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It is hot (very hot) and dry here at N58. My central AC ain't worth a flyin' flunk so I have resorted to a portable swamp cooler. I would like opinions on adding a little chlorine bleach to the reservoir in order to kill any bacteria that might grow in there and to keep the air that blows out of it smelling clean. Would I be exposing myself to dangerous chlorine vapors by doing this? Opinions and comments, please...

If you are going to let the Chlorine sit in it while you use it then It's like committing suicide. Clean all the junk out with the bleach and make sure that all of the Chlorine gas is all out before useing. Also get rid of the old water.

TIP: Read about WWI.

LOL!

Years ago me and my friend tried to make an Ester as revision for a Chemistry exam. So we mixed bleach, with vinegar, and vodka, smelt it, and nearly passed out  ::)  ;D

Chlorine is a very effective bacteria killer. I am thinking a solution of not more than 1% will do the job. The reservoir is about six gallons, which means the actual amount of bleach would be about six or seven ounces in all that water...

Hi rootbeer...

I am not exactly sure what a portable swamp cooler is, I know what you want to do though.  The smell of chlorine is not exactly great or safe especially in a confined area.

Why not try calling a business that sells or services swimming pools and see it they have another suggestion or a product other than chlorine.

Cheers...Happy Landings...Doug

Try just as a1 said.....

Clean it with bleach, rinse it real good, change the water, and change the filter if there is one. Then, I'd say just run the thing for a hour or so, outside to get rid of any residue chlorine, and then if you want to be really safe, change the water again.

Or.........

You could just buy a few of those car air freshners, that sit on your car's AC vents, and attach some of those to your cooler.

Portable swamp coolers are an inexpensive way to cool your living space in hot DRY climates.

Interesting, I've never heard of that. Do they cool as well as an air conditioner does? Not that it would do me any good, it is super-humid in my area in the summer.

Sounds like a great way to humidify (and mold-ify) your home.

I assume you're using plain old pool chlorine as I don't know how you could possibly use gassous chlorine to treat water aside from bubbling it through.  I don't even know if that pool stuff has any chlorine in it, or if it's just a name.  Anyway, anyone who's spent time around an indoor pool knows that the smell will become unpleasant long before there are any adverse health effects.

No, a swamp cooler does not cool as well as a bona fide air conditioner. A swamper will only lower the temperature in the space in question by about 12 degrees or so. As was stated, it is an inexpensive way to cool air, but it has its limits. Out here, many of the homes use only swampers. It is so dry here, that the humidity they create is actually beneficial. When I run mine (which is essentially every minute I am home), I don't get a spark when I touch my computer case. After sparking my external hard drive about a year ago and losing plenty of good stuff in that sad process, I now always discharge myself before turning on my computer or my external drive.

I failed to mention that when my swamper is running, I have the window in my back bedroom open and two 20-inch fans (running at max rpm) bungeed into the kitchen window, pulling air through the place from rear to front. The cooler is right at the foot of my bed, which is in the living room because my computer and reloading bench is in the back bedroom, one bedroom is used as a storage room (saves me $75 a month in renting a storage locker) and I have no TV or sofa, so the front room is the best place for my pad. I would think with that rate of air exchange, a little chlorine in the air won't be a problem.But I thought I'd put it out for comments, anyway...

When used as intended (dry climates) they don't cause mold problems.

I am thinking a solution of not more than 1% will do the job.

Thats OK if you wanna die

Swimming pools apparently use 0.015-0.02% solution