SPT SF-610 Portable Evaporative Air Cooler with Ionizer
by Sunpentown
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of SPT SF-610 Portable Evaporative Air Cooler with Ionizer
Customer Review: Best used as a personal cooler
Summary: 4 Stars
As I type this, it's 103 outside with 29% humidity. Inside, without the central air conditioner running, it's 102 and 30% humidity. I filled up this gizmo, turned it on, and the air coming out the front of the unit is 91 with 45% humidity.
Since this cooler works by the phase-change of water into gas, you'll need to open your windows and let the air circulate so the humidity doesn't build up to the point where you're in a sauna and start to sweat like--um--someone who's in a sauna.
It won't cool down an entire room, but if you'll be typing away on your computer like I am, you'll be sitting in one place. So sit next to the cooling breeze with an iced tea, and you'll be happy as a clam.
Here's some numbers for how it works, and what's reasonable to expect from this cooler . . .
Everyone knows that to generate steam, you apply lots of heat to water. You'll be happy to learn that if you dip a towel in water and hang it to dry, the liquid water changes to vapor, and in the process absorbs heat. How much heat, you ask?
Water weighs about 8.3 lbs per gallon. To turn one lb of water to vapor, you need to apply about 910 BTU of heat. Multiply 910 times 8.3 and you get 7553 BTU. So, if you can entice a swamp cooler to vaporize one gallon of water in one hour, it will (about) cool as much as a regular window unit rated at 7500 BTU.
However, this particular machine professes to vaporize about half a liter of water (about one pint) in an hour. One pint is 1/8 of a gallon, which is about one lb of water, so you can assume this machine will cool at the rate of 900 BTU per hour, which is about 20% of what a small window air conditioner will provide.
Nevertheless, this evaporative cooler is much more energy-efficient than a plug-in AC unit.
This cooler draws 60 watts of power. Compare to a window AC unit, which draws about 20 times as much power (1200 watts and up).
If electricity costs you 10 cents per KWH:
This cooler will operate for 160 hours (a whole week) for $1.00
A window AC unit pulling 1000 watts will operate for 10 hours for $1.00
Consider what you need to cool before you choose a cooler.
If it's just you, and you're not too fussy about sitting next to what's essentially a fan with a bit of cooling power, this will do the trick. But if you need to cool an entire room from 100 degrees F to 85 or below, you'll absolutely need a regular air conditioning unit.
One other note . . . using ice will help a bit, but not by a whole lot, because
to melt one lb of ice, it only takes about 140 BTU of energy vs. the 910 BTU it takes to vaporize water. So you get 6 times the benefit of vaporizing water compared to just melting it. No doubt it helps, but don't worry too much about it, unless you happen to work for an ice-making company and have lots of free ice available.
Bottom line -- I'm happy; it does what it needs to do, because it's just me sitting next to my PC. And it's way more affordable to me, and much easier on the environment.
Customer Review: Not as bad as people say.
Summary: 3 Stars
I bought this cooler about 10 days ago, due to the temperatures here were up to 90 and running my A/C in the house is expensive. I didn't expect my whole area to cool down since it is very large, but wanted something I can point toward the seating area to be semi comfortable. It has done exactly what I wanted it to do, sitting in front of the cooler the temperatures are good and I only use my A/C for about 2 hours in the later evening when the temps peak. I fill mine with ice and some water, as the ice melts it continues to cool for about 3 hours, then I just add some more ice. As others said the top filler is pretty useless, so I don't even use it, I just use a pitcher and pour it in the side. The rear filter is simple to clean, the fan blows well and the remote works good. Using 60 watts instead of around 800 my a/c uses will make this pay for itself in less than 3 months. I am not sure if the ionizer works, I normally can smell when a ionizer is on, this one I don't smell a thing. I actually might buy another one to point 2 in the general area cool even more. the bottom is a open tank you can see in when you open the side door, cleaning will be a little chore every couple weeks but it is worth it to me to save money and it helps with keeping the air fresh, I haven't even had any issues from pollen since using this. Later If any issues other than the main power/electronics, replacing the pump will be cheap and easy. Even if I only get a couple summers use out of this it is worth it to me. They could have and should have made the top filler that could be used and the side door could be a little larger, but overall I am happy with my purchase and I don't have to have a dedicated plug on the wall the run it like I do my a/c unit.Customer Review: Not what I expected
Summary: 1 Stars
I didn't buy this product from Amazon, but thought it was so bad I should warn people. Like other previous reviews state, this product is little more than an over sized fan. I have another swamp cooler from a different manufacturer, and it actually cools, but this one is literally no different from my normal cheap circular fan, just louder. Except my fan doesn't leak water all over my floor. This swamp cooler came with a hairline crack at one of the wheels, obviously some kind of design flaw. It's not the only design flaw, I don't know what they were thinking about having the water volume meter impossible to read, or the place to put in the water hardly large enough to stick a straw into. It looks kind of cool, but it doesn't cool, which is all I want it to do.Customer Review: Nice little fan/cooler
Summary: 4 Stars
This lilttle fan/cooler is good. First it kinda takes you back because it resembles and old home furnace but in a modern twist. This cooler works just fine for us in our living room. Which is on the small size. Now this thing isnt gonna make you cold or do the work of a real cooler but its better than a fan and it has many settings to help you adjust it just rite. The ionizer is a great feature. Im not sure how well or how much it ionizes but there are times you can tell its working. Overall I do recommend this product to anyone who needs a little help cooling down and doesnt want to spend Air Conditioner prices. Remember this little guy is great but if youre looking for a major cooling effect this isnt the item for you.Customer Review: Fine as a fan, but doesn't cool
Summary: 2 Stars
It has everything you want of a fan - timer, 3 speed, variable direction, remote control, but don't think this will in any way reduce the temperature in the room - at best you get a fan with built-in humidifier.
It comes with ice packs, but using these doesn't make any difference either, and good luck getting them back out after using them - the hole you have to drop them in is the same size as the ice pack, so once you get your hand in there and get a grip on them, you can't get your hand back out.
Update: Died after less that two years.