Honeywell Quiet, Low Energy, Compact Spot Fan & Humidifier, White Indoor Portable Evaporative Air Cooler

This review is for the 194 CFM Indoor Evaporative Air Cooler (Swamp Cooler) with Remote Control in White, height 29.6". (Some of the negative reviews seem to be referring to a cheaper model, perhaps a table-top model.)Wonderful super-quiet cooler with lots of settings. Turn on and set the fan on high, then turn on Cool (snowflake icon) and optionally Swing. Once the room is cool the fan can be set lower. I have my cooler facing the couch. My most important tip is to adjust the louvers so that the cool air is directed straight at you, and you feel a nice cold breeze. After awhile the whole room should feel cool, if not as cool as the direct breeze. Note as opposed to an air conditioner, an evaporative cooler causes only a small change to the power bill, $5 at most. It is recommended to have window(s) and door(s) open to keep air circulating, and it is nice to be able to enjoy the fresh air.To add water, pull out the tray in back and pour water in. I use a 1-gallon water jug. The cooler can hold 2.6 gallons. A gallon will last several hours. If the cooler runs out of water it has a quiet beeping sound for a few seconds, then it turns off the Cool setting but keeps the Fan setting running. (My old cooler would keep beeping which was very annoying.) In any case when the water is low, the cooler is less cool, so I tend to start it with two half-gallons, then add another half-gallon every few hours before it gets too low.Another tip: the cooler is normally very quiet. One day it started sloshing and splattering like a fountain. Turned out I had left the tray open!

This has been an amazing cooler so far. I’ve previously purchased another brand indoor evaporative cooler, and it never worked right from day 1. And today that heavy piece of junk is only functional as a fan which can’t oscillate anymore. But this Honeywell Cooler is light weight, easy to use and gets the job done. Caution to anyone looking into this type of cooling method, Do Your Research!! This cooler will not be effective if certain conditions outside and inside your home are not met. You will need to crack open those windows in the room you are using this, and you better live in a low humidity environment, otherwise this will not cool your Space. And I emphasized Space because this is not designed to cool your entire home; but sitting in the living room, or standing in the kitchen, laying in bed can feel as if you are enjoying a cool island breeze off the ocean when you use this cooler. But drier air and plenty of ventilation in your space is key to get the most benefits from this. You’ve got to open your windows, this is not an air conditioner where you seal up tight to keep the cold air in. Think of this as a nice breeze on a cozy spring day. And be realistic about your expectations, if temps outside are triple digits this will keep you reasonably comfortable but don’t expect miracles from something that is just a fan and water. If you want that kind of Cooling miracle buy an A.C. Unit.

When I first got this cooler, I was a little disappointed because I have bought freezer packs for it only to find that the machine refills from a small drawer at the back. That said, my disappointment vanished once I filled it up with refrigerated water and turned it on. WOW this is the best evaporator cooler for its price. It tackled my big living room that in the summer can't cool down easy. I live in Arizona and my apartment is made to be warm in the winter but that winter blessing turns into a summer nightmare when the sun hits my big window starting a 5:30 am and heats the room up until sunset later at night. I have central air conditioning, but it struggles in the summer and I always have at least one breakdown a summer. I've tried black out curtains and fans but those only brought a little coolness. Last summer I used a small cooler, the kind you can get at a store in the as seen on tv aisles. It worked great, but it died pretty quickly so I knew for the next summer I needed something better. This cooler was it! I turn it off overnight and because it's so cold it radiates coolness that continues to keep the room comfortable. No more running to my air conditioned bedroom at night to escape the heat of the living room. The air conditioner doesn't have to struggle or run hard, and I can stay comfortable. This model seems to be so popular it's hard to find. I had to buy a different model by a different company for my brother's room because it gets stuffy and it doesn't work nearly as well! And those freezer packs didn't go to waste, I use them in the second machine as it has the slide out water tank which turned out to be a bigger pain to deal with. So yeah after using both machines, I can say this one wins hands down. I developed a couple tricks to make sure it keeps putting out the cold air. I keep it in front of the open doorway to my kitchen so it has lots of air to pull from. It needs cross ventilation to work best. I fill ice cube trays only partially, way under half. They freeze faster and fit in the opening to the tank I drop a few in when I refill. Also I keep a few re-used water bottles, the liter/1.5 liter size full of tap water in the fridge. They get good and chilled, and is easier to pour in than a pitcher. I have to chill my water anyway because this time of year it comes out of the tap hot because of shallow pipes. I don't babysit it but I do refill it before it get anywhere near the minimum, if not just to drop a few ice cubes in to keep the water cold. I also have a couple fans that swirl and push the air around as my living room is pretty big, a smaller room might not need it but I like to have lots of air circulation. Anyway, if you keep the small ice cubes and chilled water on hand, even without additional fans, you can keep cool all day.

I bought two large ones and one small one and they are amazing!

I have had the 29 inch for two years. I love the remote. We use it in "very dry air" Utah, in a large southern facing bedroom. We start using it "before" the room gets too hot, and don't need to fully close the blinds either. It cools directionally with three speeds, can be filled with quite a lot of water at one time–which lasts about three days at half day use. As soon as the sun goes down, it must be turned off, because it gets too cold! We do not need to put it near a window for air intake was others on here suggested. It just sits it in the hall, and can be set to oscillate to cool our daughter's room too if needed. I would buy again in a heartbeat for dry, hot air climate at least.Update: I still use this unit as of Dec 2023. Still fully functions and works great. Would recommend.