Cahmeleon room, A/C VS Swamp

[cyberlocc]

Hey guys I was wanting your opinion on AC vs Swamp coolers for a Chameleon room.

I live in AZ, so a lot of people will scream Swamp lol. However I live in the mountains of AZ.

So where I live we have low humidity in the summer, and high humidity in the winter. the AC or Swamp will be used year round to balance temps with my heater. As we use Propane for heat and it doesn't have exact tempo control.

In the summer, the humidity is pretty low outside (the raining months aside) and only about 3 months of the year do temps get over 80f outside at all. During those 2 months the humidity is sort of high, as that is the rainy season.

My house is cooled with a Swamp and it does a relatively good job of cooling. Some days during the rainy season the house can get to about 75f at most. (most days we dont even have to put the water on for the swamp) However the "reptile room" Will obviously be a tad hotter due to all the heat lamps.

Now I have read a few times that Panthers (what I plan to keep for now) can handle way hot temps, as they do in Madagascar. As long as they have high humidity and that missing misting could be fatal.

This makes me lean to a swamp though. As with a swamp during the humid times that are hot. The room may get into the 90s, however doing so with a swamp will lead to pretty much 100% humidity throughout the entire room.

The swamp also has the ability during the winter, to balance temps and add humidity back to the room that the heat is taking away.

I could if needed, put each cage on a stat for JIC. If I bought dimming stats, and ran them. I could buy 20 of them and still save money vs using a AC in the extremely dry months of AZ weather.

So what do you think, opinions on Swamp vs AC.

 

[cyberlocc]

Here if this helps to give you some more insight.

"Over the course of a year, the temperature typically varies from 22°F to 87°F and is rarely below 12°For above 92°F."

"The relative humidity typically ranges from 12% (very dry) to 86% (very humid) over the course of the year, rarely dropping below 7% (very dry) and reaching as high as 98% (very humid).

The air is driest around June 10, at which time the relative humidity drops below 15% (dry) three days out of four; it is most humid around December 20, exceeding 80% (humid) three days out of four."

 

[cyberlocc]

So lets say temps got to 100, in there basking spot. With the room at 100% humidity is that okay?

 

[brownie64]

I'm not sure what a swamp is so I might just be farting under water here. However I would think a A/C would be more controllable when you consider your temp, and your humidity "ambient speaking of course" would be consistent making it easer for you to add what you need or don't need.

 

[cyberlocc]

I'm not sure what a swamp is so I might just be farting under water here. However I would think a A/C would be more controllable when you consider your temp, and your humidity "ambient speaking of course" would be consistent making it easer for you to add what you need or don't need.

Oh sorry, guess I should have clarified .

A Swamp is a term used for an Evaporative cooler. It takes dry air, and runs it through a pad that is soaked in water. This raises the humidity in the room, and provides cold wet air in the room for the dry hot air outside.

An AC does the opposite so to speak. ACs, are also a dehumidifier, they take the water out of the air, then cool the air through cold coils like a fridge or a freezer works.

The reason people (especially in AZ) prefer swamps is that we have a dry arid climate. so a swamp cooler runs less, and cools faster (as long as the outside air is dry of course). A swamp cooler also uses water to cool instead of electricity. so it has a fan, that will consume maybe 100ws tops to cool the room down.

IMO, but I dont know. an AC is counter productive in a reptile room with animals that want humidity. You have mister systems going to increase humidity, however the AC takes that humidity back out. This also leads to more issues. As if an AC uses its dehumidifying properties that costs more electricity. So you are now paying more dollars per month to take the humidity out of a room that you want to be humid. Using an AC is a catch 22, IMO, you are now fighting to keep the heat down and keep the humidity up.

Now I understand in a place like Florida where it is always humid. They dont have the choice, as a swamp will not work very well. However in AZ that isnt the case, and that is why Swamps are used in most homes in this state.

 

[cyberlocc]

So here take my graph above and chart it with this graph.

So if we look at my above charts, We see the outside temperatures being highest between June and July. That is also where the humidity reaches a low point. So cooling will be good till the humidity gets higher, during the rains.

So during the rains the temperatures peak to the 80s, sometimes a little warmer.
So at most during this time we would likely see temps of 100 under the basking lights.

However with those temps to 100 in the basking lights, we also see 100% humidity inside of the house, as the swamp cooler is adding to the already humid air.

Temps can get that high in Madgascar, however from what I have been told its okay because when that happens there is 100% humidity. But with a swamp the room would also be 100% humidity.

Also you do know what a swamp is lol, your Misting system is a swamp cooler in actuality. So think of it as a whole room misting system hehe .

 

[Extensionofgreen]

Swamp coolers work best in higher humidity and they make portable AC units that don't strip the moisture from the air.

 

[Chameleon Mike]

I'm a professional tradesman, been in construction for 25 years. If you have one room in your house at 100% humidity for long amounts of time you may get mold in the walls, attic, and around the windows. I think its an awesome idea for the Chameleon but I just wanted to let you know what you may be in for.

 

[cyberlocc]

Swamp coolers work best in higher humidity and they make portable AC units that don't strip the moisture from the air.

Swamp coolers work best in low humidity, not high. They cool by adding humidity to the air, if the air is already humid they cannot add cold water to it. So the higher the outside humidity the less effective a swamp cooler will be.
The graph I posted is the effectiveness of a swamp cooler at different temps/humidity.

ACs, do not purposely dry out the air, that is a by product effect from the way an AC works. All ACs, as well as Forced air heaters dry the air, as fans dry the air.

In the case of an AC, just like a fridge. You have ice cold coils with fins (like a radiator), the air is forced through these fins. This cools the air coming from the AC, however the moisture in the air tends to gravitate to the coils and stays with it. This is why ACs, have drip pans the water removed drips to the bottom.

You can make a "Gheeto AC' useing a more basic method, I have done it . Last year, I had my PC on air for a bit (Its normally watercooled) and my 3 power house GPUs, were making the room very hot. I put some dry ice and Acetone in 1 of my PC rads and hooked up a pump. The fans blew the air into the room very very cold. I also have friends that run "chillboxs" for there PC using the same method. They use a rad inside an insulated box, then run methanol through a watercooling loop with a radiator inside of the box. They then remopve the phaschage system of the AC, and put it into a water bin with another radiator submerged. This makes the methanol -40c or so. The rad inside the box forces air inside to make the temps in there around -30. This prevents condensation from occurring to the PC. the result they have subzero temperatures 24/7, for extreme overclocking (my other hobby sorry for the long winded post ).

 

[cyberlocc]

I'm a professional tradesman, been in construction for 25 years. If you have one room in your house at 100% humidity for long amounts of time you may get mold in the walls, attic, and around the windows. I think its an awesome idea for the Chameleon but I just wanted to let you know what you may be in for.

Yes I am aware of that. The room in question is actually under renovations for that exact reason. That is a very common problem where I live.

However and I am sure you will agree with me , no matter where you live in any house with any humidity, you have mold. There is no escaping mold. But I agree and understand it will compact the problem.

My idea to lessen the effect (as it needs done anyway). Is during my renovations, I plan to forgo trim, Instead I plan to silicon seams of the room, then cover that with drywall mud to make rounded corners. I then plan 2 coats of Killz over the entire room followed by paint.

If I even go to that extent it is more so to handle the spider issues more so then the mold.

The room is an addition if you want to call it that (it use to be a shed, then was added to the house). It is really not in the greatest of shape and needs rebuilt anyway. My plan is to renovate it to last a few more years (Like 5 or so) then I am planning to tear it down and build a new one from Storage containers welded together.

Plus like I said the rest of the house already has swamp lol. the swamp is more of a 2 fold idea, as I can save electricity and increase humidity for the chams.

If the panthers can handle temps up into the high 90s (rarely if ever) then that would be the best route for me. However what I may do is go swamp and have a portable AC as a backup for the hot rainy days.

I do defiantly plan to have a hepa filter in the cham room JIC but more so for the chams than me, the mold doesn't bother me. It is pretty un escape able in places like here where it snows all winter. I have seen many friends here tear walls out for a project to find tons of mold they never knew was there.

Unless you meant mold on the inside walls, which ya little bleach cleaning once every few months no problems .

 

[Extensionofgreen]

You are right! I got mixed up! Lol
I was researching swamp coolers several months ago, to use to cool a growing chamber for high elevation plants. The portable AC is a viable solution, though.

 

[cyberlocc]

You are right! I got mixed up! Lol
I was researching swamp coolers several months ago, to use to cool a growing chamber for high elevation plants. The portable AC is a viable solution, though.

It is, I actually am thinking that both might be a great solution. The AC as a back up for very hot humid days and the swamp for the rest of the time .

However it doesnt really get that hot here. Alot of the care guides on the net say to have an adult at 95f. My main concern would be babys, so *if* I start breeding I would need a backup AC for when I have babies for sure.

Honestly though, it is kinda of a selfish reasoning from me lol. A swamp cooler uses 50ws, where an AC uses 700, so big monthly difference lol.