What is a portable air cooler?
A portable air cooler is a device that utilizes evaporative cooling to provide an air stream that is cooler than the surrounding air. Air coolers, often called evaporative or swamp cooler, have a few main parts: the water tank holds water to be used in the cooling process, the wick absorbs water from the water tank and allows it to evaporate when air is blown over it, and the fan blows air over the wick and the water held in the wick. To operate an air cooler, you must first fill the water tank with water. The bottom of the wick is immersed in the water and it “sucks” water from the tank and pulls up into itself. A fan is located behind the wick. It blows air over the wick and out of the machine into your room. As the air is blown over the wick, the water in the wick evaporates. Evaporation is an endothermic reaction (it absorbs heat) so the air that is blown over the wick and out into your room has had some of the heat absorbed out of it. Of course, the water that evaporated and absor
