Forums > Specific Focus > Home, Garden & Construction in Mexico

kayinmx

Jan 28, 2004, 4:52 PM

Post #1 of 9 (7017 views)

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Evaporative coolers

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Evaporative coolers have been mentioned several times in post by P. J. Are they available in the Lakeside area or in Quad? What is required in the way of installation? Any idea as to costs.

Thanks for any available info.

Kayinmx

johanson

Jan 28, 2004, 7:01 PM

Post #2 of 9 (6998 views)

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Re: [kayinmx] Evaporative coolers

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Evaporative coolers are readily available here in Central Mexico in Guadalajara. I would presume they are available anywhere there is a hot dry climate and a large population center. I purchased a small one at Costco. I have purchased larger ones from supply houses in Guadalajara.

The worst problem would be to find one, if you lack basic Spanish language skills

Rolly / Moderator

Jan 28, 2004, 8:46 PM

Post #3 of 9 (6991 views)

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Re: [kayinmx] Evaporative coolers

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Installation requires a mounting frame to support the unit, usually hung from the wall. You will need to cut a hole in a wall or adapt a window. You will need to provide electrical power and a connection to the water system. Wall size units cost between US$250 and $350. My guess is that the installation cost would not exceed US$100. Your best bet would be to buy from a dealer who will provide installation. In my area, there are a few stores that specialize in that, and there are several tile stores that also sell A/C.

A wall unit will nicely cool an average room on dry days up to a point. When the humidity goes above 50%, the cooling will diminish; by 80% you will not be getting much besides increased humidity in the house; when it rains you'll not get any benefit at all. At best, evaporative coolers have a fairly limited cooling ability. If you can achieve a 20º difference from the outside, you will be doing quite well.

I live on the desert where our summer humidity is low. My 2 units, along with ceiling fans, keep me happy until the outside temp reaches 95º F, then I begin to get warm in the house. At 100º outside, I am not a happy camper, but it is better than nothing. I live in a single story house with no shade trees. Changing either of those conditions can help lower the temp inside your house. You are interested in the Guad/Ajijic area where 100º would be unusual, but I do wonder if the humidity stays low enough to work well in the warm season – I don’t know the answer.

If you are renting, you will need to get your landlord’s approval before you install one. It will, probably, be considered part of the house, thus owned by your landlord. If you own the house, you might want to explore a whole-house system with a roof mounted unit. They seem to work better than wall units.

Rolly Pirate

E-visit me http://Rollybrook.com
On Facebook as Rolly Brook

(This post was edited by Rolly on Jan 28, 2004, 9:02 PM)

kayinmx

Jan 29, 2004, 4:49 AM

Post #4 of 9 (6975 views)

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Re: [johanson] Evaporative coolers

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Thanks for the help. My language skills are "basic".

Assume you are using your unit in Ajjic. What is the effect of humidity? HOw much better is it than plain old fans? This one is going to sound silly but is it ugly? What size is good for a large room?

Thanks, Kayinmx

johanson

Jan 29, 2004, 9:06 AM

Post #5 of 9 (6952 views)

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Re: [kayinmx] Evaporative coolers

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Kay: My experiences in Ajijic are the same as Rolly's I get about 20 degrees F change when the humidity is low, which it almost always is when it's hot during the period I am in Ajijic. I have both air conditioning and an evaporative cooler. I'm here, Sep to the end of April and again in July. During that period I use my AC about 2% of the time if that much. I regularly use the evaporative cooler.

I can not help you with the size of the system to use, because I have the architect do that. I just know that the evaporative system works much better and is much cheaper than my AC.

To me a fan helps when the temp goes up to about 5 F above the desired temperature. Above that temperature I use my evap cooler.

Rolly / Moderator

Jan 29, 2004, 11:14 AM

Post #6 of 9 (6942 views)

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Re: [kayinmx] Evaporative coolers

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>Is it ugly?

I think so, but I can deal with ugly better than I can being hot.

>What size?

The bigger the better. I'd buy the largest in-wall unit you can afford. You can always run it on low speed when you don't need a lot of cooling.

Often the house is hottest in the late afternoon after the sun has shown on the concrete roof and brick walls all day, and these have become heated all the way though. They will continue to radiate heat into your house long after the sun has set. A high capacity A/C unit will help to speed up the dissipation of the heat built up in the masonry walls and roof.

Rolly Pirate

E-visit me http://Rollybrook.com
On Facebook as Rolly Brook

johanson

Jan 29, 2004, 12:33 PM

Post #7 of 9 (6934 views)

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Re: [Rolly] Evaporative coolers

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"Is it ugly?" I have my large unit located outside. All I see is an air vent coming into the wall. The interior one is quite small and does a better job of humidifying than cooling. It aint ugly, but it aint pretty either. And as Rolly said, better ugly than hot.

(This post was edited by johanson on Jan 29, 2004, 2:23 PM)

sandykayak

Mar 17, 2004, 8:48 AM

Post #8 of 9 (6807 views)

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Re: [johanson] Evaporative coolers

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My face (nose "cracks", lips, and around the mouth" were chapped and I was uncomfortable in just the one week I was there at the beginning of this month.

would a portable evaporative cooler add enough humidity? are these available at costco/sam's?

it took a week for my skin to heal and I don't complain when I perspire now!!
Sandy Kramer
Miami, Fla & El Parque

johanson

Mar 17, 2004, 9:10 AM

Post #9 of 9 (6803 views)

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Re: [sandykayak] Evaporative coolers

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You were here during a dry period; the humidity is a little higher this week. But yes I keep my humidity at 40% to 60% in my house. I have both an interior humidifier (that I bought at Costco years ago for $100 to $200), and a whole house humidifier.

With higher humidity, I need to use less oil on my dry skin.