You can temporarily lift this restriction by proving that you're human:While evaporative cooling is one of the oldest forms of climate control still found today, evaporative coolers remain a highly sought-after alternative to traditional air conditioning. While very effective and efficient when used properly, these cooling units are not for use everywhere. Due to the evaporative process used by these swamp coolers, these cooling units are best used in hot, dry climates, including the Southwestern United States. In these climates, however, an evaporative cooler can be your most effective and efficient means of climate control. There are many different benefits of evaporative cooling, but to truly understand them, you have to compare evaporative coolers to more traditional air conditioners. The comparison below covers some of the biggest benefits of evaporative coolers: Evaporative CoolingTraditional Cooling - Economical to operate  - Higher-cost to operate - Energy efficient - Higher energy usage - Best used in hot, dry climates - Effective in any climate - Fresh, clean air - Recirculated air - Inexpensive installation - More up front installation costs - Minimal maintenance required - Regular cleaning needed - Very low CO2 emissions  - Higher emissions comparatively   - Adds moisture to the air - Removes moisture from the air - Allows for open windows and doors - Effective in enclosed

space - Quiet operation  - Some are noisy when runningOperational costsEvaporative swamp coolers are highly efficient and economical cooling devices that, on-the-whole, will operate for less money than an air conditioner. Evaporative coolers cost less to both operate and maintain than their air conditioning counterparts. In addition to being inexpensive to install, evaporative coolers also do not require anything more than minimal seasonal maintenance. window ac units ratingsTraditional cooling devices, however, require regular cleaning of the air filter to ensure the unit is operating at maximum efficiency. how an hvac system worksEvaporative coolers also use less energy while operating when compared to typical a/c units. best air conditioning unit to buy

It is important to remember that due to the evaporation process, an evaporative cooler is most efficient in an area that is both hot and dry, without a lot of moisture in the air. Air QualityDue to the cooling process utilized by evaporative coolers, these units work best by circulating outside air throughout your home or office. This ensures that your air is fresh and does not become stale. This also means you can operate your evaporative cooler with your windows and doors wide open. In contrast, air conditioners and other traditional coolers work best in enclosed areas, and typically will only work well when windows and doors are closed. Thus, these units are forced to constantly recirculate the same air within your room in an effort to keep cold air within your room. Moisture LevelsEvaporative coolers use their simple cooling technology to inject moisture into the air, cooling your home or office through evaporation. This added moisture can keep your eyes and skin from drying out. Traditional air conditioners remove moisture from the air, which can be difficult on your eyes and can cause your skin to dry out and crack.

If you suffer from asthma or allergies, an evaporative cooler can help with your symptoms. Dry air can aggravate allergies and asthma, especially in children and the elderly, so an evaporative cooler and the added moisture it provides can be particularly beneficial. Environmental ConcernsWhile some traditional air conditioning units emit a particular level of carbon dioxide, evaporative coolers emit a much lower level of CO2. Evaporative swamp coolers also use less energy, which not only keeps costs down, but is better for the environment. If you're more worried about noise pollution, then an evaporative cooler also has you covered. Evaporative units operate much quieter than traditional air conditioners, making them a perfect cooling option for the bedroom, office, or any other area where you have to monitor noise levels. In contrast, air conditioners are typically much louder when operating. However, there are some portable air conditioners that run quietly and can still be used in bedrooms or offices.

For more information on evaporative swamp coolers, check out these resources: The complete guide to evaporative coolingA rundown of the best evaporative swamp coolersSide-by-side comparison of different swamp coolers The AC guy that fixed my AC recently said I should turn my AC fan on 24/7 and this would increase the efficiency of my AC system. I looked it up and found this same claim in several places: City Data forum thread about keeping AC running Several places say to use ceiling fans to circulate air as it makes the air "feel" cooler but do not increase the efficiency of the AC unit: Use a ceiling fan or portable fan to supplement your air conditioning. A fan can make you feel three to four degrees cooler (and only costs a half-cent per hour to operate) so you can set your thermostat a few degrees higher and save on cooling costs. Use in occupied rooms since fans cool people, not rooms.2 If you choose to operate your fan and your AC simultaneously, you will

be comfortable at a higher thermostat setting because of the cooling effect of moving air. Higher thermostat settings result in energy Green Building Advisor article about ceiling fans To clarify, I'm talking about the fan system in the AC unit running, and not the compressor running. I'm skeptical of everyone's claim that it would increase the efficiency of the AC unit considering it's not introducing cooler air into the house if it is 105 degrees outside. Is leaving the AC fan on 24/7 more efficient than leaving it on auto? To further clarify, this is with regard to a central system in houses and not a window unit. Although I think this same question could probably apply to window units. The answer seems to be "it depends". Given the commerciality and competitive nature of the HVAC industry, I had a lot of trouble finding peer reviewed academic studies that test your claims. Therefore, I took a look at the patent records for evidence, which led me to US Patent #5492273.

This patent, owned by General Electric, describes a variable-speed blower that can be controlled independently of the compressor. Here are some claims made in the background section of the patent: In general, total heating of air conditioning capacity of a system increases as the indoor air flow rate increases. However, upon reaching a particular air flow rate, the blown air will be less warm or less cool, depending on the mode of the HVAC system, than the air in the room. For air conditioning systems, the indoor coil, or evaporator, tends to "saturate". In other words, the the coil extracts incrementally less energy from the air for equal incremental changes in air flow. Further, the electric power consumed by the indoor blower motor increases rapidly as the air flow rate increases. The system dissipates electric energy as heat in the same air that is being cooled by the system thereby reducing its net cooling capacity. Due to the effects of coil saturation and blower motor power consumption, net total capacity peaks at a certain airflow rate.

Let me briefly summarize the salient points of that paragraph before continuing: For traditional, single-blower-speed air conditioning systems, the efficiency of the system does not scale linearly with air flow speed. The blower motor's electrical usage scales superlinearly with respect to air speed. The faster the air speed the more the coil heats up, thus reducing its cooling efficiency the next time the condenser turns on: an increase in the air flow rate beyond what is required warms the evaporator coil to produce a higher load on the compressor motor. The patent goes on to explain that the reason why most traditional, single-speed blowers don't keep the blower on after the condenser has turned off is exactly because of point #3: The airflow will heat up the coil and require the condenser to remain on longer during the next cycle. The patent also claims that some traditional systems try and avoid this by only switching off the compressor when in blower-only mode (i.e., also keeping pumping the refrigerant), however, the patent says that that uses almost as much electricity as running the entire system:

[delay] turning off the indoor blower fan after after the compressor cycles off. However, the system also continues to draw power at the same level as during the cycle and causes additional energy to be consumed in the indoor fan motor. This claim is a bit surprising. The patent could of course be embellishing that claim in order to make its technology seem more useful. The patent describes a variable speed blower motor that can work independently of the condenser to set the air flow to the optimal speed for cooling. The thermostat, with information from both indoor and outdoor temperature and humidity sensors, can then intelligently decide how to control both the blower and the condenser. Therefore, I'd say that if you have one of these variable-speed blowers and intelligent thermostats (they're getting more common now; I have one in a house I recently bought), I'd say that it would be a bad idea to force the blower to stay on all the time because the system is smarter than you!