Portable Evaporative Air Cooler with Fan & Humidifier, Indoor Tower Fan, EC111B

*Updated 6/28/18 - we have used this to supplement our air conditioning. this is year two for us and zero problems. typically we use it first before using the a/c. then when we can start to feel the humidity begin to build in the air we turn on the a/c. so all said very happy with this. last i would not suggest getting this if you live anywhere other than the W or SW U.S. due to relative humidity.We have air conditioning but in an effort to save some on electricity decided to go old/new school with this unit. During the summer months rarely do we have humidity above 20% often in the single digits. due to the dry environment we are able unlike many to use these during the summer months.It comes in a box about 4’ tall, very light and easy to manage. In the top of the box are two pre-filled freezer gel packs. Just freeze and use as needed along with the water. Any questions it’s all there in the manual. Also comes with a remote (battery too) that is laid out in a way that makes sense and works well.On the lowest speed it is nearly silent and even on the highest it still is hands down quieter than our air conditioning unit, even quieter than most fans. The fan pushes out far more air than hoped surprising based on the size. Also extremely easy to move around with the casters on the bottom. to use the timer press the button on the remote or unit itself. each press gives you 30 minutes more time. works flawlessly.It can also be used in fan only mode. with approx 30% R.H. indoors a full tank of water easily last five hours with some to spare. cools a medium sized room but no more. for that you either need a large box style evaporative cooler or an genuine air conditioner. fyi keep in mind if you have vaulted ceilings double or triple your sq foot calculations it makes a big difference in whether you've a cool room or not.**it is an evaporative cooler not an air conditioner so the higher the humidity the less efficiently it cools. I would never waste my time using this or any evaporative system in home with humidity levels much above 35%. Your air is like a sponge, it can only hold so much water vapor. why you find these most popular in arid and semi-arid regions.

The positive reviews for this unit persuaded me to give it a try and I'm sorry to say that was a bad decision. My home office is about 140 square feet and tends to get a little too warm in the afternoons due to its southwesterly exposure to the sun. We have central air conditioning in the house but this one room takes a beating and typically rises a few degrees above the rest of the house. I would just turn down the A/C thermostat but that makes the rest of the house too cold. I figured I would try to solve this by having a separate cooler in my office.The unit itself looks fairly well built and has a nice remote. It's certainly not silent when running but the noise is not bad, and would be very tolerable if it did the job it claims to do. When I first set it up, I filled the tank with room temp water and no ice or ice packs. My office was at 77*F and 29% humidity when I turned the cooler on. 2 hours later my office was at 77*F and >50% humidity. All that accomplished was to make the room less comfortable. This was late in the evening too when the sun was down. I put this absence of cooling down to the fact that I was using room temp water in the tank so I figured I'd give it a try again the following day. This time I used iced water AND the now-frozen ice packs that came with the unit. The results were absolutely identical. I couldn't believe this so at one point I set up my indoor thermostat directly in front of the fan. It was sitting literally 2 feet away and directly in the airflow. The reading? You guessed it - 77*F. (Well, OK - it occasionally flashed to 75*F but always very briefly and then immediately returned to 77*F). These tests were performed with my office's A/C vent shut off to prevent the main system from over-riding whatever the swamp cooler was doing. I also tried it with the main A/C vent open, hoping that would help but no joy - this "cooler" still had no impact whatsoever other than make the room more humid.Obviously I returned the unit but had to pay more than $30 in return shipping costs! Since when is it considered acceptable to charge a customer to return a defective product?I don't know why the other reviewers have been so positive about this fan. The only explanation I can think of is that they are running it pointed directly at themselves and therefore are experiencing a perhaps SLIGHTLY enhanced wind-chill effect. I know this much for certain - even in a very dry climate like Arizona, this "cooler" does absolutely zip for your room temp. Try something else and be careful to read the return policy for whoever you buy it from. Air & Water Inc. should be avoided.