Taking sides: swamp cooler v. air conditioning

Does air conditioning create a weird vacuum in your house if you forget to leave a window open like the swamp cooler does?

When it gets to be over 100º F/40º C, the swamp cooler seems only to work enough to make it so you sweat somewhat but not a ton.

what the hey is a swamp cooler?

Coldplay

whoa what is a swamp cooler abbott

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evaporative_cooler

I'm trying to read that article & I still don't quite get how they work. I have to turn on a pump for ~5 minutes before using it to make sure there's some humidity in the air for it to work with. Also, you can tell it's summer when the dumpsters are all full of last year's straw-mat things from the swamp coolers to be replaced w/new ones. Most mysterious, sort of effective.

Also if you forget to allow some access to the outside world, like an open window, it becomes impossible to open your front door.

Traditionally, evaporative cooler pads consist of excelsior

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Do you know what cracks me up? Winters here (Nü Mexico) never get much colder than a few degrees above freezing. It never gets so, if you have shitty heating design and no insulation, that you can see your breath in your own house*, let alone outdoors. The most I ever need outside is coat/hat/gloves/scarf and indoors it's pretty easy to bundle up.

The summers, OTOH, defs get to lethal temps. Pets die from being outside all day. I totes dig the siesta idea bcz your whole body and mind are just melted into runny grits at peak heat.

So what gets me is that it's illegal for the city to turn off your electricity during the winter months w/the concern people might freeze to death!

*I had a bathroom like this in Idaho, essentially a little shack thrown onto the side of the house, and it was pretty freaky.

We've got a bathroom door that gets jammed in the winter and becomes easily opened in the summer. Right above it is the air-return for heating and a/c. I noticed the other night that with the a/c on, you almost have to put a little strength into closing the door. And when it is closed, you can feel the cold air getting pulled out through the crack between the door and the floor.

I used to work on a radio show that dealt with energy issues and the calls we'd get from Grand Junction, Colo. used to completely stump the host and I.

the calls about swamp coolers...