Question
Does anyone use an evaporative cooler in your shop? I've seen them at several shows in the past. I was wondering about rusting table tops and excess moisture in my lumber since the evaporation cooler uses water passing over a pleated paper curtain and air being drawn though it by a fan. Doe anyone have any experience with these?
Forum Responses
(Cabinetmaking Forum)
From contributor A:
I use an evaporative cooler to cool my shop. I have not experienced any of the problems you mentioned. Evaporative coolers only work where the humidity is very low. In my case the humidity in the shop is still low by south eastern or midwest standards. All of the wood that has been stored for any length of time in my shop is 6% or less.
I installed 3 12"x18" HVAC grills in the ceiling of my shop that vent directly into the attic area. I have three turbine vents on my roof, so as the moist air is blown into the shop and cools it the moist air is drawn up into the attic and out the roof by the turbine vents. I have no problems with rusting or warping boards, and it costs about 10% of what A/C costs to run. On a typical 110 or more summer day my shop will be about 80 degrees. Mine is set up on a thermostat so it only runs when the temp is over 80.