidity bring your towels.

[OntMont]

Industrial scale evaporative coolers are sometimes used in greenhouses. They work well in low humidity heat, but not so well in high humidity, which when you really need AC. If you are in a dry desert situation, they may be fine, but summer time in the south-east, along the Gulf coast, probably not very effective.

[NCFischers]

They really don't work in high humidity. They draw moisture from the wet pads and blow moist air into the house. If the air is high in humidity, the air can't absorb any more moisture. When I lived in California, they worked really well and were relatively inexpensive to operate. Here in North Carolina, we need to take moisture out of the air. You also need a constant source of water to make then work, not good for dry camping.

[bsmeaton]

I guess I was thinking of having both, just so the option was there (replace the kitchen fantastic fan with it). Just based on how many how many homes use them in Western CO, NM, UT, AZ I assume they must be reasonably effective in those areas (most of our hangouts).

I was doing some more reasearch - to be effective for boondocking, Solar is ideal. The air exchange on high is 750 cfm (air exchange 3400 every 2 minutes) but the 12-v pull is 4.6A. Quite a drain unless you had solar, but it seems that kind of solar output gets pricey as well.

Probably explains why the aren't the most popular option.

[bigmurf]

Used to be a place in Greeley that made them. They were used on farm tractors.
BTW: You do see some small swamp coolers on older trailers here in AZ. 110volt units.

[bsmeaton]

The one I was looking at was TurboKool, which replaced Recair when he died. Wonder if the Greely place is still building them.

I remember one on the roof of Uncle's John Deer in Woodriver NE. We never used it because using a swamp in Nebraska was like running under the sprinklers and the dust just stuck to your sweat.

[FireTruckerWife]

There is a firm here in Gardnerville NV that make them for RV's, but they run about $600.00. We are in a climate that make good use of swamp coolers, and have one large whole house swamp cooler that we use in the summer.

[firetrucker]

Sharon posted this before she was able to find the link to the TurboKOOL site.

TurboKOOL

so of course I stuck my nose in while she was getting ready to get out of the house while the stove is in its self-cleaning cycle and the smoke detectors are going off.

The prices she's found are about $530 - $550

Bob

[bsmeaton]

I think that is the same company Firetrucker. Seems high $$ doesn't it? Especially when a AC is about the same price.

[triplehorn]

I know this is an old thread but I though I would post my install of this TurboKool unit on my 3400RL. I live in 4 corners and have been eying this unit for many years. The cost $600 kept me from taking the plunge as most of the time I camped high in the mountains in Colorado where cooling was never needed. I usually avoided warm camping unless was able to connect to shore power sources. My recent week stay at Zion NP, connected to shore power convinced me to take the plunge. It was 105* and my single AC unit kept the trailer at a modest 85* running on high all day. A second AC was not an option for me since I already avoided the use of the one I already had.

Here are a few pictures. I'll post my review after i use it a few times.