Air cooler - worth it or not?

[EmilyDeservedBetter]

I’m really tempted to go and buy an air cooler today. Our bedroom stayed between 28-30 degrees last night, and I barely slept with worry about DD who is 4 weeks old.

Has anyone got an air cooler? If so, are they worth it.

Argos has one for £100 and for that price, I’m really tempted but don’t want to just have a noise machine that is no better than the two fans we have.

Thanks for any help.

We have a portable air conditioner that vents out the window. It does make noise but it also makes life bearable in our southwest facing apartment with huge windows. We use it in the bedroom with the door shut.

We cannot get regular air con so this is the best solution. It brings the temperature down from close to 30c to I would say 23 or so. It was more expensive than 100 though. I would not really recommend the evaporative coolers which are cheaper. We tried one and it was not worth the effort. Not very efficient or quiet. In fact downright useless really.

Our electricity bill goes up but not as much as we expected and being able to sleep is worth it. Our electricity is hydroelectric which makes me feel less guilty on the carbon emission side.

I think I would go crazy during heat waves without the air con. We turn it on a couple of hours before we go to bed on a high setting, and then turn the noisy fan down when we go to bed.

In Canada Amazon has a good selection of portable air con machines. You pick one based on BTUs necessary to cool the size of the room.

Our little dog appreciates it too. He waits outside the bedroom door hoping it is bedtime and he can cool down.

Very hot in Vancouver the past few days. It cools at night but not in our apartment.

Pay the extra for an air con, they do cool the room. Yes they are noisy but you get used to it quickly.

Air coolers IMHO are just a fan with a place for ice.

We bought a proper air con unit that vents out the window for around £400. We bought it right at the end of last year’s heatwave but knew it would come in useful again ... and it certainly did last night. They are noisy but worth it to be able to sleep in comfort if you live in a new build that just retains heat like I do.

We have two - one upstairs and one downstairs. Bought when I was heavily pregnant with twins and living in a house that was like a sauna.

They are amazing. We have chimneys so we put the exhaust up the chimney and don’t need to worry about putting them out of the window.

They are very noisy though.

Air coolers IMHO are just a fan with a place for ice.

I’m pretty sure the ones we have were called air coolers but they’re not fans and don’t use ice - they are mobile air cons basically.

OP I bought one (that you put water and ice in) as the summer of 2006 was horrific and I was stuck heavily pregnant with a one year old in a top floor flat. It is not the same as air con but did reduce temp by a good 5 degrees or so and was lovely if you sat in front of it.

When we moved into our house we sold it back on eBay and made much of our money back.

Air coolers are crap Imo, ice packs melts really quick and doesn't make much difference. If you can afford it get an air conditioner

We used to have an old air cooler. Big thing with a big hose out the window. It collected a big container of water in the bottom bucket at the back that needed emptying every couple of days.
It was old and battered, admittedly. Dh lent it to my sil who didn't get on with it and binned it.

Oh how I long for it. It was fab!

Not helpful today but if you can afford it, get a ceiling fan installed in time for next year. Much more effective than portable air cons and cheaper to run too.

Pretty much as I guessed. Unfortunately we’re in the loft room and I don’t think the pipe will reach the window.

I will go and get an air con unit and see what I can do.

On a side note, it was lovely being awake at 1:40am this morning with the thunderstorm. I sat with the window and blind open whilst doing a feed and the sweet breeze was heaven. Anyone have a thunderstorm in a fan?

In light of advice went for air con unit and now blissfully happy in our room. Thanks for all advice!

So glad it turned up for you. The best investment will pay sleep dividends for years!😀