7 Comments

Thanks Mike! Now what’s the scam about free solar panels?

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A wet cloth placed on your neck and a fan would do just as good if not better.

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Mike, you are absolutely correct in your analysis of these mini-swamp coolers. But their ability, under the certain circumstances cannot be denied. I lived in Phoenix AZ for a few years, where these were used in a few homes as rooftop coolers. On a larger scale than the ones hyped in recent scams, these can work semi-efficiently in a hot and very dry environments. Under the right conditions, they are able to do something a fan and mister will not, and that is cool a larger area, like a room.

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Agreed! Under the right circumstances the rooftop evaporative coolers can work quite well. But these tiny desktop units powered by a USB port on your computer are essentially a misting fan.

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I’d love to see some A/C reviews or a survey of the current cooling technology landscape. The wife and I are experiencing our first really hot weather camping—consecutive 100+ degree days and 80+ degree nights—and I’d love to get ideas on how we could improve the experience in future. Our absorption refrigerator is struggling much more than our A/C units, though.

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Thank you so much, Mike! I thought this was kinda like the coolers that cool X number of degrees below room temperature. I still have one I used in a big rig. Worked fine there, but the rig was always in the 70's.

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You’re referring to the Peltier Effect, which is the technology in semiconductor coolers. They on drop the temperature by maybe 20 degrees, so they work as a cooler, not a true refrigerator. I’ll cover more on the different types of coolers later. https://phononic.com/resources/how-thermoelectric-cooling-uses-the-peltier-effect/#:~:text=The%20Peltier%20effect%20refers%20to,current%20as%20well%20as%20reversible.

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