I get a lot of emails from readers who don’t have conventional air conditioners installed in their homes and I get requests to do a post on summer cooling alternatives. Even if you don’t have an AC and don’t want to purchase/install one, there are definitely some good low cost options to keep you cool this summer. Here’s a short list I’ve come up with:
Prevent Heat Gain
One of the most effective ways to make your home feel cooler costs you nothing and involves keeping heat from building up in the first place. The primary source of heat gain can often be attributed to sunlight that’s absorbed by your home through the walls, windows, and roof. Other sources can come from heat-generating appliances (ovens, stoves, microwaves) and air leakages. You can prevent heat gain by reflecting sunlight away from your house, shading and blocking the heat, removing built-up heat, and reducing heat-generating sources in your home.
Ceiling Fans & Evaporative Coolers
Ceiling fans and evaporative coolers are energy efficient cooling solutions because they cost less to install and run as standard air conditioners. Ceiling fans have the ability to lower the air temperature by approximately four degrees, and evaporative coolers use one fourth the energy of conventional air conditioners.
Whole House Fans
If you’re looking for a lower-cost, natural alternative to an air conditioner, whole house ventilation may be the solution. Installing a whole house fan costs only a fraction of traditional air conditioners and operating costs may be as little as 10 percent of the cost of operating an air conditioner. When the fan is turned on, cooler air from the outside is drawn into the house trough open windows and doors, and warmer air is pushed out of the house through ventilation spaces in the roof or gable end walls. This air movement cools your house by replacing hot air with cooler air; by flushing out hot air; and by creating a gentle breeze that cools occupants.
Two months ago, I mentioned that I purchased a Port-A-Cool PAC2KCYC01 for my friend on Air and Water in hopes of cooling his large workspace without wasting money. I thought we were expecting too much from it, but boy, were we pleasantly surprised! This evaporative cooler is indeed a very “green” way to keep everyone feeling comfortable. I visit the space quite often, and it was really obvious how much the unit has helped his workers stay cool, especially since the temperatures have been rising outside.
However, my friend mentioned to me that the best part about the PAC2KCYC01 is that it doesn’t use fan blades to move the air, so operation is quiet and doesn’t bother his workers no matter how high it’s turned up. He loves that its water tank can hold 16 gallons, a feature that saves him time and effort when it comes time to filling the reservoir.
The only thing about the evaporative cooler is that it’s rather large and it weighs a lot. But that’s to be expected, since it is a commercial cooler, not a personal one. Well, that doesn’t matter. Because it’s built from molded plastic polyethylene housing, we know that it’s sure to keep all my friend’s workers cool and comfortable for as long as they’re there.
There’s a lot of talk about being “green” lately, and I admit I’ve fallen
into this marketing ploy. One of my good friends owns an auto body shop
and needed a way to keep his employees cool without having to invest in anything
too expensive. Plus, seeing as their workspace is out in the open,
standard air conditioning systems wouldn’t work anyway.
Being the Google expert that I am, I began researching cooling options for
his business and found that a lot of people rave about evaporative cooling.
Seemingly low-tech, evaporative coolers use water and a high powered fan to
reduce temperatures. Because they don’t have compressors or use coolants,
they’re also considered very “green.” Overall, Port-A-Cool evaporative
coolers seem to have a fantastic reputation that’s connected to residential as
well as commercial markets. Port-A-Cool
uses high powered blowers in their units as well as noise reduction technology
in their design. This has been a popular choice for evaporative coolers from
both residential and commercial clientèle for many years.
I called up their Texas office and spoke to a friendly sales representative
who was eager to answer all my questions about their product line.
Apparently they offer several evaporative cooler options in many sizes.
The representative on the phone specifically recommended some of their larger
commercial units for my friend’s business – specifically one of their newest and
budget priced units, the PAC2KCYC01 Cyclone 3000. This unit supposedly cools
areas up to 700 square feet. At less than $800 retail, this looked a good,
cost-effective option for what my friend was looking for.
Per Alex’s recommendation, I placed my order with
Air-N-Water for the Port-A-Cool unit
yesterday. While we haven’t received the product yet, we have high hopes
for this evaporative cooler and will definitely post our Air-N-Water reviews (or
complaints).
*Update: You can actually see a video of a Port-A-Cool in action on air-n-water.com ‘s YouTube channel.
There’s a lot of talk about being “green” lately, and I admit I’ve fallen
into this marketing ploy. One of my good friends owns an auto body shop
and needed a way to keep his employees cool without having to invest in anything
too expensive. Plus, seeing as their workspace is out in the open,
standard air conditioning systems wouldn’t work anyway.
Being the Google expert that I am, I began researching cooling options for
his business and found that a lot of people rave about evaporative cooling.
Seemingly low-tech, evaporative coolers use water and a high powered fan to
reduce temperatures. Because they don’t have compressors or use coolants,
they’re also considered very “green.” Overall, Port-A-Cool evaporative
coolers seem to have a fantastic reputation that’s connected to residential as
well as commercial markets. Port-A-Cool
uses high powered blowers in their units as well as noise reduction technology
in their design. This has been a popular choice for evaporative coolers from
both residential and commercial clientèle for many years.
I called up their Texas office and spoke to a friendly sales representative
who was eager to answer all my questions about their product line.
Apparently they offer several evaporative cooler options in many sizes.
The representative on the phone specifically recommended some of their larger
commercial units for my friend’s business – specifically one of their newest and
budget priced units, the PAC2KCYC01 Cyclone 3000. This unit supposedly cools
areas up to 700 square feet. At less than $800 retail, this looked a good,
cost-effective option for what my friend was looking for.
Per Alex’s recommendation, I placed my order with
Air-N-Water for the Port-A-Cool unit
yesterday. While we haven’t received the product yet, we have high hopes
for this evaporative cooler and will definitely post our Air-N-Water reviews (or
complaints).
*Update: You can actually see a video of a Port-A-Cool in action on air-n-water.com ‘s YouTube channel.