Can water air-condition your house?
About this episode
Melissa and Jam explore the science behind swamp coolers and their effectiveness in different climates.
What exactly is a swamp cooler, and why can it beat the heat in Arizona but leave you sweaty and betrayed in Houston? How can an air conditioner run on water, what does humidity have to do with its effectiveness, and could an icy new invention help prevent overloaded power grids? In the final installment of our air-conditioning series, Melissa and Jam explore evaporative cooling, ancient climate-control tricks, and some promising innovations for a hotter world. It turns out “It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity” is more scientifically accurate, and more annoying, than we’d like.
People in this episode
Hosts: Melissa, Jam
Topics covered
- evaporative cooling
- air conditioning
- humidity
- climate control
- innovations
Keywords
- swamp cooler
- air conditioner
- humidity
- evaporative cooling
- climate control
- power grids
- innovations
Mentioned in this episode
Places: Arizona, Houston
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- Why do people hate organic chemistry?
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