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How To Build Your Own Swamp Cooler

Have you recently found out about swamp coolers and are looking to know more about them? Well, you have come to the right place. Swamp coolers are also famously known as swamp boxes or evaporative coolers. These evaporative coolers cool down the air through the process of water evaporation. 

Contents

How Does A Swamp Cooler Function?

The functioning of a swamp cooler is pretty straightforward. First, the cooler draws in air through evaporative cooler pads, which then cool it down. Next, through a blower motor and a vent, this cool air is then blown into a room, making the room cooler. Isn’t that simple!

What Are The Essential Body Parts Of The Swamp Cooler?

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Hold your horses; now, before we dive into the step-by-step guide on building a swamp cooler, it is essential first to check the parts required to make a swamp cooler. 

The main parts of a swamp cooler are:

    • Blower: The blower is a crucial part of the swamp cooler; it aids in expelling the cool air into the room. A blower requires a motor to function. 
    • Evaporative pads: Evaporative pads help pull in warm air from the surroundings to be cooled. 
    • Water supply valve: To cool the air-water is required, the water supply valve brings the water into the cooler.
    • Float: The float is a device that rises above the water and shuts off the water supply valve when the water in the swamp cooler is full. 
    • Pump: The pump aids in keeping the evaporative pads wet by constantly pumping water into them. 

How Does The Swamp Cooler Work?

How do the parts and the cooler work? Well, let’s take a look at the entire process.

    1. First, the water supply pump fills the bottom of the swamp cooler with water.
    2. After reaching a certain level, the float that rests above the water alerts the water supply pump to turn off.
    3. After the cooler is full with sufficient water, the pump will push the water onto the evaporative pads through the distribution pipes.
    4. Once the cooler pads are soaked, the blower motor starts to function. The blow motor pulls warm air from the outside into the cooler through the pads.
    5. The warm air passes through the evaporative pads and is cooled down by the moisture. 
    6. When the air has cooled down, the blower then pushes this cooled air out while pulling in warm air, making the room cool. 

How To Build Your DIY Swamp Cooler

Now that you understand the workings of a swamp cooler and its essential parts, it is time to build your DIY swamp cooler.

But first, here is a list of items that you will require to build your DIY swamp cooler, and hopefully, you have these items lying around your house or garage somewhere.

    • Scissors
    • Garden cloth
    • Small fountain pump
    • Drill
    • Cooling pad
    • Five-gallon bucket
    • Box fan
    • 5 ft PVC tubes
    • 12-gauge wire
    • Saw drill bit

Steps 

    • Once you have collected all the required items, start by taking your 5-gallon water bucket and fill up to 2 gallons of water in it. 
    • Next, take the drill and make holes at the bucket top. Make sure you stay clear of the waterline.
    • Using your saw drill bit, make holes of 1.5 inches in a line all around the bucket. When drilling these holes in a single line, make sure you leave a good amount of space between them. Make one hole leave space for another, and then make another hole. 
    • Once you have completed drilling holes in a line one above the other, the next step is to make a giant hole between the 1.5 inches holes. Take a look at your bucket; you have two lines of 1.5-inch holes, and between these four holes, there is a left-outer space. Now drill a 2-inch gap between these holes. Once you have done that, you will notice a pattern on your bucket. 
    • Once you have drilled the holes in the bucket, the next step is to cut the cooling pad. Measure your cooling pad to 14 inches in height and 31 inches wide. If you have a different bucket, measure out the width and height of your bucket and cut a piece of the cooling pad accordingly. 

Conclusion

So now that you know how to assemble a small swamp cooler by yourself, you can take it along with you anywhere and enjoy the incredible benefits.