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For the moment, lets disregard auto AC. I am not world traveled at least not on any frequesnt or recent times. As i understand the SouthWestern United States is very hot and dry (low humidity) during the summer and maybe in some places all year 'round.

So What kind of HOUSEHOLD air conditioning is generaly found in SW states????? Everyone have central AC units or use several window units or what??? Is the household AC operated 24-7 for several months continuously???

Bottom line: how does everyone out there keep the house cool???

IMPORTANT EDIT: By AC or Air condtioning i mean refrigeration units that remove humidity AND blow cold air.

Evaporative units were common and may still be used in many places in the SW -- particularly in the other than high end neighborhoods. Refrigeration is expensive to buy and operate in comparison, but probably much more the norm now.

It is hot and dry where I am and evaporative coolers seem to be stocked by all the major stores locally. Must move enough to bother keeping them stocked and they do a fair job. Lowers the temp probably 20-25 degrees less than ambient which feels good when coming in from 90+ -- When humidity gets up past maybe 30-40% then it becomes a waste. Any higher humidity and they turn your house into a damp humid and clammy environment that you in the SE would feel right at home in.

Keith,

Don't know about refrigerated air conditioning, but many folks living in the arid southwest use evaporative coolers. These are units, usually installed on the roof that have a water supply, a small pump, and a fan. The pump distributes water onto fiber mats that are on the walls of the unit. A fan pulls air through the wetted mats, cooling it, and distributing it to the interior. The water on the mats drains back into a small container and recirculated. There is a simple float and valve assembly to control the amount of new water added to the container. Since there is no need to remove humidity from the air this system works well, even adding some humidity to the dry air. A sliding door is used to isolate the cooler from the interior during cold weather. Many people also cover their units with a heavy fabric cover. The advantage of evaporative coolers is they only use a fan motor (and a small pump); hence, their electrical use is much less than required by a refrigerated type. The downside is that these systems require some maintenance at the beginning of the cooling season and must have the water shut off and water drained at the close of the season.

Refrigerated air conditioning is finding its way into use, replacing the evaporative types. Refrigerated units are replacing evaporative probably because of the lower maintenance requirements.

Probably more than you ever wanted to know on this subject. Howard, care to comment?

(o[]o)

JW, you've described it nicely other than to mention room sized window units good for one or two rooms are also very common.

Given the druthers and if they have the ability, I suspect most would sacrifice to pay the piper for refrigeration just for the overall comfort.

We have a 12 seer central refrigeration unit on our home of 12 years. When we purchased it, it only had the swamp / evaporative cooler. As Howard mentioned, as humidity rises (our summer monsoon rains) the evaporate cooler becomes less efficient. We gladly replaced it despite higher electric costs. Humidity yesterday was
5% and temp rise to 104. But its a dry heat! I'll have another Bud please.

I had experienced the evaporative unit years ago when I travelled to Colorado, and can say that they seemed to work very well.

Here in Florida, refrigerant based AC is a must, and is used year round. I think I turned mine off for two weeks one cold winter.

I also know about Italian systems first hand. They use a refrigerant also, but don't rely on the big air handlers and extensive ducting. Instead, the have one outside condensing unit, much like here in Florida, and separate room evaporator units that are connected to the condenser with copper tubes carrying the refrigerant, freon, in most cases. They are compact, and are usually placed high on a wall. The fans are minimal, and more efficient in that the rooms requiring little or no cooling will be using much less energy. These units are commonly manufactured by Japanese or Asian companies such as Mitsubishi and others.

Single room units are also used there, kind of the equivalent to our window units, only they are small, free standing, and portable, with wheels to facilitate placement anywhere in the home. You just have to have a window available to run a flexible duct to evacuate the hot air, and are required to drain the condensate occasionally. The Italians call them "Penguinos."

These system are finding their way to the US, however, along with the European style single room units.

Joey,

We bought one of those portable roll-around ac units for an added on room that is not connected to the house HVAC. I have found that it is very noisy, but it does keeps the room cool. We also have ceiling fans in that room and in the living room and bedrooms. The fans help with the cooling in the summer and heating in the winter.

My Packards do not have AC.

(o[]o)

Last night, I examined a 1956 Cadillac, and it reminded me of the Italian system with a single compressor/multiple evaporator design. The Caddy had huge compressor, and two evaporators and two fans in the trunk, and another evaporator/fan unit under the dash.

The owner said it could pull the air inside down to meat locker temps!

Was it a large body 75 or a limo by chance. Don't think I have seen one at both ends unless in one of those.

In 53-4 Packard bought their units from GM's Frigidaire division & used pretty much the same trunk unit as I expect you saw in that car you looked at -- except Cadillac refined their implementation a bit more. Better air distribution with the roof vents and an actual clutch on their compressor while Packard's version just blew air out the top of package shelf and compressor ran all the time.

You're right about huge compressors -- at least in 53-55. Not sure about the 56. I'd have to look up the specs again but IIRC, the capacity of that roughly 10" diameter unit wasn't much more than the A6 type they went to in mid to late 50's which was approx half the size.

Cadillac also had a pretty refined heater system in some if not all their models. Two cores -- one on each side -- with air into the interior. An opening in the kick panels for front seat and an opening to feed a duct inside the door bottom with a vent at the end of that for the rear seat passengers. Limo's also had additional cores under the rear seat for their passengers.

Howard,

I'm not sure what model Caddy it was, but I'm attaching a photo. This was an art project car by an artist whose method of expression is designing and wrapping classic autos. It is removable.

It was a huge compressor. The owner said it really drained horsepower when it came on.

Note the rear air intakes on top of the quarter panels, at the rear corners of the backlight.

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