Swamp cooler in solar shed

[JerryAlbers]

Hi guys,

I Live in a remote location of the Mohave desert of Arizona and have been 100% off grid for the last 8 years. My neighbor (7 miles away) has been in his straw bale house for 10 years and as of this summer, has decided to put a small swamp cooler in his battery/equipment shed. He feels keeping the batteries, inverter and charge controller "cool" will help the performance of his system. My concern is...putting that moisture into the shed and equipment. The shed is appx 10X10 feet. Do you think the swamp cooler is a good plan and will the moisture make any difference? Thanks for your time and help.

[mike95490]

The COOL will help. If there is enough surplus power to run it.

The moisture will not help.

Maybe a reflective roof, or insulation on it would be a better step ?

[Solar Guppy]

So in the Mohave desert of Arizona he has water to waste in a swamp cooler?

Or is it pumped from 400ft below ground, which would require more energy than could ever be saved by cooling the equipment?

[JerryAlbers]

WRONG!!! There is lots of water in the desert. My well is 600 feet and is pumped by a 48volt Grundfros well pump hooked directly to solar panels. That way we can run 24 volt swamp coolers and stay nice and cool...which by the way, work great. I just don't want him to pump lots of moisture into his equipment. Most of our sheds have reflective material and insulation. His shed is straw bale.

[mike95490]

Most of our sheds have reflective material and insulation. His shed is straw bale.

What's the shed roof ?? Most cars get 20mpg. My wifes gets 40.

most is meaningless.


How do the straw bales hold up in the humidity ? Will it affect them ??