So it's an air conditioner, right? Technically, yes -- it conditions the air by cooling it, but it works much differently than what we commonly think of as an air conditioner. Standard AC units work by passing air over a set of coils filled with a refrigerant like Freon (a trade name for a variety of chemical blends), which heats and cools as it's compressed and expands. The air is cooled by the coils, sent into your house, and then re-circulated over and over through the machine, venting hot air generated in the process to the outside. (For more about standard air conditioners, see How Air Conditioners Work). It's a closed process -- leaving a window or door open allows the cool air to escape and makes the air conditioner work harder to supply cold air. Swamp coolers are an open system. They rely on the flow of air through the building to direct the cool air, and since they always need hot, dry air to evaporate the water, it needs to displace the air already in the house.

Both systems can use either a large central unit or small window units, but air from the swamp cooler needs a way out. Opening and closing windows and doors controls the air flow from the swamp cooler to different parts of the house, while central air conditioners use ducts to direct the flow. Swamp coolers can also use ducts in some cases, but they need to be larger than traditional air conditioner ducts to account for a greater flow of air from the swamp cooler. Standard air conditioners also dry the air, condensing water vapor from the cooled room as it passes over the cold coils. The water drains outside -- that's the distinctive drip you'll feel if you stand under a window air conditioning unit long enough. The result is a dryer room, and in humid climates, that can be a good thing. Too much humidity can prevent perspiration, which is how we cool ourselves naturally. Since swamp coolers work by putting water into the dry air, they act as humidifiers. This is great in dryer climates, because humidity can also be too low for comfort.

Under the right conditions the water-laden breeze also can have a secondary effect of helping the skin's perspiration, resulting in an even cooler feel than the swamp cooler would give on its own. Because of the different ways they work, you can't run a swamp cooler and a standard air conditioner in the same house. change air filter ac unitThey would cancel each other out, just like running a dehumidifier and a humidifier in the same room.how much to replace entire ac unit So, if you can only pick one, which is better? air conditioner small room portableThe swamp cooler or the air conditioner?This is an archived post. You won't be able to vote or comment. Frugal air conditioning in Florida.... Central versus window unit for night (self.

Frugal)submitted by Hey guys! So I live in an apartment in Florida. It is hot almost all the time. During the day, we have no problem with the heat and keep the thermostat just low enough to not grow things on the walls, but we absolutely need the AC at night. There's just no arguing that. We have a box fan, ceiling fan, the works, but it needs to be cool for me to get quality sleep. I have no problem with it now since it's been cool during the days, so we really only use to AC at night, but during the summer months I know the AC will work a lot harder to cool the house, and my electricity bill will go up. My question is would a window unit be cheaper than using the central air at night? We don't need to air condition the entire house when we are just sleeping in the bedroom. If we always keep the AC at 78ish during the day and really only need the AC lowered for night, would my electricity bill be lower if we used a window unit to keep the bedroom cool during the night and could then keep the central AC unit for the whole house at 78-80 all summer long?

Edit: I should probably add that we have a one bedroom apartment around 900 square feet. We do have light blocking curtains in the bedroom, our apartment doesn't face the sun until the evening, and we keep our filters clean. π Rendered by PID 18084 on app-535 at 2016-09-30 18:01:21.764077+00:00 running 9b22fbe country code: US.Learning Center / Indoor Air Quality / Is a Portable A/C or a Window A/C the Right Cooling Unit for Me?Is a Portable A/C or a Window A/C the Right Cooling Unit for Me?Can I save money by getting a window air conditioner and using my central air less? August 8, 2012   Subscribe Will turning up the thermostat on my central air and buying a window AC unit for the one room I use the most make a significant difference in my electric bill? This is hopefully a simple question, but I'm not confident that my assumptions are correct. I recently bought a house, it's a 2-story that's about 1750 square feet, located in Michigan USA. The house has a central air unit that looks very very old, but still functions well.

The thermostat in the house is on the ground floor, and I've kept it set to about 70 degrees Fahrenheit when I'm home, since the upper floor tends to be at least 7-8 degrees warmer than the ground floor, and I spend more of my time upstairs. I am currently the only person living here. The outside temperatures during July were generally in the 90s, occasionally in the 100s. I knew that cooling a 1750 square foot house was going to cost more than cooling my old 1-bedroom apartment. But I was surprised by just how much more. My electric bill last month was $260, twice the highest amount I ever paid while living in an apartment! I'm guessing that the AC is the main difference between the bills at these two places, since everything else I own is more or less the same, and is getting the same amount of use (same computers and TVs, comparable refrigerator, etc). I'm trying to figure out how to save money on my electric bill while at the same time cooling my upstairs bedroom/office more effectively.