If you are looking to make yourself comfortable in an indoor or outdoor space without air conditioning, you’re likely considering a lot of options.
The two most common options in these cases are fans and swamp coolers. In most cases, a swamp cooler, which is a slang term for an evaporative cooler, is a better choice. Here are some comparisons between the two, showing where each has an advantage.
If you are looking to cool down a space to make it more comfortable, a swamp cooler has the advantage. That’s because an evaporative cooler will actually cool the air, unlike a fan, which just moves hot air around. In fact, a swamp cooler is highly effective at cooling and can drop the air temperature by up to 30° F. It can easily take the temperature down from more than 90° F to a comfortable 75° F or lower. Fans, on the other hand, can’t cool the air at all and are only useful if you have access to a reservoir of cool air.
Both swamp coolers and fans are good at providing ventilation to an area. Both are capable of sucking in outside air and forcing out the inside air. They can provide good air turnover in your space if you have designed a good airflow through the area. In both cases, you will need to size your fan or swamp cooler to the space to make sure you’re getting adequate air turnover.
If you are looking for a cooling solution that you can take with you, both fans and swamp coolers can be highly portable.
You might think it is unfair to call this a tie because when you think of a portable fan, you imagine something small, but when you think of a swamp cooler, you imagine the big box on top of a house. However, the truth is that if you are comparing a swamp cooler and a fan that moves the same amount of air, you are looking at items that are comparable in size. If you want to move a lot of air, you need a big fan, which isn’t any more portable than an evaporative cooler capable of moving the same amount of air.
Both need access to an electrical outlet. A swamp cooler benefits from having water, but this can either come from a portable water jug or a local water hookup like a garden hose.
If you are looking to be more comfortable in a dry area, a swamp cooler has the advantage of adding moisture to the air. This helps you avoid dry, cracked skin and lips. It also just helps you feel more comfortable, as the moistened air can take more heat from your body.
If you are trying to make an area more comfortable but don’t have access to fresh air, a swamp cooler might not be your best choice. Evaporative coolers depend on using the heat from the air to evaporate water. If you’re in an enclosed space and have to recirculate air that isn’t being warmed, the evaporative cooler will be less efficient, as it recirculates the already cooled and humidified air.
If you are considering getting a large fan for an outdoor application or a large, open building, consider an evaporative cooler. Portacool portable evaporative coolers are more effective than large fans at making an area cooler and more comfortable. Since 1990, Portacool has been made in the US, and we offer best-in-class warranties and customer service
To choose the best Portacool model for your application, please visit a local or online retailer today.
