Swamp cooler in garage?

[Martinjmpr]

About a year back I posted about my hot garage.

Well, it's still hot. I even got a little digital thermometer to keep in there that records the high and low temps every 24 hours.

During our recent hot spell, it was getting to 99 degrees in the garage and "cooling off" to 90 at night.

Others have chimed in about mini splits but last night at the State Fair we came across a guy selling evaporative coolers, AKA Swamp coolers.

The reason I'm considering this is because it is the simplest and cheapest option requiring no wiring or cutting into roof or insulating doors.

My question is: Are there downsides I'm not considering? For example, does using a swamp cooler in a closed garage create excess moisture causing mold, rust or other corrosion?

Understand, I'm not trying to keep the garage at a balmy 77 degrees - I have AC in the house for that. I'm just trying to keep it bearable on hot days (and nights.) Potentially I might consider running it at night to keep the excess heat from staying in the garage.

[BushMasterBoy]

Run an evaporative cooler into garage and have solar attic fan vent it out. You have to have a flow.


https://www.lowes.com/pd/QuietCool-40-Watt-Solar-Powered-Gable-Mount-Attic-Fan/5001584777

[colorider]

I?d stay far away from a swamp cooler due to the massive amount of humidity it produces. We got rid of ours 1 yr after moving into our house because of that reason. Do a mini split and be done with it. Buy once, cry once.

[BushMasterBoy]

I'm cooling my whole house with a swamp cooler mounted in a window. It really helps with humidity, especially when it is single digit humidity outside. Average humidity is 47% inside. When the temp is triple digits, I end up running the central air conditioning too. Denver is usually 15-20 degrees cooler than Pueblo in summer.
I remove the swamp cooler in the winter. Biggest pain in the ass is setting back in the window the next summer. It has to be cleaned of mud (dust) and scale before reinstall in the window.

I don't notice any problem with moisture in the house. If anything, the air is too dry here.

[SouthPaw]

I’ve been thinking about the same thing. On FB Marketplace they’re usually around $100, but I’ve been holding out hoping to grab one closer to $50. When I’m working in the garage in the heat it feels like I’m sitting in a microwave. I’ve also seen some larger ones on Temu/AliExpress/DHGate for about $80 with free shipping. With the humidity, I’d probably just use it to blow directly where I’m working and keep the garage door cracked for airflow.

[flogger]

Venting is a must, that air needs to move. Also, they won't do any good if the humidity is above 50% or so.

[Firehaus]

I put a Mr. Cool mini split in my garage with uninsulated doors and it cools & heats way better than I thought it would, even on the hottest/ coldest days. Glad I did it.


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[BPTactical]

Venting is a must, that air needs to move. Also, they won't do any good if the humidity is above 50% or so.

We used a swamp cooler in our old place in Northglenn, it worked great.

The above comment is spot on- think of the air the same way you would a liquid-it has to flow and you control the temp of the areas of the house by cracking windows in given rooms and closing off other areas.
Some days I miss it.
Also ventilating the attic is going to help big time - get the hot air out of the attic and it is easy to cool the house.