Portable Air Conditioners vs. Swamp Coolers - Which Should You Choose?

How to Buy a Portable Air Conditioner

How to Buy a Swamp Cooler

Certain situations and climates may make installing standard air conditioning units impractical, cost-prohibitive, or difficult, and many consumers often turn to portable cooling solutions such as portable air conditioners and swamp coolers. While both of these types of products aim to perform the same function - cool our homes - the two use very different types of cooling technologies, and the terms "portable air conditioner" and "swamp cooler" are often mistakenly interchanged.

First and foremost, air conditioners remove humidity from the air, while evaporative coolers add humidity to the air. Portable air conditioners operate best in closed environments and recirculate the same air over and over, and usually have better cooling capacities, while evaporative coolers provide a constant supply of fresh air, but can only provide an incremental cooling effect. Therefore, there are a few significant differences between these two appliances, and choosing the right one will greatly depend on certain factors, such as the area in which you live, your cooling needs, and energy costs.

Portable Air Conditioners:

Portable air conditioners are great alternatives to window or wall air conditioners or even as a supplement to existing central air conditioning systems. Portable air conditioners are also great for apartment buildings that do not permit window units or homes with windows that cannot properly accommodate permanently installed window air conditioning units. These units do not need to be mounted through a wall (unlike a standard window AC), and are instead slid into a window, so permanent installation is not required. As well, portable air conditioners are usually mounted on casters, and they can be moved from room to room. However, since an exhaust hose must be run outside, these units must be placed near a window.

Portable AC's have both the hot and cold sides of the air conditioning cycle contained within one box, and the condenser coil is cooled with air from the room. From that point, an exhaust hose expels heat, and water is then condensed out of the air during the cooling process. Most portable air conditioners collect this water in an internal drain bucket, with some portable air conditioners even exhausting the water through the drain hose, or even utilizing auto-evaporative technology, such as the NewAir ACP-1400H. 

Because portable air conditioners lower temperatures by using a refrigeration cycle, this results in reduced humidity of the air processed by the system and lowered relative humidity levels - something to consider if you live in a dry climate.

Pros:

• Versatile and can be moved from room to room

• Ideal for areas that are not covered by central air conditioning or those which cannot accommodate permanent AC installation

• Can be up to 50% more energy efficient than some central air conditioning systems because only certain rooms are cooled, as opposed to entire homes

• Help dehumidify the air

Cons:

• Need to be vented

• Can be slightly more expensive than a central air conditioning or mini-split system with similar cooling capacity

Evaporative Coolers (or Swamp Coolers):

As the mercury rises, so can the costs of keeping your home cool. Unfortunately, energy consumption for home air conditioning accounts for almost 5 percent of all electricity produced in the United States for all purposes at a cost to homeowners of over 15 billion dollars. This, coupled with the fact that central air conditioning systems may not be plausible in many types of dwellings and climates, may leave many people sweltering in the summer months. However, for those living in dry climates and/or small spaces, swamp coolers may be just the solution.

Evaporative coolers, such as the NewAir AF-330, are devices which use simple evaporation of water in the air, and throughout the ages, civilizations have utilized this ingenious method to combat the heat. The windcatcher was invented in Iran thousands of years ago and consisted of wind shafts strategically placed on rooftops. These wind shafts caught the wind, passed it through water, and transferred cooled air into a home. Even today, Iranians still use modified windcatchers, but these are actually modern evaporative coolers.

Swamp coolers are relatively simple devices: these units consist of a box-like frame containing a fan that is walled in by moistened pads. In order to cool the air, the fan takes in hot air from the room, sends it through the moist pads, and cools it up to 20 degrees. Essentially, this process can be likened to splashing water on your face on a hot day and feeling the coolness on your skin. Swamp coolers are also quite versatile, as models such as the NewAir AF-321 can be used in homes, while the Port-A-Cool PAC2K163S are designed for industrial applications, athletic fields, and even stadiums. Keep in mind that evaporative coolers are generally only suited for dry climates where the air is hot and the humidity is low (such as the Western/Mountain states), as they add moisture to the air.

Pros:

• Compact and portable

• Use substantially less electricity than an air conditioner for the same sized home (sometimes up to 75 percent less)

• Relatively inexpensive to buy, install, and maintain

• Add moisture to the air in dry climates and prevents furniture and fabrics from drying out

Cons:

• Only suitable for dry climates; high humidity in the air accelerates corrosion and causes condensation

• Can use a substantial amount of water to provide cooling effects

See Portable Air Conditioners

See Swamp Coolers

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