The Wind Chaser Air Cooler

I have a nifty air cooler called the Wind Chaser. It sounds vaguely Native American, but the Wind Chaser is actually an air cooler that works by running a fan over mist. I bought it about 5 years ago for around $85 and it has been a faithful and reliable summertime companion ever since.

The Wind Chaser air cooler is about 18 by 18 by 4 inches and sits on the floor. It could sit on a chair or table also. You fill two plastic gallon containers with water, turn them upside down and place them in the Wind Chaser behind the fan. The water seeps slowly into an area where it is picked up and put into a scoop in front of the fan. The water comes out of the scoop as mist and the fan blows over it, cooling the air. The water for the Wind Chaser lasts about a day and one half so the air cooler can work day and night. The plastic containers are so easy to get in and out that even a klutz like me can do it. They even have little molded handles to carry them.

The Wind Chaser air cooler is not to be confused with a swamp box, that very effective air cooler that never broke down, was cheap to operate, and seems to have gone the way of the do do bird.

I started looking for something like the Wind Chaser air cooler when I discovered I could cool off a room by bottle spraying water into the air stream of a fan. The only problem with this was that it tended to get a thin film of water over everything, including electronics and good wood furniture. But I knew that the principle worked and when I spotted the Wind Chaser in a mega store, I snapped it up.

I live in Pasadena. Those who visit Pasadena for the Rose Bowl enjoy the temperate winter weather. But they don't know that summer temperatures can reach 110+. Before the Wind Chaser air cooler, I would sometimes feel like we were living in a Tennessee Williams play. I would say things like "Ah feel like Ahm a cat on a hot tin roof," while my husband would throw himself to his knees and scream "Stella!"

We do have a small air conditioner that we will use when the temperature goes above 105 degrees and we want to contribute to the rolling brown outs.
The Wind Chaser air cooler keeps a room very comfortable in temperatures in the nineties and still helps in cooling in temperatures over 100 degrees, but over 105 degrees, its pretty much beat. It also doesn't work in humid weather where it just adds to the humidity.

All in all, I'm very happy with my Wind Chaser air cooler. In fact I've got it blowing on me as I type.