How Much Does Evaporative Cooler Installation Cost In Denver?

A Look At The Average Price Of Installing A New Evaporative Cooler In Your Denver Home

Why There Is So Much Confusion About Evaporative Cooler Installation Prices
As evaporative cooling manufacturers continue to improve the performance and reliability of their latest models, more homeowners in Denver have opted to install a swamp cooler over central air conditioning. However, they usually arrive this decision after having to work their way through a good bit of confusion about how much installing an evaporative cooler should cost. 

When people read about all the recent technological advances in evaporative cooling they don’t usually realize there’s a big difference between the best evaporative cooler brands and the cheap, generic swamp coolers brands sold at places like Home Depot and Lowe’s. Most people aren’t surprised to learn that the low-end swamp coolers sold by big-box retailers can’t compete with the more advanced, higher quality coolers from top evaporative cooling brands like Breezair and AeroCool.

F.Y.I.
Homeowners in Denver often refer to their evaporative coolers as a swamp cooler, but they are referring to the same type of cooling equipment. Although high-end evaporative cooler companies don’t like to refer to their product as a swamp cooler, both names do in fact refer to the same thing.

All Evaporative Coolers Are Not Alike
Sometimes homeowners with older swamp coolers simply plan on replacing a swamp cooler they’ve had for years with another cheap unit because they don’t know how much the technology and performance has improved in the most reliable evaporative cooler brands. The thing to remember about installing an evaporative cooler is something you’re Mom or Dad probably told you a million times. You get what you pay for.

If you don’t mind mediocre home cooling, frequent breakdowns, and constant maintenance headaches, then a low-end swamp cooler is probably fine. But if you want to enjoy all the benefits of the top evaporative cooler brands, you’ll want to avoid installing one of those low-priced, old-style coolers. If you’re wondering whether installing a unit from one of the best whole house evaporative cooler brands is worth the money, let me assure you it’s worth every penny. There’s a huge difference.

All Evaporative Cooler Installation Companies Are Not Alike
The old adage you get what you pay for also applies to which type of Denver evaporative cooler installation company you want to install your new cooler for you. Do you want ‘some guy’ who works out of his truck or has an office in his garage? Or do you want a real company, with highly-qualified technicians, and a top-notch customer service staff? Do you want your swamp cooler installed by a company that includes parts and labor warrantees that cover everything for as long as 7 years, or are you willing to roll the dice and hope you don’t have expensive problems with that new cooler?

If you want to hire one of the best evaporative cooler installation companies in Denver, then choose one who has lots of Google reviews posted by their customers, preferably at least 150 reviews. Obviously you’re going to want a company that has a good average rating as well. Look for an average rating of at least 4.5 stars, as the best swamp cooler companies are going to have an average rating of 4.5 – 4.7 for the most part.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The price ranges I’ve put together for you were determined by 2 things.
1. The actual cost of evaporative cooler installations for several hundred Denver homeowners over the last 12 months.

2. Having a well-known, reputable Denver evaporative cooler company handle the installation.

The Average Price Range For Evaporative Cooler Installation In Denver
NOTE: Where you end up in any of the price ranges below depends on several factors like how steep your roof is, any modifications that might need to be done in the attic, and a host of other factors.

Better-Than Average Evaporative Cooler: If you want to install a good, mid-tier model from a top swamp cooler brand like Breezair, you can plan on a price range of $5,000 – $6,500 before any rebates from Xcel Energy.

Top-Of-The-Line Evaporative Cooler: To install one of the most advanced swamp coolers with high-end comfort-enhancing features like variable-speed technology, the price range will typically be anywhere $6,000 – $7,500 before any rebates from Xcel Energy.

Other Factors That Can Affect The Cost Of Evaporative Cooler Installation
As I mentioned above, there are a multitude of factors that can affect the final price of your cooler installation. In addition to the factors listed above, the cost of your installation will depend at least to some degree on things like:

• How many rooms you want to cool, which determines how many runs (ducts) you need.
• The size of your home.
• How long the runs (ducts) need to be from the cooler to the rooms you want to cool.
• Whether you have room in your electrical panel to add a new circuit for your swamp cooler.
• Location of your electrical panel in relation to your cooler.
• Xcel Energy evaporative cooling rebates that are available for the model you install

A Note Of Caution About Cheap Evaporative Cooler Installation
I know it can sometimes be tempting to fall for lowball estimates offered by cheaper swamp cooler installation companies, especially for homeowners who have never had a bad experience with a contractor. So just in case you’ve never experienced the nightmare of dealing with a bad swamp cooler installation (or if you didn’t listen to your Mom and Dad when they cautioned you that ‘you get what you pay for’) please allow me offer you some information most people wish they’d had before trusting one of the cheaper swamp cooler companies that exist here in Denver.

Starting in the late-Spring and continuing right through August, our office gets calls from people every day who are having problems with an evaporative cooler they had installed even as recently as a year ago. They can’t get their evaporative cooler to work, or it’s leaking into their attic and the ceilings inside their home, and guess what… the company that installed their cooler either won’t return their phone calls or is out of business.

I’m not exaggerating when I say we get calls like this every day. It’s literally 7 days a week, and sometimes more than one a day. We get calls like this from people wanted to save $1,000 or maybe even $2,000 on the cost of their evaporative cooler, but they didn’t realize how much could go wrong with the installation and how expensive it can be to correct the problem, and then fix the damage.

If you’re going to invest in a quality evaporative cooler, don’t make the mistake of trusting the installation to a company just because they offer to do it cheaply. A cheap estimate to install an evaporative cooler should actually be a red flag. A huge red flag.

Final Thoughts…
If you hire a well-known, reputable Denver evaporative cooler installation company with lots of good Google reviews from their customers, you will be happy with your new cooler, you will enjoy peace of mind, and a mostly trouble-free ownership experience. That is worth twice as much as you risk by allowing a mediocre company to install a swamp cooler in your home. Follow that advice, and you’ll thank me (and your Mom and Dad) when your neighbor starts complaining about all the problems they’re having with their swamp cooler and how they wish they’s gone with the company you hired.

If you’d like to schedule a Free Estimate for installing a new evaporative cooler, or you’d just like to speak with someone to get more information, feel free to call us at 303-505-3406.

Or you can visit the Altitude Comfort Heating and Air – Denver swamp cooler installation information page.