SPT SF-608R Portable Evaporative Air Cooler Reviews

• Very Effective

  
  By A3RZMYF7J3TX4D on 2006-07-14
  Low price, very effective in low humidity. Has a strong fan when not using the cooling feature. Timer works well. Has an oscillating feature, a "sleep" mode and, most importantly: a drain plug, washable filter element and a plastic body that cannot rust like those made of sheet metal or tin.
  It's been in the high 90s to the low 100's here in the San Fernando Valley in CA with low humidity and it's kept whatever room it is in cool enough to not have to turn on the AC.
  It's no air conditioner, but it's a low in cost [to purchase and to run]alternative you could even say was an "eco-friendly" way to stay comfortable in the summer. But then, my friends had to talk me out of buying a wringer washing machine, so my opinion is based on my personal preference for simplicity and old fashioned ways of doing things.
  Take my review as you will. It does what it says it will. If you have frequent high humidity, it won't be effective and the company tells you that so be forewarned. I find it to be a great buy and it runs quietly as well.
  
  

• Inexpensive cooling

  
  By AA533S0BJQIOP on 2007-09-01
  First off, this is NOT an air conditioner. If you expect your room to be freezing cold, this is not the product for you. It's a COOLER, and it does its job very well. It works by evaporating water. Try soaking a T-shirt, wringing it out, and putting it on wet to get the effect. It doesn't work very well in humid areas, but it works GREAT where the air is dry.
  I'm in southern California, where the humidity varies pretty widely. I place the cooler six or eight feet from my chair, and on the hottest days I'm quite comfortable.
  Benefits:
  * it's about 1/5 the cost of an air conditioner
  * operating expense is a fraction of the cost of air conditioning
  * neat features! (timer, sleep function, etc.)
  * remote control
  
  Drawbacks:
  * it's not freezing cold like air conditioning.
  
  
  

• DWelchBrown

  
  By A2HDJAD82MOVPY on 2007-06-17
  This is a FABULOUS product. I based my purchase on the reviews of this item. I had a similar product a few years ago and it doesnt compare to this as well as the other one being almost double this price. The cooler came a day PRIOR to the estimated delivery date.WOW........I live in Acampo California which is north of Lodi CA and south of Sacramento CA. The degrees outside at 5:40 pm is 93 degrees, the temperature inside of the house is 84 degrees and my bedroom (which is where I have my cooler) is 72 degrees. I use a pitcher of ice water from my fridge to fill it up and ice cubes in the top tray. For those of you that are young or have not had the experience of a "swamp cooler", they tend to have a musty smell to them. I solved this problem by purchasing a Glade Car oil fragrencer(?). It is intended to clip on the vents of your heating/air conditioning unit. I clip mine on the bottem lever of the cooler on the lowest setting and it gives off a slight fragrance with no musty smell whatsoever. My hats off to the seller, Amazon for carrying the product and the reviews that allowed me to purchase the best product out there. Happy Happy Happy!!!!
  
  

• love this

  
  By A2QDOJFFLFGF18 on 2007-05-07
  I live in Florida and I am using this. Even though it says high humidity it works well in a a small room. ive save a lot of money off my light bill by not running central air.... great product ... a must have
  
  

• Gave as a gift! They LOVE it!

  
  By A2EZR9QAPSTBUE on 2007-05-08
  I gave this to my son and his wife as one of their wedding gifts. They live in southern California. She wrote to me "I thought it was going to be just like a ceiling fan type thing, where it just blew the warm air around, but nope-this thing blows out ice cold air-just like the air conditioner of a car-and the whole apartment is SO much more comfortable because of it. And it has provided much-needed relief to the cats too, because they were so unhappy in the boiling heat. Now they're both situated directly in front of the air cooler and couldn't be more content. So.......THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!"
  What more could a mother, mother-in-law ask?!
  
  
• Okay......but not excellent
  By A2CL04E5JR3W5F on 2007-06-25
  We live in the heart of the desert in Nevada, and bought this as a way to cool individual rooms in the house vs. letting the central air cool the whole house. Why bother cooling the whole house when the family is together in one room for long periods of time?
  
  We have a thermometer and hydrometer in the primary room we use it in. The room is about 400 sq ft. and we run it for hours. For coolness, it only gives us a 1-degree temp difference; sometimes 2-degrees with ice cold water, and ice cubes in both the main water chamber and top of unit.
  
  The big difference we notice is with the humidity. We run about 20% humidity in the room normally. With this unit, it increases to 35-40% humidity. This helps with the dryness and with our allergies/asthma.
  
  Overall, we use it more as a humidifier, but it does help us to increase the thermostat a few degrees at night when we run it in the bedroom, which saves a little on energy costs.
  
  
• Swamp Cooler
  By A1WKH775WRZUSV on 2007-08-13
  This thing actually saved my life. Living in a city where they claim "air conditioning is not necessary", I almost lost it on that fluke week of 90 degrees! The room does have a damp feel to it if you run with the cooler for a long time, but MUCH better than the alternative. Also, with the cooler, (female talking here) my skin is 10X better due to it not being dry. My new kitten and I thank Amazon for getting us through the HEAT, for a great purchase, great price and shipping RIGHT ON TIME AS USUAL!
  
  
• Great Product
  By A1FUV9B82O4BIK on 2006-08-14
  Helps for those who can't sleep when it's hot. Has directional movement and ca oscillate back and forth so if only one person wants it blowing on them you can set it to do that and the other person still gets the effects of the cool air! Don't have to run the noisy whole house fan as often. This product is very quiet~
  
  
• No effect on temperature here.
  By A1TXRF98SLKL2O on 2007-09-21
  I live in the San Diego area, and a friend got one of these. Bluntly, it doesn't seem to do anything to lower the temperature, even when one sits right next to it.
  
  
• excellent Option to Save Money in Summer
  By A394BTZ1OZCUYK on 2007-05-12
  Pretty good thing to have in Summer if you are watching your electricity bill for summer.
  
  
• portable swamp cooler- evaporative cooler
  By A1IO5WNJW895KP on 2007-08-06
  I was very surprise at how the cooler really kept the room nice and cool.
  I also like the way it is easy to transport from room to room.It is a great purchase by far!.
  
  
• Not for the east coast
  By A1W4NGPFK1AU8O on 2007-06-10
  I should of realized when i read the reviews that this type of cooler is for more dry weather. here is ma. the weather is too damp. it is a great product but does not cool as well in this type of weather. this seller was awesome though. fast prompt delivery.
  
  
• DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY!!!!!
  By A3C5WISDDO05UD on 2007-08-03
  This product is nothing but a humidifier. I live in a dry area, and used it to cool down a 300sqft room. It didn't work even when I put tons of ice in the machine, on the machine, around the machine. All it did was make it feel musty and wet when anyone walked into the house from outside. I bought two to use in the same room, and it still didn't work. I think anyone would be better off buying a $350 portable AC unit. Dont waste you money on this one.
  
  
• I LOVE IT!!!!
  By A27HY9ZW7J2R9V on 2007-07-17
  WOW!!! This product does exactly what it says... It keeps you cool!!! I moved to Southern California, and it is HHOOTTT. I am a student, so I couldn't really afford an Air Conditioner AND the bill. Summer came and before I bought this product, I was not sleeping at night and was grumpy all day. Now I can even sleep under my covers!! I spent $25 less than expected and It arrived 3 days after ordering!! I was so excited when I first got it that I forgot to put it on sleep and caught a cold...But who cares it was worth it. I LOVE IT!!!!
  
  
• Bad
  By A2RM0PLC7ZRHJL on 2008-05-05
  Does not do what it suppose to do and they take forever to refund you your money back. I would recommend just getting the air conditioner you get and install in your window. That is for sure it will work. There $79 at Target for a window air conditioner.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Works Very Well In Special Situations
  By A3M2JVS2OOY9HP on 2008-06-22
  I live in the Southern California desert. My home air conditioner system does not cool the house evenly, especially the west facing or upstairs rooms. I find this unit does an excellent job in bring down the temperature in those room by about 10 degrees. I use this unit all the time during the summer. I am able to set my home air conditioner at a higher temperature and save $$$. The unit will NOT cool down an entire house, or cool a room more than 10 degrees or work in a humid area. I highly recommend this product for these special situations.
  
  
• Waste
  By AD0TS259HT40U on 2008-05-03
  I live in Arizona where its dry people say this works in dry places honestly no difference if i know what i know now i wouldnt have paid $15 bucks for this ur better off just spending three to four hundred bucks for a air cooler the only good thing about this unit is that it is quiet cause the motor doesnt push air, the high speed felt like a low air speed low was almost off..
  
  
• We're very pleased w/ this portable swamp cooler
  By AGDNYXAQM5VYY on 2008-06-02
  This thing works great for what it is...a portable swamp cooler.
  
  I was surprisingly impressed with the quality of the product, the documentation, etc.
  
  The wheels, drain plug, and ice compartment are all huge pluses. The loud beep when you switch functions is my only complaint.
  
  
• Great price for what it offers
  By A17CUULDQCHV49 on 2008-06-22
  OKay so my apartment is so !@#$ hot in Tucson, AZ that my poor, defenseless ferret would die if the rickety window A/C went out and I wasn't here to turn it off, wait 30 min, and turn it back on.
  
  This product (evaporative cooler) didn't affect the overall temperature that much (or at all really) but it creates a nice little "comfort zone" in front of it.
  
  Anyway, I'm happy enough to now buy a second one for the other room of the apartment.
  
  
• Sure beats being eaten by a bear! Heheh... Great gadget!
  By A3LDYUGV9CW17W on 2008-06-30
  Well, I don't really expect to meet up with a bear, but... part of what prompted me to buy this cooler is the increase in wildlife activity near our house. I don't always feel comfortable leaving the windows open as much as I used to. Anyway, except late at night, in the summer the outside air is usually hotter than the inside air so it's better to keep them closed. We had a fisher ('fisher-cat') show up last summer, something I'd never seen before. Then, there are foxes. And, of course, there's all the pollen and other stuff that comes in the windows.
  
  Air conditioning hasn't done much for our weird little house, and it's ME that has to lift and install the stupid things and I just can't be bothered with that anymore! Sick of putting the air conditioners in. So, this Sunpentown evaporative cooler has been great, and very manageable.
  
  It doesn't blast cold air like an air conditioner; true, it has it's limits. But, especially if I put some ice paks in the top container with lid (which I then cover with my stack of small cleaning towels...this helps insulate), I notice that the air IS much cooler than it would be from just a regular fan.
  
  This gadget is nice and quiet and all the options for various settings, timer, etc., are wonderful.
  
  We have very high humidity here (except in winter!) so I haven't bothered much with the actual evaporative-cooling aspect -- it would really only make a difference in a hot, dry place. Still, I like having that option, because you never know, around here!
  
  There was a slight issue with the float inside the cooler, but I was able to make a quick phone call and get some instructions emailed to me about how to make the simple fix. This isn't new to me -- I've had to fix floats before, same type of situation, but with a hydroponic planter gadget.
  
  Anyway -- I'm happy with this cooler and I may decide to get a few more in the future.
  
  
  
  
• Good cooling
  By A3L6BI8U6P9TOE on 2008-06-27
  I chose this product because I live in a dry climate and couldn't afford an air conditioner, and also because it was rated so well. Well, here's the story. It came 3 days before it said it would (I got the free shipping). So before I turned the cool function on it was about 74 degrees and it cooled my room down to 70 degrees. The whole time it was pumping out icy cold air. But I don't like the way it loudly beeps when you change the settings. I recommend this product. But you HAVE TO GIVE IT TIME and set it on medium or high and keep your window open to let out the hot air and allow the cooler to pull in dry air.
  
  
• Works But Needs Attention
  By A2ONMQLMAN8MEA on 2008-07-23
  This unit blows like a fan and does offer the benefit of cooler air, but only if you fill it with water on a regular basis.
  
  We bought it for our 13 year old niece who came to stay for the summer and she is too lazy to fill it with water, so complains that it doesn't work.
  
  If you are unlazy enough to add ice on hotter days, you're rewarded with significantly cooler air, as long as the ice lasts (maybe 1 hour).
  
  In short, with constant attention, it's a decent, (much) cheaper alternative to a stand alone air conditioner.
  
  
• What What...?
  By A2TSJB8HB9B7AU on 2008-06-08
  It was the best! Sometimes I felt somewhat swampy (IE swamp cooler ;-) and moist. Other times it was just delightful. In fact, I am starting to enjoy the frequent dampness ;-)
  
  
• Portable evaporative cooler
  By A1NPDMTV2KHP99 on 2008-07-10
  Excellent product, especially for the price. One tiny design flaw...I actually have to get down on the floor to see the water level.
  
  
• A/C / Humidifier
  By A1M26FMWP0ZSZH on 2008-07-13
  We have a "mother in law" type home and our side gets very hot in the FL summer months.
  Was not sure if this product was what I was looking for based on the reviews, but I gave it a shot and we love it!
  It takes the temp down a lot on our side leaving other side of the house evenly cooled. (and not freezing!) It does what we wanted it to do. I also love the humidifier as I have very dry eyes and while it is cooling our side of the house, it also humidifies.
  The only down side is you can't clean the tray or whatever holds the water. (in a humidifier there is usually a slimy substance at the bottom of tank that must be cleaned out) (maybe this cleans itself?) (I'll keep looking!!)
  All in All, We Love It!!
  
  
• Not quite right for San Diego summer (have no air conditioner).
  By A2VPMG0R9VMVMC on 2008-07-23
  Bought this swamp cooler to at least give it a chance to see how it will work in the house this summer. Before purchasing, I understood that it is better if used in places with LOW humidity, as we average between 60% and 70%, I was still hoping that this machine would still make a difference. In the hottest part of the day it does bring the felt temperature down a few degrees (so imagine if it's 90F in the house, it will bring it down to about 85F-88F) but you must keep all windows and curtains/shades drawn with one window open. This will help the cool air molecules move the hot air molecules out. It seems best if the ice bins are continually topped off with ice, though. An additional fan helps the cool air move about better. I do feel an increase in humidity but it is bearable. After some time of running the water pump, if only the fan is operating, there is a smell coming from the water tank. A thorough cleaning of the tank and dust filters should solve that problem. At night it works more effeciently, for obvious reasons. Overall, this machine works as designed but it must be in an environment that it works best in. Please check the humidity average in your area as this will add about (my guess) 15% more.
  
  
• Not worth your money and time...
  By A1VZKVRKLWV531 on 2008-07-26
  Since I live in South Florida and I read a review from a person living in Florida, I thought that this product could cool my 15' by 12' room. All this product really is a glorified humidifier. I put ice, and even dry ice with water and it made absolutely no difference whatsoever. I think that this is a nice try by the swamp cooler companies to cool your room by at least 5 degrees Fahrenheit, but it really is a waste of money.
  
  It may work in low humidity, but whoever writes the review from the Florida area or any area with high humidity, then it really is a waste of your money. Buy a portable ac instead.
  
  
• Don't waste money
  By A258JF2U271EAP on 2008-08-07
  This does not cool as I expected. I wouldn't waste money on this unit. I have other brand that cools much better than this.
  
  
• Cooler
  By AVVRXUYTBTGA2 on 2008-08-08
  The cooler works fine. However, it doesn't cool as much as I had expected. My floor fan worked almost as well.
  
  
• excellent customer service
  By ASJGZ8EHPXTT8 on 2008-08-10
  Initial item received had a minor defect. This minor defect does not affect functionality at all, just some sort of manufacture defect. Customer service rep proactively contacted me and offered replacement parts and refund. I was impressed with this company's excellent service.
  
  Besides that, this water cooler does cool down a room when room is at around high 80. the size of the room is about fitting 3 desks with plenty of walking space.
  
  

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