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Home > Archive > Home Repair forum > August 2006 > swamp cooler leaking hot air
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swamp cooler leaking hot air
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| I recently moved into a home that has ductwork to 7 different rooms and
connected to that ductwork are both an evaporative (swamp) cooler and a
forced air heater. I fear I'm losing a lot of heat through the swamp
cooler. I've got a cover on it, but I checked it out today and the
cover was pretty warm (on my roof in 30 deg weather) and bulging out
from the air (I tied a couple straps around the cover) .
What can I do? I feel like I need something that will cut off the duct
from the swamp cooler to the rest of the system. Is that possible?
Expensive?
Thanks,
G
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| Do you own this home, or rent? If the latter, maybe the landolrd will
be amenable to the installation of a barometric damper. Tom
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| you can put in an automaic or manual dampler that closes the duct to
the evap during heating season....
but even without a damper...if the air pressure is so high that it is
buldging the cover on your evap, then you may want to investigate
why.... do you have too many vents closed off, the back pressure
should not be that high...
Mark
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| I own and am willing to do the work.
I do have a lot of vents closed off, to distribute heat to the parts of
the house that I'm using (bedrooms at night, living during the day,
etc.).
I will look into a manual damper, but where should I start?
G
Mark wrote:
> you can put in an automaic or manual dampler that closes the duct to
> the evap during heating season....
>
> but even without a damper...if the air pressure is so high that it is
> buldging the cover on your evap, then you may want to investigate
> why.... do you have too many vents closed off, the back pressure
> should not be that high...
>
> Mark
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| A barometric damper would allow you to just forget about it. It would
install just after the swamp cooler. Do a google search, or call around
to the local hardware/HVAC retailers. Tom
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| coolerdoctor 2006-08-30, 1:25 pm |
| Barometric dampers are great, but they require considerable installation or
duct work.
Your cooler shoud already be set up with a simple damper system. Just
below the blower, outside the cooler (sometimes inside the cooler), there
is a thin slot all the way across the duct(it might be covered with
aluminum tape). Inside this slot, there are guides for a damper to slide
into. You must slide a damper into this slot to block the heated air from
going up into the cooler. This damper is commonly called a "cookiesheet
damper". It is simply a flat piece of sheetmetal with a 1/2 inch right
angle bend in it (used as a handle). The dimensions of the damper is the
same as the inside of your duct. When you insert the damper, use some
aluminum tape to seal over the "handle" of the damper and the opening
(slot).
In the spring, when you are setting your cooler up for the summer, you must
remove this damper and reseal the slot. At the furnace, there should be a
similar damper that needs to be inserted in spring and removed in winter.
This damper keeps the cooled air from escaping through the furnace.
If you don't have either of these dampers you can have them made easily and
inexpensively at any sheetmetal shop.
To learn more service and repair information on evaporative coolers, visit:
www.easycoolercare.com
Larry Galpin
The Cooler Doctor
Service, Repair & Enhance the Performance of Your Cooler Yourself and Save
$100s Every Year!
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