Hessaire MC37M 3100 CFM Portable Evaporative Air Cooler - 3-Speed High Velocity Outdoor Swamp Cooler for 950 sq. ft. Areas - Perfect for Patio, Garage, Warehouse & Backyard Cooling (Gray)

I live in Tucson, Arizona where many houses used to only have these units on the roof for cooling. We call them Swamp Coolers. They will only work in a low humidity environment or you might as well just buy a big fan. Water runs over the filters, the big fan sucks in warm air and evaporates the water, the temp is lowered up to 25 degrees, and you have nature’s air conditioning, just like you on a hot, sweaty, breezy, desert afternoon!I bought this in July. We were replacing a 16 yo Mobile Mastercool that was made of metal and the doors were rusted out at the bottom.I saw they had these at the local Big Box Hardware Store and I was skeptical because none were on display. I was able to get a better deal here so I gave it a shot.We use the cooler on our patio under our awning. As long as it isn’t monsoon season, it drops the temp a good 25 degrees. The 3-Fan speeds are great and the oscillating feature works great. I’ve told my wife several times to turn it down because I was freezing out on a 90 degree night.The fan is very powerful which helps with the evaporation off the side and back pads.My only complaints are the plastic back panel is a little flimsy and kind of a pain to seat. If you can get the float right, hopefully you are replacing the cardboard panels only once every couple years.Replace the cardboard panels you say. Depending on how hard the water is in your area the panels over time will build up scale on them and will no longer have a good flow for the water and will need to be replaced. I’ll admit I have gone five or more years at a time but it really does work best for airflow if you replace them every couple years. A lot of this does depend on the hardness of the water in your area.My second dislike about this unit is the float. It is a plastic apparatus set up that is positioned in the corner by the side panel. First of all make sure you cut away a little extra of the cardboard so the float can move freely. I have had a very hard time getting the float to stop where I want it to be so I can just leave the hose on. When it is really hot and evaporated quickly if I have the hose bib on a very low flow it often times just fills enough and doesn’t overflow. But once you turn the fan off when you come out in the next morning there will be all kinds of water on the ground around the unit. I’m sure I can fix this I just haven’t wanted to waste an hour and a half trying to get the level perfect. If it starts to overflow I just turn it off for a while. You can tell when it is running low by looking at the float on the front of the unit. I’m sure the manufacture will reply that you should never leave the hose bib on it unattended anyways.Overall I am extremely happy with this unit. I did buy an extended warranty to make sure that the unit would be covered at least for three years. I will give an updated review next year since now it is our fall/winter and we aren’t using the unit again until most likely April.