Teardrop Swamp Cooler

[bdosborn]

You mean a push-pull setup on the fans? I think it might cut down on the cooling because you would be shooting air straight through a pad area the size of the fan instead of pulling it across all of the pads. But, I've been wrong before.
Bruce

[Galen]

Hi. I am planning on building in a swamp cooler in my teardrop, since I live in Tucson, and they work well around here.

But I have a question. From my limited knowledge about swamp coolers, you need to a constant flow of hot air coming in to them for them to work efficiently. AC needs to recirculate, but swamps need constant hot air. The hot air is what creates the evaporation that creates the cold.



I am assuming that the type pictured above is placed inside the trailer? So if it does not have it's own source of hot outside air, then once the interior temperature starts to come down, the swamp cooler will quickly become less efficient.

Does that make sense? I am planning to build one into my tear that has an outside air intake, with a built in water tank, somewhere in the galley, venting into the cabin. I also think I will make it so that I can turn the fans on without the water running just for venting the cabin without additional cooling.

Am I on the correct track with this hot outside air thing?

[bdosborn]

I always open a window and draw in some air with the fan. Otherwise it gets too humid inside and the cooler doesn't seem to work as well. I think it would work better if the cooler could draw air directly from the outside. However, it still works just recirculating the air, as long as you have some air exchanges between outside and inside occurring somehow.

Bruce

[green_skinnydipper]

Resurecting an old thread. I think you need to rethink the theory behind this unit. Swamp coolers work through evaporative cooling, the evaporating water carries the heat with it. If the swamp cooler is placed inside the trailer, that evaporating heat is not leaving the trailer. Have you tried venting the cooler outside? Think rising steam.

[kennyrayandersen]

Evaporative coolers work because there is a change in enthalpy as the water evaporated (changes from a liquid to gas). It can do that because dry air can ‘absorb’ more water. This is why they won’t work when the air is already humid (east, and southeast – like the posted map, but also places like AZ when the rainy season is going on). If you don’t vent the air, eventually the air you have in the tear will become fully saturated and won’t accept any more water and the ‘cooling’ will stop; so, you have to vent a swamp cooler to keep bringing in dry air. They work pretty good if it’s dry and not too hot and they use less energy to run than a refrigeration unit.

[green_skinnydipper]

Yep, you are correct. For whatever reason I was thinking of cooling towers in lieu of swamp coolers.

[down under tech]

Hear is a easy to build "Homer Bucket" Swamp Cooler I found out about from Burning Man. It has all of the directions for the build.
They are supposed to work pretty well. I'm sure you can adapt one to your teardrop.

https://eplaya.burningman.com/viewtopic.php?t=33842

[citylights]

The burning man bucket is really cheap and efficient design. With the bucket outside to draw dry air, the bucket exhaust air ducted into the teardrop, and a top vent open on the teardrop for relief air, that would be a winner! Dang, you got me thinking about one for my teardrop to replace the heavy power sucker AC unit that I have!

[MtnDon]

Swamp cooler chart, temperature drop with outdoor temperature and humidity level.

[kennyrayandersen]

The burning man bucket is really cheap and efficient design. With the bucket outside to draw dry air, the bucket exhaust air ducted into the teardrop, and a top vent open on the teardrop for relief air, that would be a winner! Dang, you got me thinking about one for my teardrop to replace the heavy power sucker AC unit that I have!

Keep in mind that evaporative coolers only work where there is little or no moisture in the air. In order to lower the temp, the water has to be able to evaporate to cause a change in enthalpy. Also, those computer fans aren't going to put out much air...


Man! I just repeated myself from 4 years ago! I forgot all about this thread -- I guess physics hasn't changed much since then

[bdosborn]

The fans suck air out of the box. That pulls air into the box through the pads. Here's where the swamp coolers work best.

A and B are good regions. C is not so good. I'm in the A region. I wouldn't bother with it if you're in a C region.

Bruce

That's the trouble with resurrecting these old threads, no one reads the earlier posts...


Bruce

[KennethW]

Just curious. Does the water in a swamp cooler get cold If so can a person pipe the cold water into the teardrop with a radiator then back thru the cooling pads. You would not be putting high humidity air into the camper,it would De-humidity the air in the teardrop and no duct work to set up.

[Shadow Catcher]

When we made the trip from Ohio to California I took the AC, and we used it once in Salt Lake. We found that temperatures at night became comfortable. Unlike in the Midwest where temperatures get to 90 with 90% humidity, and stay there. Once Nancy retires we plan on a trip to the South West in the fall and winter where we are more likely to need the heater.

[bdosborn]

Just curious. Does the water in a swamp cooler get cold If so can a person pipe the cold water into the teardrop with a radiator then back thru the cooling pads. You would not be putting high humidity air into the camper,it would De-humidity the air in the teardrop and no duct work to set up.

Try Googling "Indirect Evaporative Cooling".

Bruce