Hessaire MC18V Portable Evaporative Cooler, Green, 1300 CFM, Cools 500 Square Feet

I don't normally give five stars even for something I think is a great product at a good value. I reserve the fifth star for durability. Previous owners have testified to the durability. First the disclaimer. It is NOT air conditioning. You don't get that for under $200. It is an evaporative cooler. It passes air through a damp media and when the water evaporates it absorbs heat. It's not magic, it's physics. The more water that evaporates the more heat that is absorbed. Since water does not like to evaporate in high humidity situations this cooler loses its effectiveness as the humidity increases. If your normal relative humidity STARTS at 40% don't even think about using this cooler. Also, for the same reason, you don't want to try to use it in a closed room, not even a closet. As the cooler operates the evaporated water adds to the humidity so after a short time the room becomes so humid the cooler quits working. The air coming in the back needs to be 100% new, not recurculated. Back the cooler up to an open window and also turn on some bathroom or kitchen exhaust fans to encourage air to come in the open window. I only use mine outdoors. That's how they work. Here's why this one is so good. An evaporative cooler only needs water, a pump, a fan, cooling media and a switch to control it all. This one has a reservoir large enough that you can get several hours out of a full tank. It has a water pump that keeps the water circulating over the media no matter how much is consumed. The fan serves two purposes. It pulls air into the back through the cooling media and out the front to cooler the user. This fan is plenty large enough to do both. The real key to its success is the size of the media. It follows. The larger the surface area of the media, the more the water evaporates, the more water that evaporates the more air that is cooled. Evaporative coolers need to be big because they need their media to be big. When you see the little one cubic foot miracle coolers being sold they're a joke. The media and fan are far too small to be effective. And finally the controls. A single rotary switch with five positions. Hi/lo wet, hi/lo dry and pump only. Why pump only? For prepping the media before cooling but mostly for maintenance. The nasty thing about evaporative coolers is that when the water evaporates it leaves everything that was in the water behind. If you have very hard water your media could turn into a brick in a single season. Since bricks aren't absorbent they don't make good cooler pads. You can keep the mineral deposits under control by circulating acidic water over the pads periodically either vinegar or Limeaway depending on how bad it is. Drain the water after cleaning. The pump only position allows you to pour in your solution, turn on the pump and walk away. Come back later, drain and refill and you're good for weeks more use. If you have RO water, soft water or filtered water cleaning becomes less of an issue. Two features this cooler has that most don't that I'm utilizing is the float inlet and the analog switch. They give you a garden hose adapter so you can hook a hose to it, turn the water on a bit and the tank fills and stays full with no need for refilling. I did it with 1/4 inch irrigation tubing because it's much smaller and easier to keep out of the way. The switch is unique because it doesn't involve any electronics. You can plug the cooler into a smart plug and turn it on or off with a phone app or voice assistant. The cherry on top is that it's made to last so it's repairable with available replacement parts. Try that with ANY Chinese made products.

I live in Arizona and the summers are brutally hot. Enough to kill chickens without proper cooling. I have tried misting fans, but they left everything a wet mess. I purchased this evaporative cooler for last summer and it performed incredibly well. Typically lowering the temperature in and around my coop and run by a minimum of 15 to 20°. I have wireless thermometers throughout so I know where the temperature is at any given moment. This machine ran continuously from May through September. The fact that I could plug it into a continuous water source was a deal changer for me. I only shut it off to do a routine cleaning every other week. If you have a chicken coop, and you live where I live, this is the answer to keeping your flock, healthy and happy.

I have the cooler located in a well covered and shaded outside area for my outside pets here in the Southwest. Had to replace cooler pump at two months (June - July) of daily 14 hour use. If used a lot, or use is of any importance, I recommend keeping a new spare cooler pump on hand. Shopping around will show that replacement cooler pumps are readily available, ranging from $18 to $43. Cooler pump replacement is fairly easy with videos available online. I will have this cooler going 14 hours a day thru August, possibly September. The overall size is convenient and will fit just about anywhere. For me, supplying water via the hose attachment is an absolute necessity, but the float valve only allows the water level to rise just high enough to completely cover the cooler pump, about 1/4 of the tanks capacity. The existing float is fixed, but adjustable floats are available from Hessaire. I am disappointed in the plastic used for the housing as it seems to be brittle, so I am very careful with it. I never pick the cooler up by the provided handle if there is water in the cooler as I am not convinced the housing could take it. For the money, I think it does a pretty good job. I think I might have been happier paying a little more for a more durable, higher end, higher output model, since it is only used in extreme outside conditions (108F to 118F).

I was so excited to get this cooler, as the one I had looked so much like it. I loved the fact that that this unit was so simple, no frills, less to go wrong. I just got it today, the temperature was 85'. It just does not cool!!! I hate to think how uncomfortable the rest of the summer will be when temperatures reach the high 90's. I wish now that I would have gotten my old one fixed.

Thus is the most powerful evaporative cooler I have ever owned, over ther years, I have bought about 3, but none of them work as efficiently as this one. I bought this one for my business, because we are on the corner, at a certain part of the day,the sun beams down heavily on the building causing the bricks to heat up like a brick I oven. I have two air conditioners running at all times because it is a salon and we have heated equipment running. When it is really hot, when turn off and equipment when we are not using it. This cooler helps cool off any excess hot air in the salon area. I also use fans to circulate the cooler air. It works extremely well, if you turn it off, you notice the difference immediately. Many customers have inquired about the unit, because they can actually feel the cool air from it. If it is extremely humid outside, you will not get the same cooling affect when the humidity is low, but it still makes a difference. The only downside to this unit is, because it is so powerful and I use it on high, it sucks down alot of water quickly. I can't go past 6-8 hours without adding more water. If you work an 8hour day, you definitely have to fill it up every day with about 4 gallons of water. If you use this unit outside in your yard, there is a garden hose attachment on the side of the unit, so you never run out of water. This is by far the best evaporative cooler I have ever bought, and I am looking forward to early Fall and late Spring, where I can just open my windows and turn it on, and not use the air conditioners at all. It is very sturdy, you can put ice directly into the water opening and, there is no spike in my electric bill from using it.

The product works great until the pad wears out. Then it’s impossible to find the correct size to replace even using the exact name and number on the cooler. Also, you have to fill with water ever couple of hours so you can’t use it at night unless you set your alarm and refill every 2-3 hours

I purchased the Hessaire MC18V a couple weeks ago to use in what can be a very hot sunroom that houses my cat. There is a long bank of windows that face east that allow the morning sun on summer days to become brutally hot. The poor cat needed some relief. I bought the Hessaire after much research and contemplation. The model I bought fit my budget...I thought after reading reviews it would be adequate for the space. Setting it up was simple...put on the wheels, fill with water, switch it on. From that moment the Hessaire began cooling the sunroom and is keeping it in the high 70s most days. To maximize the evaporative cooling system I open several windows behind the Hessaire and down the line of windows in front of the MC18V I open every third window. I also run a Vornado fan to move the air around. The evaporative cooling system is working better than I'd hoped. It's not too noisy on high fan and the quieter low fan setting is adequate most days. There hasn't been any issue with excess humidity (probably because there are several open windows). I am happy with this purchase so far. It's easy to put water in using a watering can with long narrow spout. Rolling the unit to put it away each evening is easy. I decided to drain the Hessaire after the first week. The drain is accessible and easy to use. I have been adding a half cup of white vinegar to the water every third day. I haven't noticed any foul odors. I have no complaints other than the not so beautiful army green color is not my favorite. I do recommend this product.

Finally decided to give it a try in my small (6x8 ft)greenhouse. Arizona summers are brutal and outdoor vegetables have never done well for me so I decided to keep the greenhouse going through as long as possible. Our temps have been grazing 100 but with our low humidity this cooler is perfect. Normally when the outside temp reaches above 85 the greenhouse was unusable as even with the door open it would reach 110 and above, let alone when the outside temp are 105-110. Current indoor temps are running not higher than 95 daytime with about 50% humidity with door and window open. That's on low speed. I use about 10 gals water per day max. Perfect! Pic 1 greenhouse panorama Pic 2 tomatoes growing Pic 3 greenhouse with cheap insect screen - the cooler is visible on the left The pics are already a few weeks old but tomatoes, peppers, onions, garlic, cilantro, radishes are all doing great. It really is a jungle in there.... I have never had such good growth here in the desert!

Unless you can put it in front of a window or a source of dry air and have a door open on the other side of the room, it is just a big humidifier. It needs to work like a dairy barn. Fan pulls Outside air in though the pad and into the room. Only difference is the fan is on the other end of the dairy barn exhausting and pulling outside air through through the pad.not blowing into the barn. If it just circulated inside air though the pad it wouldn’t cool and if there was no exhaust it would be a soupy mess lol. If the air going thru the pad is not dry and it’s humid then there will be little to no evaporation occurring on the pad and thus no evaporative cooling effect If you’re in a dry place this will come in handy don’t need anything there just turn it on.