One of the best ways to cool off the air in a room is to harness the power of evaporation to carry the heat away. This is a process that’s quick and efficient thanks to water being so capable of absorbing heat. It’s the reason why evaporative air coolers do such a good job of reducing the temperature in the room without drying out the air. We should know because we reviewed some of the best evaporative coolers that consumers can purchase. Models that draw the heat out of the air to provide the household with cost-effective cooling. Below are the models we liked the best, along with a description of what each one can do.

Best Evaporative Air Coolers

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3Hessaire MC61M 5,300-CFM Cooler

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In our opinion, an evaporative air cooler should be portable, should be extremely powerful, and should provide the cooling that people need for their space. Fortunately, we’ve found this air cooler from Hessaire to have all of those features and a whole lot more. This unit is only 46-inches by 17-inches by 28-inches in size, but it’s capable of providing up to 5,300 cubic-feet-per-minute of cooling. That’s enough power to cool off space up to 1,600 square feet in size. That makes this simple to operate and extremely efficient model something that we think everyone is going to want to take a good hard look at to see if it’s the right model for them.

Let’s take a look at some of this product’s features, shall we? This model is extremely portable, thanks to its four heavy-duty casters that the consumer can lock when they’ve found the perfect location for it. It also has three different fan speeds: low, medium, and high. It even has an oscillation feature that can be turned on or off according to the user’s needs. In our estimation, that makes this a very easy to use a product that a person can operate according to their personal needs.

Another feature that impressed us about this model was that it could be operated manually or with the continuous fill feature. Manual operation requires the consumer to fill up the water in the unit when it’s been filled up while continuous fill allows the consumer to hook up a hose to the unit so that it can be run nonstop. This gives the consumer a ton of different options.

The unit holds 14.6-gallons of water on board, so if the manual option is selected it should last approximately 4-hours—depending on the conditions in the home or garage. All things considered, we think that this small unit is probably one of the best evaporative air coolers available and one that should provide the consumer with the cooling they need for quite some time.

2Honeywell Evaporative Indoor/Outdoor Cooler

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Honeywell is a company that’s known for making some of the most exciting technology products in the world. This company makes everything from voice-enabled software to parts for the aerospace industry to automation controls. They’re also known for making some of the best air conditioners in the world, so when we saw how good this evaporative air cooler was we weren’t surprised in the least. We know that Honeywell makes some of the most durable and efficient machines in the world. And that’s why we had to review it.

This air cooler is approximately 34.8-inches high and is 14.8-inches deep. It only weighs around 31-pounds, so it’s portable enough to be used just about anywhere in the home. It’s also a model that’s equipped with a GFCI cord and is made with an outer shell that’s UV-resistant, so it can not only be used indoors but can be used outdoors as well. It’s a product that’s capable of cooling an area up to 610 square feet and is one that we think many people are going to get good use out of all year round.

It should also be stated that this air cooler comes with some pretty exciting features that make it even better at cooling the air than standard evaporative air coolers. For example, this model has a triple-side honeycomb design that allows its air to be delivered over a wider area. It also has an ice compartment that can be used at the consumer’s discretion to make the air coming out of it even cooler.

And for people who are tired of having to fill up an air cooler every few hours, this one can be hooked up to a hose so it can deliver coolness all day long. If all of those features and the fact that it has 14-inch fan blades don’t make a person want to buy it, then we doubt there is any evaporative air cooler they would like. This is absolutely a top of the line model.

1Hessaire MC18M 1,300 CFM Cooler

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When the consumer purchases this model they end up getting the Hessair MC18M evaporative air cooler, a set of four wheels to go with the unit (two of them that lock and two that don’t), an owner’s manual, and a brass garden hose adapter. That’s everything the consumer needs to get this beautiful air cooler up and running. This model is approximately 28-inches high, 22-inches wide, and 12-inches deep. It weighs approximately 56 pounds when it’s filled with water and in operation, and it has a power cord that’s approximately 6-feet long. Now, let’s take a closer look at some of its other features.

This product is capable of providing up to 1,300 cubic-feet-per-minute cooling to an area up to 500 square feet in size. This model has five different settings that include a low and a high cooling mode, and a low and a high fan setting. It also has a pump-on setting, but that’s primarily to pre-wet the pads after the unit has been refilled. This model also has a GFCI plug, so consumers can use it both indoors or outdoors as they need to.

Thanks to this product’s brass float adapter, the unit can be hooked up to a garden hose for all-day cooling. This is useful for consumers who don’t want to have to fill it up every few hours. Even though it has this feature, however, the consumer doesn’t have to feel like they need to use it. They can alternately fill the 4.8-gallon tank on this model if they so desire.

Regardless of how it’s used, however, the consumer can rest assured that it’s going to deliver some nice cool air or circulate the air that’s already in the room. And because it only has a decibel level of 53.4-decibels, it’s not all that loud. All things considered, we think that this high-quality evaporative air cooler is one that many people are going to be able to appreciate. We know that we thought that it was a great model for both indoor and outdoor use.

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A Simple Guide To Evaporative Air Coolers

Yes, we know that evaporative air coolers come in a variety of different sizes and styles, and this can make it difficult for the average consumer to find the one that best fits their needs. That’s why we’ve decided to not only review the best evaporative air coolers but also to write this guide on how to buy one. We hope that this evaporative cooler guide will provide all of our readers with the information they need to purchase the best evaporative or swamp cooler available.

Choose An Evaporative Cooler Size

One of the first things that the consumer is going to want to do is determine what size cooler they’re going to need. These coolers come in a variety of sizes, but all of them are rated by their CFM. The CFM stands for cubic-feet-per-minute and that figure tells the consumer how much air the cooler can move per hour.

Okay, now that we know that we have to consider the CFM of the cooler, it’s time to talk about using the CFM of the cooler to determine which cooler is right for you. To determine what CFM you need for your room (or rooms, as the case may be), then you’re going to need to measure out the space being cooled. Once you know the square-feet of a room, including the height of the ceiling, you can then figure out which cooler is right for you.

To figure out the CFM you’re going to need to take the square-feet of the room and multiply it by eight—the standard ceiling height. For example, if your square footage is 500 square-feet, then measure it by eight and you’ll end up with 4,000 square feet. If your ceiling is higher than eight-feet, then adjust the number up by 20% (making the 4,000 square-feet 4,800 square-feet).

Now that we have this first part of the equation figured out, it’s time to convert that number into air exchanges per hour. To do that, you have to multiply the total area that you just calculated by 30 and then divide it by 60. So, using our previous example, the 4,000 square feet is multiplied by 30 and this gives you the number 120,000. Now, we’ll divide that number by 60 and we end up with 2,000 CFM and that’s the rating that we need our cooler to have.

Consider The Evaporative Cooler Type

When you know the CFM of the unit you need, it’s going to be easier to determine what type of cooler to buy. Portable air coolers are usually designed for 150 square feet or less, residential air coolers are designed for approximately 500 square-feet and commercial air coolers are designed for extremely large spaces such as plane hangars or office buildings.

Consider How The Cooler Is Constructed

When choosing a new evaporative cooler, it’s a good idea to think about how the unit is constructed. As a general rule, quality models will be constructed using UV-resistant plastics and with high-quality components. If it’s a portable model, it should also have a handle and/or casters that allow it to be moved easily from one room to the next.

Additional Features To Consider

While the above features are what we consider to be the most basic, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t other features to consider.

Oscillating Louvers

If you need the air to be moved not just in one direction but in an arc, then you’re going to want to choose a model with oscillating louvers. This feature will allow the unit to move air from one part of the room to the next.

Continuous Use

Another feature that comes in handy is a continuous use feature. This feature allows the evaporative cooler to be used on a continuous basis. What does that mean? That means that the consumer won’t have to keep filling it up every four hours to keep the unit running. All they have to do is hook it up to a hose. This will keep a fresh supply of water heading to the unit and do it without you having to refill it after every several hours.

A Water Level Indicator

A water level indicator is also a great feature for one of these coolers to have. This indicator allows the consumer to check it anytime they want and alerts them to when the unit needs to be refilled.

Different Fan Options

It’s also a good idea to get a cooler that has different fan speeds—at the very least, one that has a low, medium, and high-speed setting. That will allow you to set the fan according to your circumstances and the temperature of the room.