is the amount of air, in cubic feet, a swamp cooler will push through your home in one
minute.
A small window unit may be 2,500 CFM, while a whole house unit will be 6,000 CFM or
larger. Whether it is for a single room or a whole house, there is a simple formula for
determining the proper size of swamp cooler you need.
Figure the cubic feet of space you want to cool, and then divide that number by two.
The quotient will give you the CFM rating for the proper-sized swamp cooler.
For example, if you have a 1,500 square foot home with 8 foot-high ceilings:
1,500 x 8 = 12,000 cubic feet 12,000 % 2 = 6,000 CFM needed
Before you start your swamp cooler, consider these resource saving tips from the
Water Conservation Alliance of Southern Arizona:
- If you can wait until the temperature reaches at least 85 degrees, you'll save 50% on water usage compared to starting it at 79 degrees.
- Turn on the water pump five minutes before turning on the fan. This will saturate the pads first, and make your cooler more efficient.
- In the evenings, or when it's relatively cool outside, run the cooler fan without the water pump.
- Use the fan only on rainy or high humidity days.
- Use ceiling fans to circulate air.