Swamp cooler out, thermostat says 93º

amazon has a number of 'air coolers' (ie. swamp coolers) - they deliver. they also have portable a/c units of various sizes.

or

[video=youtube;6ScZiMiva9M]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ScZiMiva9M[/video]

see also the other similar videos on the right under that one
 
DPris said:
Sounds like your landlord's been letting several things slide.
Hope they get you fixed.
Denis
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The house was built in 1896, and the current landlord has only owned it for a year. Thankfully they will have someone here within a half hour to work on it.
 
Too bad your old house is so breezy. Admittedly I'm in a more temperate part of the world, but I run the fan or AC at night to get the house as cold as possible, then button it up tight during the day to let as little of the cold air out as possible. It's a new house, so it's reasonably well insulated. It's cheaper this way, because the AC is using the relatively cooler temperatures at night to get rid of the house's daytime heat build-up. It's the thermal equivalent of riding a bicycle: you peddle downhill as the temperature slope drops, to build up cold, then you coast as the temperature climbs again, hoping you can make it past the hot peak the next day without having to peddle (turn on the AC) at all.

That and I sleep better when it's cool.
 
Ugh.. I am so-o-o acclimatized to the weather up here these days It has been *cough, cough* a "blisteringly hot" 75-80 degrees here in the PNW last few days. And I give thanks for my hubby's good decision to get a heat pump/AC when we first bought the house 20ish years ago. I can't believe that I grew up thinking high 90s were great days to go out and play sports. These days I whine about not being able to sleep if the house is warmer than 75. My mother would be so ashamed of me, why I can practically hear her yelling about the AC always running and how much it costs to keep it turned on...

I feel for you Scara. I certainly hope they get it fixed for you finally. It sucks when you have to try to sleep when it is too hot compared to whatever someone is used to. But there are certain parts of the country during the summer when it should be legally mandatory for landlords to have repair specialists on call 24 hrs a day and you live in one of those areas.
 
Shavru said:
Ugh.. I am so-o-o acclimatized to the weather up here these days It has been *cough, cough* a "blisteringly hot" 75-80 degrees here in the PNW last few days. And I give thanks for my hubby's good decision to get a heat pump/AC when we first bought the house 20ish years ago. I can't believe that I grew up thinking high 90s were great days to go out and play sports. These days I whine about not being able to sleep if the house is warmer than 75. My mother would be so ashamed of me, why I can practically hear her yelling about the AC always running and how much it costs to keep it turned on...

I feel for you Scara. I certainly hope they get it fixed for you finally. It sucks when you have to try to sleep when it is too hot compared to whatever someone is used to. But there are certain parts of the country during the summer when it should be legally mandatory for landlords to have repair specialists on call 24 hrs a day and you live in one of those areas.
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There were issues getting them over here to start. The landlord owns a big complex around the corner, but rather than use the same systems they created a separate one for this place, maybe since the plan is to tear it down in a few years. Unfortunately this separate system didn't come with its own repair staff, and the other complex's repair people don't have easy access to the system my place is on. So it took a little nearly a week before they were sent. I have the repair guy's number now, so I can call him directly and it's much faster. And of course last night the electrician wasn't taking calls, but he's on my roof right now replacing the wiring.

And the thing is, I'm from gulf coast Texas so I can do the heat, but in Texas everyone has AC, and they even have multiple units a lot of the time. Plus there are ceiling fans. Not so in this place. And I lived in Brasil, just one degree of latitude outside of what is considered tropical, but the houses there are built to be airy with tile instead of carpet, and people have oscillating fans. Here I just have a box fan that got mangled when it took a fall outside the window when I tried to use it to exchange air with the outside.
 
Down in St. George the hottest I recall was 114 one summer day.
Born there in the '50s, nobody had AC.
Returned again in 1970, used to wander all over the hills & desert outside in the summer at 100+.
Same again in 1976.
Didn't bother me much at all.

Did Basic & Tech School outside San Antone in '72.
No AC in the barracks, constantly sweating everywhere, all the time.

Today, too old for that stuff. :)
We were able to keep it slightly below 90 indoors last weekend while ours was out, so wasn't unbearable, but not very pleasant.

If they don't get you running soon, might consider moving into a Mall somewhere close.
Denis
 
DPris said:
Down in St. George the hottest I recall was 114 one summer day.
Born there in the '50s, nobody had AC.
Returned again in 1970, used to wander all over the hills & desert outside in the summer at 100+.
Same again in 1976.
Didn't bother me much at all.

Did Basic & Tech School outside San Antone in '72.
No AC in the barracks, constantly sweating everywhere, all the time.

Today, too old for that stuff. :)
We were able to keep it slightly below 90 indoors last weekend while ours was out, so wasn't unbearable, but not very pleasant.

If they don't get you running soon, might consider moving into a Mall somewhere close.
Denis
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I plan on being out of the house doing stuff today. We've managed to stay in the low 90s at the highest. Unfortunately because this place was built into an attic the electrician that's fixing the wiring had to go and get specialty equipment.
 
Most likely went to the office to sit and cool down for awhile. I imagine he's plumb hot working on it too.

Tough to do much work in that heat. Guess you gotta get used to it. I can't handle the heat too good anymore either, actually not much for cold anymore either.

Guess my climate window is rapidly getting smaller and smaller.
 
Yall know I got to chime in and show you the doghouse:D Today I went and did some measurements in the doghouse just to give yall an idea of what can be accomplished with a window unit and a $17 a month cooling bill. Winter heating cost btw is Zero.

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One window unit. I think its 21K BTU...maybe 18? I forget?

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Inside the Foam dome.

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Just to give you an idea of how much space we are cooling. Dome is 40' diameter on a six foot riser wall so the top is about 25'. Note the 3-story scaffolding on the left. Ill climb up there in a sec and get a measurement.

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Just to give you an idea of wall thickness. Note the pile of scrap insulation pieces to the right outside. That is what covers the entire framework of the dome.

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Here is center of the dome about 5 feet up. A cool 75.8 degrees. Hmmm? Its usually a bit cooler.

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OK up the scaffolding to measure up near the roof where all the hot air rises:D Still a cool two degrees warmer at 77.8. You would think it would be 80-85 degrees eh?

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And at the Air condition where it should read ice cold coming out the vent. Dang...I just noticed the filter reset light is on. That means the compressor is off and is not cooling at all. Its been that way for days...or maybe even weeks and I haven't even noticed. Ive been working out here daily and cant even tell the A/C has been off? Maybe I don't need it at all?

It still needs more insulation inside but only to meet the R31 building code value. Its about R22 now. Notice there is no insulation in the framing at all. I have measured in the middle of the summer when it 110 degrees and the temp is still 72 at lower levels and will get to 78 at the top. When I put more doors and do the windows I suspect it will screw with the efficiency but for now its like a walk in cooler. Thermal mass is the secret. I used way more concrete in the foundation than is required to stabilize the temp. Having the foam insulation on the outside of the structure prevents your house from heating up in the first place. There is also radiant PEX tubing buried in the floor that is heated by a coil under the woodstove for spreading out the heat in the winter. It not operable yet but will be when I get done. For now its my shop. Welcome to the doghouse my friends. See cul...its not so bad getting thrown out to the doghouse;) Room for you too Scara:thumbup:
 
Awesome doghouse buddy. I guess we'll have to visit someday, maybe sooner, if the wife kicks me out of "happy home" for another HI purchase, she says, "that I don't need."
 
So I decided to turn my swamp cooler turned cooling tower back on. My milk jugs of salt water were frozen solid, so I put them back in. This time I've got the house buttoned up. It is cooling the kitchen fairly well. The repairman also likes me. I've got cold water for him, a wet rag he can use, and the cooling tower.
 
Ok, electrician did his thing, and cleaned up some other dodgy wiring that he found. The swamp cooler is hooked up and running and doing well. Now they will just be replacing a joint on the pipes leading in because it was cracked and spraying water, some of which has been getting into the house. Once that's done the cooler should work better than it has in a very long time, with new wiring in a safe setup, an unclogged pump, and non-leaky piping.
 
old engineering saying:

if everything seems to be going well, you obviously have overlooked something.
 
kronckew said:
old engineering saying:

if everything seems to be going well, you obviously have overlooked something.
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Dude, don't harsh my vibe. Right now I'm just relaxing in the more comfortable temperatures. It's still a little bit warm in my room, but having three exterior walls and two big windows will do that. But tonight, I'll sleep in my own bed again. *Cue "White Cliffs of Dover"*
 
Grats man! We are in like 95% humidity now in Austin area so I know Houston must be 100%. We still got remnants of storm Bill hanging around and there is no wind at all today. It feels like Houston here now except for the lack of mosquito swarms. Hope it all holds together through the night for ya!
 
ndoghouse said:
Grats man! We are in like 95% humidity now in Austin area so I know Houston must be 100%. We still got remnants of storm Bill hanging around and there is no wind at all today. It feels like Houston here now except for the lack of mosquito swarms. Hope it all holds together through the night for ya!
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The electrician seemed to know what he was doing, so I think it'll hold. It's held well so far. The electrician actually was in the Army as a power generation tech back in the day, and owns his own business doing electrical work in the area. He also saw me with my in-regs haircut and sand t-shirt and asked if I was Army (I'm AFROTC for those who've forgotten). After I provided things like cold water he proclaimed many times I would make a great officer. I found it funny, because I wasn't doing anything special. I look at it as common decency. Maybe it's the Texan in me.
 
WoooT hope you enjoyed your sleep last night Scara :)

NDog, You seem to have thought through the DogHouse construction pretty thoroughly. Building to minimize your location's issues is a great idea.

This house is the first one hubby and I bought. Been here 22 years now so I figure we won't be moving out of this "Starter home" until it is to one of those assisted care places :D
There are sure a LOT of things I would do differently if I was building a house now (or would look for if buying one) than what we thought was important back then. It just amazes me what home builders get away with and when it all comes out 10 years or so later, there isn't anything you can do about it. Spec built homes...the biggest fraud perpetrated on civilization en mass ever. Anyways, sure wish developers would build more like what you are than the slap-happy messes they are constructing now. Heck you guys living in 1880-90's buildings have much better structure now than mine was new. Seriously doubt mine will be standing 50 years from now, forget 110+.
 
ndoghouse said:
Owwww! That stinks! Sounds like its time for a swim.
Open your refrigerator door and fabricate you a room from cardboard and duct tape big enough for a lawn chair. Cut two holes in it big enough so you can see the TV. Kick back and enjoy. Reach back for an occasional beer and your set:thumbup: Put you a doggie door on one side in case you have to go to the bog!
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And gather the money to buy a new refrigerator when the current one inevitably burns out its compressor. :p
 
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