Portable Swamp Coolers - 1300 CFM MC18M Evaporative Air Cooler with 2-Speed Fan, 53.4 dB - 500 sq. ft. Coverage Evaporative Air Cooler Portable High Velocity Outdoor Cooling Fan by Hessaire - White

Why did you pick this product vs others?:I've only owned this for a few hours, and I feel compelled to leave a positive review. Most of the negative reviews here seem to be from folks who weren't 100% certain what swamp cooler is or how it works. I can understand their disappointment.The reality is, I've spent a lot of time wondering how it could possibly be so difficult to make a product that blew a fan through a moist filter to cool the air. I made home made versions when I was a kid, though I was probably risking electrocution. A swamp cooler will not work in a humid climate. An "portable" swamp cooler like this one that doesn't vent will also have limited functionality indoors even in a well vented area unless you're in a large room.I live in Phoenix, and I have a very good air conditioner in my home. The room where I spend most of my time usually has at least one computer and sometimes as many as three computers running. It gets warm in there, and I don't feel like cooling the whole house just to keep that one room comfortable. Since I only need a couple of degees, I figured I would give the ol' swamp cooler a try.My first purchase was one of those tiny desktop ones, and it didn't do anything except spray water in my face. My second attempt was a larger, floor-sized model. Since the price goes up pretty quickly, I decided to go with a budget option that was on sale. It leaked out of the box and made a massive mess, but for the brief moment that it was running, it did make a noticeable difference in the room temp. I didn't want to deal with that kind of mess again, so my third option was this Hessaire model. After talking with a couple of HVAC guys, it seems to be a consensus that Hessaire makes the best evaporative coolers. I read through a couple dozen of the negative reviews, as there area lot of them on here. Most of them were from folks who were purchasing this item for conditions where it would not function optimally. As I said before, I totally get that frustration. The room I need to cool isn't very large, and that's my biggest complaint with this item. It's too big for the room I want to cool. It works too well, and I'll explain why in a bit. I'm looking to cool a room that is less than 200 square feet by a couple of degrees. I had realistic expectations going in. I knew that I didn't have any place to legitimately vent this, but the other unit did just well enough to convince me that this would work since I only needed a couple of degrees out of it. My one window in this room faces the sun during the time of day I need to use it the most (part of the reason why it gets so warm), so I didn't figure a swamp cooler would be able to keep up with that kind of direct radiant heat in June/July when the sun is most direct. I did try it, and it was no good. I experimented with a few different placements, and the one that works best is to have it near the doorway with a second fan blowout out over the top of it. When I first turned it on, the room had a relative humidity of 22% and an ambient air temp of 82 degrees. Earlier, I mentioned that it worked too weel. On my first attempt, I ran it for five minutes on "high". The air coming out of the front at that humidity was 71 degrees. Within five minutes, it had cooled the ambient room temp to 78 degrees. The problem was that it also increased the relative humidity to 65%. At 65% relative humidity, the air coming out of the front was the same 78 degrees as the ambient room temp.So I know not to use the "high" setting. I had to let the room air out a bit before trying it again. On the second attempt, the relative humidity had gotten down to 40%. I ran it on "low" for about five minutes. It didn't have the same dramatic effect. At 40% humidity, the air coming out of the front was 76 degrees. After five minutes, the relative humidity had only increased to 50%, and the ambient air temp had only degreased to 80. But that was actually comfortable for me with the fan blowing in my direction. So then I turned it to "fan only", and it continued to blow cool air for a good 30 minutes. The room remained comfortable for the remainder of the day.I can't wait to see how it performs tomorrow when I have it turned off all night and the relative humidity drops back into the 20s. The reality, though, is that monsoon is just around the corner, and once monsoon hits, I'll typically be starting with 40% to 50% humidity.There are some negatives. It seems that everyone likes to make these types of units with tanks that are hard to fill. I have a large humidifier as well, and those tanks are removable. A removable tank would make this thing awesome. As it is, it's easier to fill than the last one I bought. It has a side door to pour in water. I use a bucket and a funnel, but since I don't have a bucket anywhere near that large, it takes 3-4 buckets to fill it. It looks like I'll only have to fill it every 3-4 days, though. It is bulky. I really do wish they had a smaller size. The dripping water is actually really loud. It's much louder than the fan. I would definitely not leave this unattended. I also like the fact that there is no remote control. Why does everything need to come with a remote control? As long as you have a good understanding of what a portable swamp cooler is and know that you need one, this is probably the best one you're going to find. Of course, Hessaire makes larger models. Much, much larger models. But given the fact that this one is too big for my room, I would only buy one of the larger models if you have a very large area to cool. Or if you're going to use it outdoors.

If you live in a dry climate that gets to be on the toasty side, an evaporative cooler might be your ticket to cutting down your electric bill while still getting the relief you need. I live in Idaho, and our summers (especially the entire month of August) tend to be brutal. Being in a desert, there's almost nothing to speak of by way of humidity. An ideal setting, then, to talk about this product.I've used several portable evaporative coolers over the years, and most of them have the same problem: the designers focused on the fan, not the evaporative space. So sure, you've got all of these nifty little features where you can create intermittent breezes, maybe a "silent" mode that barely pushes any air at all, and then a setting which pushes so much air you could create your own jet stream. Of course, the area for water evaporation is tiny, and you rarely get a water pump more powerful than a standard 5V fountain pump.Here's the problem with that: your fan is simply there to move air. Pushing hot air around isn't going to cool much of anything. With the evaporative pads being so small and underpowered, the fan easily overwhelms the very thing you bought a swamp cooler for. With most of these units, the slower the fan runs, the more the evaporative pads can cool... but of course, the smaller the space they'll cool, as well.This Hessaire does not have that problem. As the product photos demonstrate, the entire back of this unit (at least, right down to the water reservoir) is devoted to the cooling pad. Hessaire doesn't skimp on the water pump, either; you'll keep that pad saturated, which is exactly what you want. Now understand that I'm not implying that they neglected the fan--they most certainly did not: its low setting is very likely all you'll need depending on your application. Hessaire's low is their competitor's high.As to how well it works, as I type this, the outside temperature is 94 degrees. We have the Hessaire in our living room in front of our open front window, and it's aimed down a hallway where it circles air through our kitchen, then back into the living room again. The temperature in that hallway is 78 degrees. Yesterday it hit 97 outside, and that hallway never cracked past 80. The living room and kitchen are both at a pleasant temperature.Keep in mind that a swamp cooler's not an air conditioner. If you like your rooms a bit on the chilly side, no swamp cooler ever made will do that for you (unless, of course, it's also chilly outside). Rather than suck humidity out of your living space the way an air conditioner will, swamp coolers will add it. You'll have to rethink everything you know about room cooling when you rely on these things. Keep windows open--if you don't, humidity will build up, and your cooler will stop working as well. In our case, by keeping the windows shut, we'd be adding Florida's humidity to Idaho's heat. No thanks.But now back to this particular cooler. While I mentioned the bells and whistles others put into their coolers, there's little of that here. There's no remote control that you'll never use. There's no timer that'll shut it off after so many hours. There's not even an automatic shut-off in the event you run the pump dry (so be vigilant about keeping the water reservoir full--something you don't have to worry about if you're using the hose feature).Yes, a hose feature. If you're using it to cool a patio or deck, you can hook a standard garden hose to the water reservoir. Inside the unit is a float valve much like you'd see in a toilet tank, and it functions the same: as the water level gets lower, it allows water in from the hose. No muss, no fuss.You've got five power settings--and that's it: High fan with pump; Low fan with pump; High fan only; Low fan only; and Pump only (for saturating your pad before turning on the fan). All of these setting work exactly as expected, and they will keep working until you turn the knob yourself.It's a swamp cooler, and that's all it tries to be. Maybe that's why it works so much better than competitors' Swiss Army Fans. Yes, there's better-looking units out there--but for the money, it's hard to find anything that works better.Or is as easy to maintain. Once you remove the back cover, you have access to everything. Try cleaning the gunk out of the pump of a Frigidaire EC300W-FA evaporative cooler. Go ahead. Have fun. With the Hessaire, it's no problem at all. Hard water deposits building up on the water distributor? A toothbrush and a bit of vinegar sets you free. You can reach it, you can clean it...And you can replace it. Burned out the water pump? You can find them at several places online. One of the kids stuck a pen in the front grill and broke a fan blade? You can find a replacement for that, too. Try to find a replacement evaporative pad for a Luma Comfort evaporative cooler. I'll wait. (No, really. If you find one, let me know.) With the Hessaire, that's no problem, either. A lot of the stuff I just mentioned is available right here on Amazon, or on Hessaire's website. You're covered.So what are you waiting for? If you're in a dry area that has pounding heat, you're going to love the day you received your Hessaire. Maybe mark it on your calendar and celebrate it. It really is that good!

I shopped for a long time and was looking at Dial but they're 400 to 600 basically. I saw this one and Hessair was second choice but I was so tired of shopping I said what the heck since it's only 163.00. So far excellent, super cool and surprised at how it works. I'm only using it to cool a smaller bedroom and it literally works great. After 3 days it started smelling like someones cooked food in pakistan, but other than that I love it. I'm covering it between use because I don't want to return it but ....i can still smell it so we shall see.