NewAir AF330 Portable Evaporative Swamp Air Cooler with BuiltIn HEPA Air Purifier
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Our Price: $129.95 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $96.00 (click here) Category: Home See more product details |
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of NewAir AF330 Portable Evaporative Swamp Air Cooler with BuiltIn HEPA Air Purifier
Customer Review: Good value
Summary: 4 Stars
Good value for the price. Great vendor - sent product via federal express (free shipping) during a heat wave.Customer Review: Great dorm-room cooler
Summary: 5 Stars
Our dorms don't include AC, so I needed to get something for my dorm room. Bought this one, and it's been great. It takes up a minimal amount of space, and is easy to carry around. Cooled my room very nicely.Customer Review: Great for Bedroom Use!
Summary: 5 Stars
We purchased this because the cool from the big evaporative cooler on our house just wasn't making it through our den/office into our bedroom (even with the windows open to various widths to pull it through). The next step would've involved having a HVAC guy and a plumber out to the house to install another evaporative cooler unit ($$$).
This is a great little machine for the most part. It holds enough water to run for 24 hours without refilling it. You don't have to worry about hooking it up to a garden hose(!). The wheels are great. It has a really long power cord. The remote is nice. Compared to a/c, it uses very little electricity. It's relatively quiet -- just a tiny bit louder than the big oscillating fan it replaced. It's just an air whooshing sound.
The instruction booklet was lacking a few things -- as the other reviewer reported, there is nothing about what to do with the charcoal filter. But you have to consider that if you have a window open to adequately ventilate for this thing, there really isn't much of a point to having an air filter. (When you live in a desert, you learn to live with dust.) Honestly, I chose this over the cheaper model because of the little blue window on the front that shows the water level -- the HEPA thing didn't really matter.
I wish they wouldn't call these things swamp coolers. It refers to the musty smell some of them get in more humid climates. But I think it makes some people think that means it's great for living in a swamp. I live in a desert where the outside humidity ranges from 7 to 15 percent most of the time. It was 104 degrees yesterday. Evaporative coolers work great here -- better than the underwhelming and electricity-hogging a/c in my last house. It's actually nice to have some humidity in the house -- reduces our dry, itchy skin problems and static. But if you live with higher outside humidity, this technology just isn't going to work. I repeat -- it will not work where it is humid.
The vendor shipped it several hours after we ordered it and we received it the next day (we are relatively close).
Customer Review: Great little cooler for small space
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought this unit several years ago to replace a different model that finally died. I've had four different units altogether and have learned a lot about what a swamp cooler can and cannot do in the past thirty years. It absolutely is intended only for low humidity areas. Check your weather online and it will tell you what your humidity is. Above 30%, they begin to lose their effectiveness. They absolutely must be in front of an open window or door because they suck that hot, dry air in and pass it over a wet material. Simple to operate, they can provide relief in hot summer days and nights. Most units this size (New Air 330) are intended to be "locational"--you sit at a desk, the unit is pointed at you. You're on the couch, you moved the unit on its rollers and is pointed directly at you. These little guys simply cannot, I repeat, can NOT "lower the temperature" of a room larger than say 7x9. But they can make all the difference in even a larger room if you're sitting beside it or at night, if the unit blows air across your bed. I live in a poorly insulated, remodeled attic apartment in southwest Colorado where it's been extremely dry this summer and hotter than usual with mid-to high 90's during the day. My space is approx. 600 square feet. This guy stays in the LR (15x12) and would be way more effective with a partner for that size space--e.g., one unit pointed to seating area, one pointed at my desk! An older unit (made in China!) sits at an angle in front of a sliding glass door by the foot of my bed and blows air across my legs at night. Both my units run full tilt boogie, 24/7 and, especially during the day, with ice (giant ice bricks I make from Tupperware containers). The only way to really cool my apartment effectively with portable evaporative coolers would be to have a unit with 3,000 CFMs, like the Symphony Winter unit. (If you don't know what a CFM is or how many your room requires, consult the charts at Air & Water). I'm just not eager to give up that extra bit of floor space at this time. When I owned a 1200 sq. ft. house, it had a swamp cooler installed on the roof which moved the air and because of the added humidity, it felt slightly cooler than if I didn't have it on, but I can't say I've ever experienced a swamp cooler that "lowered the temperature" by 10 or 20 degrees. LOL! That's probably the stuff of those metal Air Stream travel trailers in the Arizona deserts. I considered an AC last couple nights when it was so hot, but only for a moment. AC takes humidity out of the air and in this area, I'd prefer a little more! Like anything else, proper research prior to purchase will net a happier outcome. As for the New Air 330, little guy works really hard and makes reading during the day possible at home (as opposed to driving to a restaurant or the library). But keep in mind: this unit was designed for barely 150 sq. feet. That's 30 sq. ft.smaller than my 12x15 LR, which, by the way, has no interior door to contain its efforts, so I can't blame the little guy for not doing it right, can I? But it would rock in my smaller BR where there is such a door! and if it didn't have those dang LED lights, that's exactly where I'd prefer to put it!Customer Review: It's a room cooler not an "air conditioner"
Summary: 5 Stars
The NewAir AF-330 is a great buy if you need a room cooler. WARNING: If you are looking to cool a large area or the entire house this is not the unit to buy.
It works great if you don't want to run the air conditioner for the entire house just to keep yourself cool in your bedroom while you sleep, or, if you have work to do in a particular room like an office. I have friends who own two-story condos and they complain about running the air all night just to cool their bedrooms on the top floor. This cooler is the perfect solution for them as well.
It holds a lot of water. I've been running this machine for 7 evenings in my bedroom from about 10pm until 6am and it still doesn't need more water added to it. The remote control is awesome. If I get chilly I don't have to get up to turn it off - I just reach over and use the remote. It also has a timer feature which is great because if you know that the house cools down at a certain time, say after 3am, you can program the NewAir AF-330 to automatically shut off after 1, 2, 4 or 8 hours. I wouldn't use this in the living room unless you plan to sit right in front of it but for a bedroom or small office it's perfect. It's on rollers so you can move it to whatever room you need to.
The NewAir AF-330 is saving me money - swamp coolers are cheaper to run than regular air conditioners - and helping me to get a good night of sleep. I don't regret purchasing this unit at all.