Is anyone using these in your van? I am wondering how much current they drawer, and if they are a practical solution for free camping?
Regards, Snook
Peter_n_Margaret said
09:30 AM Dec 27, 2019
Most are a waste of space.
Cheers,
Peter
Meredith said
10:03 AM Dec 27, 2019
Depends on where you are camping, they give some relief in very dry heat, as soon as you get humid heat they aren't much use as they add more water to the air. We just stick to Sirocco fans when free camping.
Mike Harding said
12:43 PM Dec 27, 2019
Are of very limited use in my experience.
Bobdown said
02:55 PM Dec 27, 2019
We used to laugh at a mate who brought one those a while back, the instructions were to fill with water and turn on............for extra cold air put ice in the reservoir !!!!
Kind of defeats the purpose of an air con, bloody useless in my opinion.
Cheers Bob
Whenarewethere said
03:27 PM Dec 27, 2019
Type in Swamp Cooler in the internet & you get plenty but of charts on the very narrow band they they are able to work.
Years ago in Alice Springs in a hotel mid 30°C in the evening dry weather, the swamp cooler was going. It did cool the air but it you felt you were sitting in a cold sauna it was that humid, all sticky & clammy. It would have been far better to turn the swamp cooler off but that was out of our control.
A couple of years ago in Wellington we were walking up & down the street in our undies until about 3am due to heat & humidity, nothing one could do unless you had air conditioning. Not a good look!
Landfall said
06:09 PM Dec 27, 2019
We purchased a Companion brand one last year. The larger variety (the small one is useless) it has its own battery which last from memory about five hours. Can be recharged from a cig lighter socket or 240v. Cost about $190
Being from Tassie we don't like the heat much, do a lot of free camping so do not have 240v. Found that this was very good at giving some relief.
Friends who have seen it operation have also purchased one, so it can't be all that bad.
I think that a few knockers have never tried or owned one. Nothing like knowing someone who knows someone who had a friend who said.
Warren-Pat_01 said
06:33 PM Dec 27, 2019
Hi snook,
For a moment I thought you were a South Aussie with a nickname of "Snook" - a nice SA fish!
Evaporative coolers - yes they work best in drier climates BUT you can't just plonk them into a sealed room/caravan. Some businesses in the tropics use them but they use more than two & the pass a lot of air out the door. I installed one at our place in Ceduna many moons ago.
You have to back them up to an open door, window (ours went in through a wall) & have windows open on the opposite side, etc. The measurement I believe is for every 1000 cub ft of air flow (our house unit was rated at 8,000 cub ft/ hour (I think), you had to have 1 sq metre of OPEN WINDOW (I did manage to reduce this a bit). We could direct the air into the rooms required just by opening windows. And even on a hot night when it could still be over 35 degrees outside, it could be rather cold inside the house.
If you get one, I would suggest you read the instructions carefully, make a cover for your screened door with a cut out the same size of the air intake on the cooler - then experiment with the amount of window opening available. They are a FLOW THROUGH COOLER, not a room cooler.
It is another item to take up valuable room in your van but they use a fraction of the power of the normal airconditioners with the only maintenance being topping up the water, cleaning/checking the filter(s).
Yes, x2 for Landfall (the knockers).
Mamil said
07:15 PM Dec 27, 2019
The small portable caravan versions can blow a bit of slightly cooler air over you while you're asleep, but they don't cool the space, and loose effectiveness rapidly in humid conditions. Not really much better than using a fan and your skin's built-in evaporative cooler - sweating!
Warren-Pat_01 said
08:38 PM Dec 27, 2019
Snook,
I got my measurements a bit up the creek - the rate of flow should have read 1000 cub metres per hour & 1 square metre of open window (our unit was as I said, 8,000 cub metres per hour so we should have opened 8 sq metres of ventilation.
In the dry environment, it got cold - we usually closed it down after 9pm.
dabbler said
08:45 PM Dec 27, 2019
I have a Transcool and it still blows well enough to cool whether using evap or not. Adding ice actually works btw. My biggest issue is the hard plastic shell/housing. It sits and travels well in a purpose built pigeon hole in my shelving.
I usually rely on a Colman rechargeable fan. It oscillates which is considered better than a fixed airstream but it's largish. At about $80 it's far cheaper then the Transcool or Caframo Sirocco.
JayDee said
08:14 AM Dec 28, 2019
Landfall wrote:
We purchased a Companion brand one last year. The larger variety (the small one is useless) it has its own battery which last from memory about five hours. Can be recharged from a cig lighter socket or 240v. Cost about $190
Being from Tassie we don't like the heat much, do a lot of free camping so do not have 240v. Found that this was very good at giving some relief.
Friends who have seen it operation have also purchased one, so it can't be all that bad.
I think that a few knockers have never tried or owned one. Nothing like knowing someone who knows someone who had a friend who said.
G'day mate,
Can you supply any link or info as to where to buy this unit?
Could be what we want.
Jay&Dee Thanks
Landfall said
08:20 AM Dec 28, 2019
Jay Dee,
Go to eBay and type in companion evaporative cooler in the search box. A selection of coolers will come up, the model we have is listed as a MAXI cooler and the best price I found was $207.84 with a four and a half star review rating. The Mini one is usless.
Cheers,
Peter
Are of very limited use in my experience.
Kind of defeats the purpose of an air con, bloody useless in my opinion.
Cheers Bob
Type in Swamp Cooler in the internet & you get plenty but of charts on the very narrow band they they are able to work.
Years ago in Alice Springs in a hotel mid 30°C in the evening dry weather, the swamp cooler was going. It did cool the air but it you felt you were sitting in a cold sauna it was that humid, all sticky & clammy. It would have been far better to turn the swamp cooler off but that was out of our control.
A couple of years ago in Wellington we were walking up & down the street in our undies until about 3am due to heat & humidity, nothing one could do unless you had air conditioning. Not a good look!
We purchased a Companion brand one last year. The larger variety (the small one is useless) it has its own battery which last from memory about five hours. Can be recharged from a cig lighter socket or 240v. Cost about $190
Being from Tassie we don't like the heat much, do a lot of free camping so do not have 240v. Found that this was very good at giving some relief.
Friends who have seen it operation have also purchased one, so it can't be all that bad.
I think that a few knockers have never tried or owned one. Nothing like knowing someone who knows someone who had a friend who said.
For a moment I thought you were a South Aussie with a nickname of "Snook" - a nice SA fish!
Evaporative coolers - yes they work best in drier climates BUT you can't just plonk them into a sealed room/caravan. Some businesses in the tropics use them but they use more than two & the pass a lot of air out the door. I installed one at our place in Ceduna many moons ago.
You have to back them up to an open door, window (ours went in through a wall) & have windows open on the opposite side, etc. The measurement I believe is for every 1000 cub ft of air flow (our house unit was rated at 8,000 cub ft/ hour (I think), you had to have 1 sq metre of OPEN WINDOW (I did manage to reduce this a bit). We could direct the air into the rooms required just by opening windows. And even on a hot night when it could still be over 35 degrees outside, it could be rather cold inside the house.
If you get one, I would suggest you read the instructions carefully, make a cover for your screened door with a cut out the same size of the air intake on the cooler - then experiment with the amount of window opening available. They are a FLOW THROUGH COOLER, not a room cooler.
It is another item to take up valuable room in your van but they use a fraction of the power of the normal airconditioners with the only maintenance being topping up the water, cleaning/checking the filter(s).
Yes, x2 for Landfall (the knockers).
I got my measurements a bit up the creek - the rate of flow should have read 1000 cub metres per hour & 1 square metre of open window (our unit was as I said, 8,000 cub metres per hour so we should have opened 8 sq metres of ventilation.
In the dry environment, it got cold - we usually closed it down after 9pm.
Jay Dee,
Go to eBay and type in companion evaporative cooler in the search box. A selection of coolers will come up, the model we have is listed as a MAXI cooler and the best price I found was $207.84 with a four and a half star review rating. The Mini one is usless.
Hope this is of help.
Cheers and stay cool and safe.
We bought ours from Snowy's. Free delivery too!
https://www.snowys.com.au/maxi-evaporative-cooler