Luma Comfort EC110S Portable Evaporative Cooler Review
When you want to be cool on really hot, dry days with a more economical solution than AC, the EC110S evaporative cooler from Luma Comfort reviewed here is one of the best choices you can make when you live in a dry climate.
To discover a new way of staying cool without air conditioning, read on!
Evaporative (swamp) coolers have been around for a long time, but they often get overlooked when people are looking for a cooling solution, because everyone uses AC, right? Well, that's changing, especially now that energy prices are going through the roof.
Why More People Are Buying Swamp Coolers
You see, air conditioning is great and in a lot of cases the best way to enjoy a comfortable indoor temperature, but it costs a lot to run because it uses a lot of energy. On the other hand, swamp coolers can do the same thing for around 80% less energy consumption, which makes them very attractive when you're trying to balance a tight household budget but don't want to sacrifice your comfort.
The only limitation on these appliances is they only work when the air is relatively dry. That means they don't work too well in humid climates, so you need to be aware of this very important point before you go any further.
But of you do live in a climate that has low humidity, you are totally in luck. So let's take a look at this particular model from Luma Comfort and really dig into its makeup so you can appreciate what an amazing machine it actually is!
Powerful Cooling Capability
The first thing you'll notice when you start this device up is just how incredibly powerful it is, considering its size. It can deliver a breath-taking 500 CFM (Cubic Feet per Minute) of chilled air to cool a large room of up to 250 square feet by as much as 20-30 degrees Fahrenheit when it is run in optimum conditions (meaning a dry atmosphere).
To achieve this stunning feat of large volume air movement, the EC110S utilizes a patented cyclonic air cooling technology. The innovatively designed oscillating fan head allows it to project a highly targeted flow of air to where it's needed very quickly.
Add to all that power wrapped up in a small package is a really stunning design that will give a stylish look to the room it's doing its important climate management job in.
Highly Efficient Cooling
Coupled with a large, easily removable two gallon water reservoir tank (pictured left) is another product feature that sets this appliance apart from the rest is its use of a high efficiency, rigid cooling media (pictured right). This extremely porous pad can soak up a lot of water quickly while allowing the air to pass though it relatively unhindered.
This results in the unit being capable of drawing in a large volume of air which it can pass through the moisture-laden media very quickly to produce its powerful blast of chilled air that it sends into the room.
What is even more amazing is that it can do this by only using a frugal 110 watts of power. When you compare that with a typical 1-2 kilowatt portable air conditioner, you can see how much money you will save by choosing this instead of a power sucking AC!
Cleaner, Fresher Air
One must-have feature that comes as standard on this model is an additional air-filter that traps unwanted airborne particles that may or may not be hazardous to health. So it just got better because it emits only pure, fresh, cold air for you to breathe.
Being able to render the air you breathe harmless is a very important aspect to a device that moves air around a room and it quite often happens that there are pollutants present in your home's atmosphere that you may be unaware of. Well, with this machine keeping you nice and comfortable during the hot days (and nights) of summer, you can rest assure the air is constantly being cleaned of those pollutants all the while it is running.
Convenient Customizable Cooling
You can set this unit to deliver three air speeds as well as three alternate wind modes, providing you with full control over the way it delivers its temperature busting coolness. 
With an eight-hour timer that you can easily program to have the unit turn itself off when you want it to and a handy remote so you can control it from your armchair, you have total say in how this machine operates.
There is a useful "swing" setting that starts the front fins circulating to create a more natural breeze effect. This dissipates the forcefulness of the straight air blast and makes it more comfortable for use when you are in bed.
The unit is relatively lightweight (weighs 21.7 pounds without water) and on easy glide casters that swivel and lock, making it highly portable. Also, because it's an evaporative cooler and not an AC, there is no ugly trailing vent hose to worry about!
A handy feature is the on-board compartment for storing the remote when it's not being used. Great for making sure you know where you put it rather than down the back of the sofa!
Another useful feature is the low water alarm. This sends you an audible "beep" when the water levels falls to almost empty, although you can also view the water level manually via the meter low down on the front of the unit.
Use Outdoors as well as Indoors
Another really useful feature of this machine is that it is as much at home outdoors as it is indoors. That means you can use it on your porch, terrace, patio, poolside or in the garden is you want to have a nice icy blast of air to help you cool down when the sun is trying to frazzle you to a crisp!
There are many ways you can take advantage of this feature to make the most of the unit's chilling power when outside. Here are a few suggestions:
- In the workshop it can get pretty hot especially when you're working with large, bench power tools. Keep things more comfortable while keeping the air free of unwanted and often hazardous airborne particulates by placing the EC110S in there while you work.
- In the garden shed while you work on re-potting your plants and do the maintenance on your garden tools, you don't need to suffer in the heat of summer. This cooler is as much at home in a shed as it is anywhere to keep you from getting too hot.
- In the greenhouse this unit can stop things getting overheated and plants wilting from the excess heat. At the same time it can provide additional humidity in the one place you really need a lot of moisture in the air.
- Under a gazebo, which is great for those times you have friends or family visit and they want to enjoy the summer weather under shade but not get too hot.
- In a summerhouse for the kids to be able to play in comfort with their friends and enjoy playing make-believe games in they own special retreat for longer without you worrying they might be getting over-hot and dehydrated.
- In a tree house! You bet, the kids will love it and you can feel secure in the knowledge they are playing in a cool, safe environment.
- Inside a marquee where your guests will be gathering during those occasions where you are catering for a lot of people, you can keep things from getting overheated. Place one of more of these coolers in there and keep everyone comfortable and cool!
In fact, it will deliver a blast of coolness wherever you need it as long as you can get an extension power cord to it.
Tips for Getting the Most from Your Swamp Cooler
In the driest atmospheres, like we have here in Colorado, a swamp cooler really comes into its own as the best, most cost effective and efficient way of staving off the relentless heat. But even here, if you run one of these at full blast in a tightly closed room, it will humidify the air to the point where its effectiveness starts to decline.
To avoid this happening, one of the best solutions is to actually crack open a window and a door, or two windows to create cross ventilation. Now I know that opening an external window or door when you're running AC is crazy, as it lets the hot air in.
But because of the way swamp coolers work, this is actually a good thing to do! Here's why:
As we've already seen, these machines work best in relatively dry atmospheres, so the trick to keeping them working at peak efficiency is to keep the atmosphere as dry as possible. Creating cross ventilation with air from outside does this by allowing the humidity artificially created by the cooler to get drawn out of the room, allowing more dry air to replace it.
Since the cooler runs on such a low amount of power, the small loss in cool air escaping is easily made up for by the cooler running on a higher setting and keeping things comfortable in there. The additional cost in power consumption is negligible (whereas to do this with an AC would be extremely costly).
Another great tip is to make sure you clean the cooler regularly. This is mainly to remove any particles of dust and dirt from the cooling pad to ensure the air can get through freely. It also helps to prevent a build-up of diet and dusty smells that can start appearing due to a dirty pad.
One further helpful tip is to place a lot of ice in the water reservoir tank. This helps the unit push out even cooler air because it is evaporating colder water, increasing efficiency and air chilling power.
Limitations
While this appliance is great at doing what it does in the places it does it best, which is anywhere the atmosphere is not very humid, it does have its limitations. As already mentioned but I'll mention it again because it's so important:
This unit will NOT work in high humidity atmospheres!
If you live by a large body of water, such as the ocean, a lake or a wide river for instance, the likelihood is your air is going to be more humid than some inland areas. For example, they work great here in Colorado, but they will not be much use in Florida!
Another limitation is while it can cool a hot room by 20 or so degrees, it will not work like an AC and cool a 100 degree room down to 60! In optimum conditions it can drop a 100 degree room down to around 75, which is pretty comfortable, but it won't make the kind of really big drop in temperature that an air conditioner can.
There is the trade-off in having a cooler that uses very low amounts of electricity in that it will do a great job up to a point, but if you want more, then you're going to need to spend a lot more money on electricity to achieve it with AC.
Lastly, evaporative coolers like the Luma EC110S are super efficient and very cheap to run while being much better for the environment than AC. If you have the right climate and conditions for one of these, I fully recommend you get one and stop wasting your money on running a power hog AC!
Do You Want to Buy a Luma Comfort EC110S?
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Other Models in the Range
There are several other models in this range of evaporative coolers from Luma that are useful in certain situations around the house or outside. Here is my pick of the best:
EC220W
This is the high power big brother of the model on review here. It's a real powerhouse of coolability with a massive 1650 CFM output capable of cooling a much larger area (650 square feet) yet still do it for much less in terms of energy consumption than a comparable AC.
It comes with a huge 10.6 gallon water reservoir tank that is easy to fill, or it can be hooked up directly to a domestic hose for continuous use.
EC45S
This is a smaller unit that is perfect for use in tight spaces. Yet despite its small footprint, it can put out 250 CFM to cool a space up to 125 square feet, yet only draws a miniscule 45 watts of power!
It weighs a very light 12.8 pounds and is on wheels making it totally portable. Yet it is big on features with a 1.6 gall tank, 90 degree oscillation, three fan speeds, a remote control and a built-in dust filter.