How to Run an Evaporative Cooler & Humidifier

Evaporative coolers and humidifiers are machines that run hot air over cold water and push the resulting misty air out into a room. The hot air takes evaporated water with it as it exits out a vent in the cooler and adds humidity to an otherwise dry environment. The cooler temperature of the humidified air lowers the ambient temperature in the room. The general procedure for operating a cooler is the same for most models, so if you’ve managed to pick up a used cooler that is missing its instruction booklet, you can still make the cooler work if none of its parts are missing or broken. Each model, though, will have its own variations in functions and instructions, so you may have to play around with the controls on your model to figure out what they do.

Dust cloth
Water
Ice (optional)

Instructions

- 1
  Clean off the cooler with a dust cloth. If you can get into any of the compartments, such as the water tank, clean out those, too.
- 2
  Find the water tank or filling area and look at the entire cooler. If you’re missing the instructions and don’t have a diagram of the machine, you won’t be able to find a part quickly by looking it up. Get familiar with what you have before you fill it with water. The water compartment can be on top, in back or in front; look for an easily removable door leading to a compartment with minimum and maximum lines marked on the inside. The door to the compartment will probably have some sort of window on it, meant for monitoring the water level. See also if you can find a model number and any filters, so you can get replacement filters if your model needs them.
- 3
  Move the cooler -- still unplugged and not filled -- to an area near an open window. Stay at least 1/2 foot away from the wall. Tilt any movable fan louvers so air flows up.
- 4
  Fill the water compartment to no more than the maximum level line -- use the minimum level line instead if you are also adding ice, notes the DeLonghi company -- and shut the door. Clean up any spilled water or ice chips.
- 5
  Plug in the cooler and turn it on. The control panel should have one button clearly marked for just power on and off.
- 6
  Monitor the water level to ensure the cooler doesn’t run dry. Keep the tank filled at least halfway. Many models of coolers allow the water to dip to one third or one fourth of the full tank, but if you don’t have the manufacturer’s instructions, err on the side of caution.
- 7
  Turn off and unplug the cooler before emptying the water tank, if you need to move or clean the cooler.

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