Swamp Coolers really only work in very dry climates. I had one in my
house in New Mexico and it really did a job cooling the place down. But
it did so by evaporative cooling - which adds moisture to the air. In a
dry climate it works really great, and is cheaper to run than an air
conditioner. The principle of the thing is that a mist of water is
sprayed between a fan and  a mesh of some type (in my case wood fiber
sandwiched between two plastic screens) The fan blows the mist into the
fiber, and once wet, as the air from the fan passes over the moist fiber
the moisture evaporates, thus cooling the air as it passes through. This
process both cools the air inside and raises the moisture level as well.
In a very dry climate, this is very desirable. However, in a warmer
climate it's horrible. Makes the air so wet and muggy you cannot
possibly get cool. For all around use in a vehicle have a working AC
unit is the solution. But for homes - Swamp coolers in dry climates, AC
units for wet muggy climates like the Deep South.

John

John Rodgers
Clayartist and Moldmaker
88'GL VW Bus Driver
Chelsea, AL
Http://www.moldhaus.com

On 5/13/2011 2:53 PM, Cunegonde wrote:
> I have a small generator, and I also have built an A/C carrier bracket for the passenger window. This is all fine when parked (and I try not to spend much time in places where A/C is a daily use item). However, my cooling (burning?) need is while driving.
>
> I just contacted the Vintage Air people about Vanagon installation. As for evaporative cooling, any listmembers familiar with swampy.net units, or recommendation for better?
>
> Cut hole in roof vs. tear apart dash. Hmmm.
>
>