Pineapple Express: Someone Is Wrong on the Internet?

[overgeeked]

True, but AFAIK they work well in dry climates. Which means that there are large parts of the US where they aren't very effective.

Despite being nicknamed swamp coolers, they aren't great for swamps.

They work almost anywhere. They work better in arid climates.

Put a fan in front of a bowl of cold water and drop some ice in the water. Works a treat. Or better yet, replace the ice with a couple of plastic bottles 1/2 filled with water then frozen.

 

[Ryujin]

People absolutely became worse drivers after the lock downs. The increase in general anxiety doesn't seem to have helped.

People definitely no longer know how to behave when there's other traffic on the road. I had someone flip out on me, last Thursday, because he tried to use the merge lane to pass me at something like 40 Kmh over the limit. He got angry because he timed it perfectly to be right next to me, when his lane ran out. Proceeded to drive in the breakdown lane to get in front of the car that I was behind, drop to 40 Kmh in a 100 zone, then after the guy in front of me got out of Dodge he started swerving at me and brake checking me. All this for a "score on own goal."

 

[RealAlHazred]

Purely anecdotal, but I noticed that as well. But I live in NJ, so interesting driving is just par for the course.

You also live in NJ? Well, now I know who to blame when driving 2 miles on 287 takes me fifteen minutes...

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

They work almost anywhere. They work better in arid climates.

Put a fan in front of a bowl of cold water and drop some ice in the water. Works a treat. Or better yet, replace the ice with a couple of plastic bottles 1/2 filled with water then frozen.

Evaporative Cooler Chart (Humidity, Efficiency, Temperature Swamp Coolers)

Will using an evaporative cooler be effective? This is exactly what the evaporative cooler chart (also called the swamp cooler chart) tells you. In this chart, we are going to look at the relationship between temperature and humidity for the use of evaporative coolers; this will tell us how...

learnmetrics.com

....again, I am all for better solutions. But for those people in places with very high humidity, this isn't a real solution.

If you live in Orlando, Florida, for example, the solution isn't a swamp cooler. The solution is to move some place that isn't Orlando, Florida.

 

[Cadence]

They work almost anywhere. They work better in arid climates.

Put a fan in front of a bowl of cold water and drop some ice in the water. Works a treat. Or better yet, replace the ice with a couple of plastic bottles 1/2 filled with water then frozen.

Neat! I had never heard of them and it was interesting to see where in the US they are recommended for (and to think about where else in the world they might work really well).

One map:

Evaporative coolers work best in the dry areas of the U.S. (Area A)

In climates where the humidity is low and the temperatures are hot, an evaporator cooler, such as a "swamp cooler" can lower the air temperature by 20 degrees F., while it increases humidity. As this map shows, evaporative coolers work best in the dry areas of the United States (red areas marked...

www.usgs.gov

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It's currently 95 F and 50% humidity outside here right now. At 10am it was 86 F with 70% humidity. The overnight low was 78 F with 87% humidity. (We usually set our AC to 78 and aim for an indoor humidity of 40-50%).

I am under the impression it is nowhere in the ballpark of an AC for where we're at? Do you have a reference otherwise?

I'm also led to believe that Louisiana and Florida are generally noticably hotter and more humid than we are.

Edit: Partially ninja'd by @Snarf Zagyg . Mercifully north of Florida

 

[overgeeked]

Evaporative Cooler Chart (Humidity, Efficiency, Temperature Swamp Coolers)

Will using an evaporative cooler be effective? This is exactly what the evaporative cooler chart (also called the swamp cooler chart) tells you. In this chart, we are going to look at the relationship between temperature and humidity for the use of evaporative coolers; this will tell us how...

learnmetrics.com

....again, I am all for better solutions. But for those people in places with very high humidity, this isn't a real solution.

If you live in Orlando, Florida, for example, the solution isn't a swamp cooler. The solution is to move some place that isn't Orlando, Florida.

Yes. Hence the almost. Not every solution to every problem needs to be universally applicable for it to be a solution for some people.

Interesting. I had never heard of them and it was interesting to see where in the US they are recommended for.

One map:

Evaporative coolers work best in the dry areas of the U.S. (Area A)

In climates where the humidity is low and the temperatures are hot, an evaporator cooler, such as a "swamp cooler" can lower the air temperature by 20 degrees F., while it increases humidity. As this map shows, evaporative coolers work best in the dry areas of the United States (red areas marked...

www.usgs.gov

-----

It's currently 95 F and 50% humidity outside here right now. At 10am it was 86 F with 70% humidity. The overnight low was 78 F with 87% humidity. (We usually set our AC to 78 and aim for an indoor humidity of 40-50%).

I am under the impression it is nowhere in the ballpark of an AC for where we're at? Do you have a reference otherwise?

I am under the impression Louisiana and Florida are generally noticably hotter and more humid than we are.

Edit: Partially ninja'd by @Snarf Zagyg . Mercifully north of Florida

I’ve lived in that link’s Area A my whole life. Swamp coolers rock. Check the link Snarf posted. Even at 80% humidity, a swamp cooler can still help lower the temperature by a few degrees.

I’m not saying they work better than AC. But they are more environmentally friendly by far and cheaper, especially when you DIY.

 

[TwoSix]

You also live in NJ? Well, now I know who to blame when driving 2 miles on 287 takes me fifteen minutes...

I blame anyone who drives into North Jersey willingly.

 

[Cadence]

I’m not saying they work better than AC. But they are more environmentally friendly by far and cheaper, especially when you DIY.

Certainly on the environmentally friendlier and a few degrees... but for the SE US, not even in the ballpark.

Having our indoor humidity at what it would be outdoors feels yucky and our basement would be dank. Having it higher by several percent to get a few degrees cooler makes me wonder about mold upstairs. (I assume folks who lived here in pre AC days had books though -- they probably also had houses that encouraged air flow).

 

[Bedrockgames]

Evaporative Cooler Chart (Humidity, Efficiency, Temperature Swamp Coolers)

Will using an evaporative cooler be effective? This is exactly what the evaporative cooler chart (also called the swamp cooler chart) tells you. In this chart, we are going to look at the relationship between temperature and humidity for the use of evaporative coolers; this will tell us how...

learnmetrics.com

....again, I am all for better solutions. But for those people in places with very high humidity, this isn't a real solution.

If you live in Orlando, Florida, for example, the solution isn't a swamp cooler. The solution is to move some place that isn't Orlando, Florida.

You don't even have to be in a high humidity area all the time. I live in Coastal Massachusetts and the summers are quite humid when it gets hot. I spent time in Southern California near a desert and the dry heat was very livable for me. But when I moved back here, I couldn't breathe at night. If you have asthma or lung issues, AC is a must. Also I think over 60 percent or 70 percent humidity generally isn't healthy indoor air for most people (recommended humidity is usually 30% to 60% or 30% to 70% I believe). I find I need an AC in the summer. And the houses here are all really old. So you want to keep humidity at the appropriate level if you can as the air quality will get back over time if there is unchecked moisture

 

[Ryujin]

You don't even have to be in a high humidity area all the time. I live in Coastal Massachusetts and the summers are quite humid when it gets hot. I spent time in Southern California near a desert and the dry heat was very livable for me. But when I moved back here, I couldn't breathe at night. If you have asthma or lung issues, AC is a must. Also I think over 60 percent or 70 percent humidity generally isn't healthy indoor air for most people (recommended humidity is usually 30% to 60% or 30% to 70% I believe). I find I need an AC in the summer. And the houses here are all really old. So you want to keep humidity at the appropriate level if you can as the air quality will get back over time if there is unchecked moisture

Like with real estate, it's all location, location, location. In Seattle/Tacoma 90F gets the locals complaining. They would positively melt in 30C (86F) weather, in Toronto.