Evaporative Coolers vs. Air Conditioning

denver colorado skyline

Even in a very dry climate like our’s here in Denver, evaporative coolers used to be the option of last resort for homeowners who didn’t have existing ductwork and couldn’t install a central air conditioner. Most coolers installed in older Denver homes were the cheaper, low-end units often referred to as swamp coolers, so they were a constant source of maintenance headaches, and they didn’t work as well as the newer, more advanced evaporative coolers do.

breezair evaporativve cooler

In the last several years however, things have changed quite a bit. Ever since the introduction of the latest generation of Breezair evaporative coolers with all the benefits and technological advancements they offer. These days a high-quality evaporative cooler is an attractive option even for those people who do have the ductwork needed to install central air conditioning in their home.

Denver’s Dry Climate Is Perfect For Evaporative Coolers

People who live in more humid climates like the Southeastern U.S. don’t have a choice when it comes to swamp coolers vs. central air conditioning. They have to install central air. Luckily for us, Denver, Colorado has precisely the type of dry climate in which an evaporative cooler offers a number of benefits over a central air conditioner. Check out the chart below to see the 7 major advantages of evaporative coolers provide homeowners in Denver over central air conditioning.

Evaporative Coolers

  • Much quieter than air conditioning
  • Brings in fresh, clean air
  • More energy efficient
  • Costs very little to maintain
  • Adds moisture into the air
  • Allows open windows and doors
  • Environmentally-friendly

Central Air Conditioning

  • Noisy
  • Recirculates the same dirty air
  • 90% more expensive to run
  • Higher maintenance costs
  • Dries out the air in your home
  • Can’t leave windows or doors open
  • Uses harmful refrigerants for cooling

Evaporative Coolers Are Much Quieter Than Central Air Conditioners

If you’ve ever had the misfortune of being kept awake by a loud air conditioning unit outside your bedroom, you will appreciate how quiet a high-quality swamp cooler is. Just about any swamp cooler is going to make a lot less noise than an AC unit, but Breezair evaporative coolers are even quieter than typical swamp coolers because they are built using centrifugal fans.

Evaporative Coolers Bring In Fresh, Filtered Air From Outside

If you have a furnace then you know how dirty an air filter can get from the same old air being recirculated through your ductwork. Most people are surprised to learn just how dirty the air inside their home actually is. Swamp coolers on the other hand, bring in a constant flow of fresh air into your home from the outside. The fresh, outside air is filtered as it passes through the pads inside the cooler before it flows into your home.

You’ll Save Up To 90% On Electrical Costs To Cool Your Home

Any swamp cooler is going to be a lot cheaper to run than a central air conditioner, but Breezair coolers are actually as much as 40% more efficient than an average swamp cooler. In fact, a Breezair cooler will use up to 90% less electricity to cool your home than central air conditioning will. That adds up to a huge savings over just a few summers.

Central Air Conditioners Costs More To Maintain

There’s a distinction that needs to be made between a typical swamp cooler, and a Breezair evaporative cooler when it comes to maintenance costs. Cheaper swamp coolers do not come close to the quality and reliability of a Breezair, so you will have far more repair headaches and expenses with a low-tech cooler than you will with a Breezair.

You can potentially spend almost as much maintaining a cheap swamp cooler as you would with a central AC unit. Homeowners who install a Breezair evaporative cooler can expect very minimal maintenance expenses over the 20-25 year lifespan of their cooler. Besides, if you install a central air conditioner today it might last for 15 years, if you’re lucky.

Evaporative Coolers Won’t Dry The Air Out Inside Your Home

Central air conditioning dries out the air inside your home, and that’s definitely not what you want in a climate that’s already as dry as it is here in Denver. A swamp cooler actually adds enough moisture to the air in your home to make it significantly healthier to breathe, especially for anyone with allergies or other respiratory issues.

You Can Open Doors & Windows

Remember your Mom telling you to stop running in and out of the house because the air conditioner was on when you were a kid? That won’t be a problem when you install an evaporative cooler. You can leave windows cracked if you want, and your little ones can go in and out as much as they want without affecting the performance of your cooler.

Evaporative Coolers Are Far Better For The Environment

eco friendly evaporative cooler seal

People in Colorado tend to be a good bit more environmentally-conscious than other parts of the country, so this swamp cooler benefit is a pretty big deal. Not only does central air conditioning produce significantly higher levels of CO2 emissions, but it also relies on refrigerants that are extremely damaging to the environment to cool your home. Evaporative coolers rely on water and the movement of air to cool your home, so you can stay cool and comfortable in the summertime and feel very good about the choice you made for your home.

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