Evaporative cooling is always about compromise. Y'all did a fantastic job making this perfectly clear while also keeping it informational, real, and humorous. This was, yet again, a joy to watch! Rocky and Reli are the best co-conspirators on the channel! I absolutely love you all!
I'm a longtime Arizona resident and swamp cooler user and I suggest, as another commenter did, that you open a window a little at the farthest distance from the incoming air to allow hot air to move out as cool air is blowing in and circulating. That's what you must do in a house to make a swamp cooler work. Also, the cooling comes from water evaporating from the pads, not from adding water to the air, which is why evaporative coolers work when it's dry but not when it's humid. But the best bet for you guys for staying cool(er) in the hot months is to use your mobility to go up in elevation. I will never have a van, but I love watching your content because you're amusing and it's interesting to see your clever tactics for making things work. 😃
Have you thought of using the larger return fitting to run a pipe to the kitchen area to allow periodic remote top ups, admittedly the flow would not be as great as a full size pipe but it would allow a top up, thinking about it you could rig up a collapsible water bottle which would gravity feed into it from the kitchen work top for when it’s getting heavy use and when not remove the bottle and stow it collapsed 🙃
We did think about drilling a hole in the side of the couch wall and running a line from the resevoir in the garage to it, that way we could use the sink and top it off more conveniently. All good suggestions:) We'll probably head north to avoid the major heat for now while we weigh the options and wait for a good location/time to do a few other renovations too.
Oh yeah, reminder to Ben/Julie supporters: LIKE the VIDEO, COMMENT on comments, and then LIKE everyone’s COMMENTS, too. It’s about trying to show engagement to influence the tubes algorithm, right? Come on, take a few moments to 👍 everything possible, team!
A good man shares his ice cream with his dogs in the heat. Good job Ben! Also lots of dog video lately even in the background is always a treat. Btw You guys have made some great shorts for You Tube! I’d advise everyone to check them out!
Thanks for saying that! Our analytics tells us that our Shorts viewers are mainly new people, not returning viewers, so it seems like most of our core audience misses the Shorts
@@dogcatmanvan I wouldn’t have known because usually I don’t watch shorts! I am scared of getting sucked into a mindless scroll. But now I see them on your regular page too. It’s a great way to get new viewers I’d think! I swear I think YT analytics are just to discourage people. I know it’s hard, but try not to look. Your change hasn’t been that long in place and your video will be fantastic. I think they just look at the last 24 hours or so after you upload? I try, but I get behind. So not all of us can watch right away and the analytics I don’t think take late views into account? Please keep doing what makes you happy, I’m seeing great comments! And forget the analytics. I’ve seen them torture some fantastic creators who are in a constant race to make them better, even with tons of views they just destroy your confidence. But I don’t remember you guys mentioning the shorts so we might not have known?I found them by accident.
@@bchurchill3551 Yeah, but someone would probably have to tie my hands together to not look! I can imagine it’s tough, but I never hear ppl speak of them positively. And of course I’m not a YT’er so I feel weird giving ideas, yet I still give them!🤐
Nice setup! You should look at some IOT (internet of things) options like sprinkler automation/water projects that could make filling easier…a Bluetooth solenoid valve and a pex or pvc tee/splitter connector could make it much easier! Adaftuit and rain bird have lots of systems that are under 25-50 dollars
Thanks I'll check those out. I'm leaning towards just plumbing the air cooler's water pump directly to the 50 gallon water tank but maybe those are more cost effective or conventient
Good content. Thanks for sweating it out in Phoenix to demo. That said, word is you live in a van and can drive to the mountains (Flagstaff) or the Oregon coast to be more comfortable.
We did immediately leave Phoenix after filming. The reason we went there was to film the Salt River and we thought it would be a great idea to push our air cooler to the max while we were there. But then run away to Payson and Flagstaff to cool off
like all the comments, good ideas. And I would like to make a couple of suggestions that have made my use of a swamp cooler much better at being efficient, and staying cooler. 1) Turn on just the pump for 5-10 minutes allowing it to saturate the pads before turning on the fan. there is a reason there is a pump control and a fan control (besides for vent without cooling) If you turn on both at the same time aif immediately gets pulled through the pad and the water doesn't have time to soak all of the pad, this will cause dry spots on the pad (water tension keeps water flowing where water has been, for example if you splash your drivers window with water say from a cup, it doesn't flow down the window in an even sheet, it quickly merges into multiple streams, leaving dryer spots between streams) and the dry spots will continue to pull in hot air mixing it with the air that did come through wet spots in the pad, raising the temperature of the output air greatly reducing cooling ability. 2) A swamp cooler only works if there is proper airflow both in from the cooler and out through a window. If you are parked level turn the cooler on low, open a front window slowly, you should hear a whistling noise from the air escaping, keep slowly opening the window until the whistle stops, this is allowing the same amount of air to escape as is coming in, roll the window up lust until you hear the whistle start, (this allows for a small amount of cabin pressure to keep wind, smoke, bugs etc from being able to come into the vehicle) measure how far open the window is open and write Low-1" (or whatever the measurement is), you know the higher fan speeds are going to be more air, so no need to close the window, just start there, complete the above steps for medium fan, starting with medium fan window measurement, follow above steps for High fan. Once complete, and since you properly saturated the pads as in 1) above, while enjoying the cool air, take your measurement notes and mark something (a wooden ruler, plastic piece, just something that moisture won't degrade) with the measurements from your notes to use as a guide (for example if your measurements were low-1" medium-2" high-3") you would low-1" make a mark 1" from the tip of guide write low 1" between tip and 1" mark, repeat for medium- 2" marking a mark 2" from the tip, etc now you gave a handy tool just hold it by your window, up against the point you measured from to get your measurements roll the window down to the line for desired fan speed, and it is set without having to go through the process, have to turn the cooler from low to high? just use your tool and move the window down to your high mark. If your measurements are larger Say low-2" medium-4" high-6" you can mark your guide tool at 2" low- one window/ med- both windows and 3"- both windows (low open 1 window to the 2" mark, med open both windows to the 2" mark and high open both windows to 3" mark to get proper air flow and keep vehicle secure without having to open 1 window so far. I have used this exact method for decades, in shops, homes etc. when I lived in the foothills of central california it was often in the mid 100s but I remember when we had a hot spell of 15 days straight that was 113+ and my house never got over 75 degrees, yes the cooler was on 24/7 but usually on low until I got home @4pm then I would turn it to high for a few hours until the sun set. I know it is a long post, but I know there are many people out there who would like to stay comfortable. And my power bill was @$80 per month in the winter (fireplace for heat) and @$120 per month in the summer with the cooler on and running the swimming pool, way less than the $400-$800 everyone else was paying PG&E for 80 degree home temps. God Bless Ken
We lived in an old postwar apartment for a few years with a swamp cooler. (Frogs love the things 🤣 I seriously doubt you'll have that problem.) We learned the best thing to do is open a window just a little. Ours was in the living room and we opened the master bedroom window down a hall and around the corner. Just a quarter inch of air flow dropped the temp quite a lot.
They drove us nuts one year. The cooler acted like a speaker box. Also, try that RV insulation coat stuff. Reports are it cuts heat by 15 to 20 degrees, so you'd be down a good 35, 40? You've got a smaller roof, lucky you. We're looking at two 5 gallon buckets. 😑
Removing heat from air seems like one of those things that should be easier, but there's really no universal good solution to it. Either you need copious amounts of electricity or copious amounts of water. The only thing I've read about swamp coolers are mostly negatives / cons, so it's cool to see you guys getting some reasonable results with it. Is the idea for now to spend the hotter months down where it's dry enough to use it consistently? Or do you guys have a different solution for summering in the PNW?
We try to just avoid the heat the most natural way, by running away from it haha we are working our way north before summer actually hits, but it's nice to have the system for when we need it. I think the majority of areas we like spending time are naturally drier climates, which is why we chose the swamp cooler.
Thank you for making this video; I had never considered an evaporative cooler on a van before. The water consumption is a big deal; sure, you can power it on solar and battery, but carrying an extra 10 gal per day to stay cool would be tricky in a rig that small. Nice to know you can keep the dogs cool in the van while doing short errands. What do you use to monitor the van temp remotely?
I agree that carrying the extra water would be tough if you're operating out of a smaller rig or especially one with only like a 5 gallon water jug under the sink. It's a great option if it works within your build and geography constraints! We're personally looing into Waggle for a new monitoring system. We have a bluetooth thermostat but it's not our favorite
Good video. My husband used a 3D printer to make custom gaskets to fit the ribs of the van roof. Worked much better than all the ugly goop they want you to use. We haven't been happy with our Fresair. It's great if you're lying on the bed directly under it, but in the rest of the van, it's still hot. And we live/travel in dry climates. And our van is light colored. And we use insulated window covers. And I use 1-2 small portable fans to move the cool air forward (with our Maxxair fan running to pull air forward as well. Just doesn't cut it. It's also frustrating that there's no way of knowing how much water is in the tank. So we avoid camping in hot weather which, where we live, is most of the summer. Sigh.
Maybe attaching a long hose to extend the refill port on the reservoir of the AC? That way you could route it right out to the door past all the gear, they sell some with a pre-threaded end, and caps with rubber gaskets.I Guess if you really wanted to go all out you would just route a line to the evaporators reservoir from your main water tank.
Just on my fumphtieth watch and thought re my earlier comment about the tank 🙃 there shouldn’t be any reason why you couldn’t fit the pump and float to either your existing fresh water tank or fit a larger water tank where that one is as usually the tanks come sealed and you add your own fittings, edit I noted jules mentioned the 50 gal tank…………….I’ll get my coat 🤪
can you maybe Mac guyver a short hose attachment with closure like valve or screw that you could hose the water into? tricky but you will figure it out!
Still waiting for the part where you show us the best cooling method. Cuz swamp cooling ain’t it. Most places you need cooling are super humid and a swamp cooler will not suffice. Probably why they don’t come standard in cars for cooling versus AC 😉 Currently looking into some kind of Peltier setup, but I’m not sure that will do the trick either. Might have to go full blown AC but I can’t find a small/slim enough model.
@@dogcatmanvan I am dreaming of the day when I convert my van or a school bus and we meet on the road and in that moment I will yell "COMMENT" and I hope you will remember me ❤️❤️
Oh yeah, reminder to Ben/Julie supporters: LIKE the VIDEO, COMMENT on comments, and then LIKE everyone’s COMMENTS, too. It’s about trying to show engagement to influence the tubes algorithm, right? Come on, take a few moments to 👍 everything possible, team!
Evaporative cooling is always about compromise. Y'all did a fantastic job making this perfectly clear while also keeping it informational, real, and humorous. This was, yet again, a joy to watch! Rocky and Reli are the best co-conspirators on the channel! I absolutely love you all!
Thanks so much! And true point; living in a van itself is mostly about compromise haha
I'm a longtime Arizona resident and swamp cooler user and I suggest, as another commenter did, that you open a window a little at the farthest distance from the incoming air to allow hot air to move out as cool air is blowing in and circulating. That's what you must do in a house to make a swamp cooler work. Also, the cooling comes from water evaporating from the pads, not from adding water to the air, which is why evaporative coolers work when it's dry but not when it's humid. But the best bet for you guys for staying cool(er) in the hot months is to use your mobility to go up in elevation. I will never have a van, but I love watching your content because you're amusing and it's interesting to see your clever tactics for making things work. 😃
All good points! We did leave Phoenix immediately after filming. No point in pushing the unit to its max when we can just drive elsewhere to cool off!
So glad Ben finally got his ice cream.
It was ice cream flavored water after about three minutes haha
You DRAINED THE SWAMP cooler. Wohoo! DBVB.
Joke there.
@@bchurchill3551 I laughed!
I see what you did there:)
@@phoenixgirl70 and commented for engagement! Yay.
I think I'm going to give the window AC a try 🤞.. appreciate the videos! 👍🏼❤
You two are so good together.. I really enjoy your content.
This was done at the beginning of the build!!! You guys did plan the long way. 👍🏽 Good job.
Haha yeah this was a long time work in progress video!
Funny as ever😂♥️
Bless your hearts. No way could I survive in 80* but in Iowa the humidity is inhumane at times.
This is so cool!!! 😁🤩
Have you thought of using the larger return fitting to run a pipe to the kitchen area to allow periodic remote top ups, admittedly the flow would not be as great as a full size pipe but it would allow a top up, thinking about it you could rig up a collapsible water bottle which would gravity feed into it from the kitchen work top for when it’s getting heavy use and when not remove the bottle and stow it collapsed 🙃
We did think about drilling a hole in the side of the couch wall and running a line from the resevoir in the garage to it, that way we could use the sink and top it off more conveniently. All good suggestions:) We'll probably head north to avoid the major heat for now while we weigh the options and wait for a good location/time to do a few other renovations too.
Oh yeah, reminder to Ben/Julie supporters: LIKE the VIDEO, COMMENT on comments, and then LIKE everyone’s COMMENTS, too. It’s about trying to show engagement to influence the tubes algorithm, right? Come on, take a few moments to 👍 everything possible, team!
Great review!
stay frosty
I love Julie's animations and how you talk for the pups great video guys ❤
Thanks so much Susan:)
Liiiikkkke!!!!
Subscribe and comment on comments, too. Thank y’all.
A good man shares his ice cream with his dogs in the heat. Good job Ben! Also lots of dog video lately even in the background is always a treat. Btw You guys have made some great shorts for You Tube! I’d advise everyone to check them out!
Thanks for saying that! Our analytics tells us that our Shorts viewers are mainly new people, not returning viewers, so it seems like most of our core audience misses the Shorts
@@dogcatmanvan I wouldn’t have known because usually I don’t watch shorts! I am scared of getting sucked into a mindless scroll. But now I see them on your regular page too. It’s a great way to get new viewers I’d think! I swear I think YT analytics are just to discourage people. I know it’s hard, but try not to look. Your change hasn’t been that long in place and your video will be fantastic. I think they just look at the last 24 hours or so after you upload? I try, but I get behind. So not all of us can watch right away and the analytics I don’t think take late views into account? Please keep doing what makes you happy, I’m seeing great comments! And forget the analytics. I’ve seen them torture some fantastic creators who are in a constant race to make them better, even with tons of views they just destroy your confidence. But I don’t remember you guys mentioning the shorts so we might not have known?I found them by accident.
@@phoenixgirl70 GREAT advice! 🙈
@@bchurchill3551 Yeah, but someone would probably have to tie my hands together to not look! I can imagine it’s tough, but I never hear ppl speak of them positively. And of course I’m not a YT’er so I feel weird giving ideas, yet I still give them!🤐
Thank you for your hard work!
Hey thanks again:) glad you enjoy the videos!
Nice setup! You should look at some IOT (internet of things) options like sprinkler automation/water projects that could make filling easier…a Bluetooth solenoid valve and a pex or pvc tee/splitter connector could make it much easier! Adaftuit and rain bird have lots of systems that are under 25-50 dollars
Thanks I'll check those out. I'm leaning towards just plumbing the air cooler's water pump directly to the 50 gallon water tank but maybe those are more cost effective or conventient
Commennnttttt!!!!
Exactly!
Commenting…like this? Perhaps, yes!
We're going to be bigger than ever with this kind of engagement!
@@phoenixgirl70 yup!
@@dogcatmanvan bigger and bigger and…. mostly due to the ice cream.
❤❤❤
Good content. Thanks for sweating it out in Phoenix to demo. That said, word is you live in a van and can drive to the mountains (Flagstaff) or the Oregon coast to be more comfortable.
…or Washington State!
We did immediately leave Phoenix after filming. The reason we went there was to film the Salt River and we thought it would be a great idea to push our air cooler to the max while we were there. But then run away to Payson and Flagstaff to cool off
@@dogcatmanvan That's really cool. I'm from Payson but my off grid site I'm building is near snowflake. Awesome video by the way.
I'm in winter here but still happy to watch your great demonstration all the way through👍
While we were in Phoenix we were dreaming of winter...thanks for watching!!
@@dogcatmanvan Yes, I know the feeling after five years on the road!
No bueno for my rig. That is too much water usage. Thanks for the great review!
Thanks for your input!
like all the comments, good ideas. And I would like to make a couple of suggestions that have made my use of a swamp cooler much better at being efficient, and staying cooler.
1) Turn on just the pump for 5-10 minutes allowing it to saturate the pads before turning on the fan. there is a reason there is a pump control and a fan control (besides for vent without cooling) If you turn on both at the same time aif immediately gets pulled through the pad and the water doesn't have time to soak all of the pad, this will cause dry spots on the pad (water tension keeps water flowing where water has been, for example if you splash your drivers window with water say from a cup, it doesn't flow down the window in an even sheet, it quickly merges into multiple streams, leaving dryer spots between streams) and the dry spots will continue to pull in hot air mixing it with the air that did come through wet spots in the pad, raising the temperature of the output air greatly reducing cooling ability.
2) A swamp cooler only works if there is proper airflow both in from the cooler and out through a window. If you are parked level turn the cooler on low, open a front window slowly, you should hear a whistling noise from the air escaping, keep slowly opening the window until the whistle stops, this is allowing the same amount of air to escape as is coming in, roll the window up lust until you hear the whistle start, (this allows for a small amount of cabin pressure to keep wind, smoke, bugs etc from being able to come into the vehicle) measure how far open the window is open and write Low-1" (or whatever the measurement is), you know the higher fan speeds are going to be more air, so no need to close the window, just start there, complete the above steps for medium fan, starting with medium fan window measurement, follow above steps for High fan. Once complete, and since you properly saturated the pads as in 1) above, while enjoying the cool air, take your measurement notes and mark something (a wooden ruler, plastic piece, just something that moisture won't degrade) with the measurements from your notes to use as a guide (for example if your measurements were low-1" medium-2" high-3") you would low-1" make a mark 1" from the tip of guide write low 1" between tip and 1" mark, repeat for medium- 2" marking a mark 2" from the tip, etc now you gave a handy tool just hold it by your window, up against the point you measured from to get your measurements roll the window down to the line for desired fan speed, and it is set without having to go through the process, have to turn the cooler from low to high? just use your tool and move the window down to your high mark. If your measurements are larger Say low-2" medium-4" high-6" you can mark your guide tool at 2" low- one window/ med- both windows and 3"- both windows (low open 1 window to the 2" mark, med open both windows to the 2" mark and high open both windows to 3" mark to get proper air flow and keep vehicle secure without having to open 1 window so far.
I have used this exact method for decades, in shops, homes etc. when I lived in the foothills of central california it was often in the mid 100s but I remember when we had a hot spell of 15 days straight that was 113+ and my house never got over 75 degrees, yes the cooler was on 24/7 but usually on low until I got home @4pm then I would turn it to high for a few hours until the sun set. I know it is a long post, but I know there are many people out there who would like to stay comfortable. And my power bill was @$80 per month in the winter (fireplace for heat) and @$120 per month in the summer with the cooler on and running the swimming pool, way less than the $400-$800 everyone else was paying PG&E for 80 degree home temps.
God Bless
Ken
Marshmallow!!!!!
crispy marshmellow
We lived in an old postwar apartment for a few years with a swamp cooler. (Frogs love the things 🤣 I seriously doubt you'll have that problem.) We learned the best thing to do is open a window just a little. Ours was in the living room and we opened the master bedroom window down a hall and around the corner. Just a quarter inch of air flow dropped the temp quite a lot.
Haha we havent seen any frogs sneaking their way in but youll be the first to know if I find one
They drove us nuts one year. The cooler acted like a speaker box. Also, try that RV insulation coat stuff. Reports are it cuts heat by 15 to 20 degrees, so you'd be down a good 35, 40? You've got a smaller roof, lucky you. We're looking at two 5 gallon buckets. 😑
Removing heat from air seems like one of those things that should be easier, but there's really no universal good solution to it. Either you need copious amounts of electricity or copious amounts of water.
The only thing I've read about swamp coolers are mostly negatives / cons, so it's cool to see you guys getting some reasonable results with it. Is the idea for now to spend the hotter months down where it's dry enough to use it consistently? Or do you guys have a different solution for summering in the PNW?
We try to just avoid the heat the most natural way, by running away from it haha we are working our way north before summer actually hits, but it's nice to have the system for when we need it. I think the majority of areas we like spending time are naturally drier climates, which is why we chose the swamp cooler.
Thank you for making this video; I had never considered an evaporative cooler on a van before. The water consumption is a big deal; sure, you can power it on solar and battery, but carrying an extra 10 gal per day to stay cool would be tricky in a rig that small. Nice to know you can keep the dogs cool in the van while doing short errands. What do you use to monitor the van temp remotely?
I agree that carrying the extra water would be tough if you're operating out of a smaller rig or especially one with only like a 5 gallon water jug under the sink. It's a great option if it works within your build and geography constraints! We're personally looing into Waggle for a new monitoring system. We have a bluetooth thermostat but it's not our favorite
Cool 😉
Live in a rv... lucky for me the ac worked..however had to buy a generator to run all my electrical
Very cool thanks for the info. Love the nips and wish we could see ya running around with nothing on LOL
Good video. My husband used a 3D printer to make custom gaskets to fit the ribs of the van roof. Worked much better than all the ugly goop they want you to use.
We haven't been happy with our Fresair. It's great if you're lying on the bed directly under it, but in the rest of the van, it's still hot. And we live/travel in dry climates. And our van is light colored. And we use insulated window covers. And I use 1-2 small portable fans to move the cool air forward (with our Maxxair fan running to pull air forward as well. Just doesn't cut it. It's also frustrating that there's no way of knowing how much water is in the tank. So we avoid camping in hot weather which, where we live, is most of the summer. Sigh.
Rock = Prez
Maybe attaching a long hose to extend the refill port on the reservoir of the AC? That way you could route it right out to the door past all the gear, they sell some with a pre-threaded end, and caps with rubber gaskets.I Guess if you really wanted to go all out you would just route a line to the evaporators reservoir from your main water tank.
And another one for Rock (squeak) go Rock
Peggy Hill had the best take on Pheonix - "This city should not exist. It is a monument to man's arrogance."
Haha nice one!
Someone said the same about Los Vegas, didn't they? But, hey, humans love a challenge.😂
Just on my fumphtieth watch and thought re my earlier comment about the tank 🙃 there shouldn’t be any reason why you couldn’t fit the pump and float to either your existing fresh water tank or fit a larger water tank where that one is as usually the tanks come sealed and you add your own fittings, edit I noted jules mentioned the 50 gal tank…………….I’ll get my coat 🤪
can you maybe Mac guyver a short hose attachment with closure like valve or screw that you could hose the water into? tricky but you will figure it out!
Thumbs up just for the intro! 😅
Still waiting for the part where you show us the best cooling method. Cuz swamp cooling ain’t it. Most places you need cooling are super humid and a swamp cooler will not suffice. Probably why they don’t come standard in cars for cooling versus AC 😉
Currently looking into some kind of Peltier setup, but I’m not sure that will do the trick either. Might have to go full blown AC but I can’t find a small/slim enough model.
There are 12v air conditioniners for this they are called "backpack 12v ac"
You need to open a window and it will get at least 10 degrees cooler. If you don't open a window you will also blow up your fan motor
New video coming soon... Title: "We swopped out our Air Cooler for an Air Conditioner".
Comment thrice!!!!!!
You guys really should consider to go with Truma Saphire…this unit you have can’t do the job unfortunately
Big mistake. The good news is that you can always switch this for real air conditioning because the hole is already cut.
Yeah opening a door is to much , window would work ..
I don't like the tank I want to be able to fill the tank with ice cubes
😂😂😂😂😂 get a real AC
♥
Shit unit
COMMENT
Thanks so much for watching and engaging!
@@dogcatmanvan I am dreaming of the day when I convert my van or a school bus and we meet on the road and in that moment I will yell "COMMENT" and I hope you will remember me ❤️❤️
@@dogcatmanvan Have I earned a T-shirt that says, “Like, subscribe and comment on comments!
“. MERCH! Haha.
Oh yeah, reminder to Ben/Julie supporters: LIKE the VIDEO, COMMENT on comments, and then LIKE everyone’s COMMENTS, too. It’s about trying to show engagement to influence the tubes algorithm, right? Come on, take a few moments to 👍 everything possible, team!
Comment on the comments and 👍 everythang. Yes.
@@bchurchill3551 Commenting on your comment. Great comment!
Commenting on your comment's comment's comment! Thanks guys!
@@phoenixgirl70 Thank you, thank you very much. (Channeling Elvis).
@@bchurchill3551 I picked up on the Elvis. Look, comment telepathy!