Helps keep my bartenders cool in summer desert heat
WORKS AMAZING! BEST I'VE FOUND! I've purchased two. With the first one I was able to take advantage of a coupon, but I didn't hesitate to pay full price on the second one because I already knew it was worth it. I work in a restaurant bar, and our bar is located right next to a wood fired oven that runs right under 1,000°F. We live in the Nevada desert, and our uniforms are thick, long sleeved shirts. Even with the sleeves rolled up, we're all DYING from May to October. I have a pretty powerful fan located at one end of the bar, but it only reaches about halfway. I was looking for something to help us on the other end, which is also where the pizza oven is. I bought a different version of a mini swamp cooler last summer, but you had to load it from the top AND the bottom and there was this weird cardboard piece you had to situate in front of the fan. In short, it was a PITA that we don't have time for. I was looking for something that could quickly be filled with ice/water and that had decent range. This doesn't disappoint! The tank can be removed to fill with ice and water in the morning, and as the day progresses we just quickly open the top and dump more ice in. The water reservoir is huge compared to similar units and easily lasts 4+ hours. It still cools well with just water, but throwing some ice in there every hour or two helps up the cold factor. The range is great and guests sitting 8-10 feet from it can feel it and keep asking me where I got it. The real feature that makes this stand out over other models is the OSCILLATION! I can point it to one spot or set it to oscillate at 45°, 90°, or 180°. It's one of those features I didn't know I needed until I had it. Another handy feature that I love is that there's no drip pan to empty, unlike all the other coolers I've purchased. The engineering on this seems very well done, and it looks like there is an internal drain that takes care of any condensation. Important Notes: - These mini swamp coolers ONLY work well in low humidity. If you're in the southwest desert this will be a godsend for you, but if you're in the Southeastern US, it's probably just a waste of money - USE ONLY DISTILLED/PURIFIED WATER!!! I learned this the hard way with an expensive coffee maker. Tap water, mineral water and water tend to have minerals in them that will build up over time and clog the works. ESPECIALLY if you have hard water coming out of your tap. Distilled water removes all those pesky minerals and keeps the tubes and misters clean. If you're using tap water the misters will eventually clog up and stop working. - This will probably NOT cool down a room. You really need to be in front of the misters to get the best cooling effect. It's pretty powerful, though, so I could be wrong and it may work in a small room. - You cannot use this with a power bank. I'm guessing because it's more powerful, it has a beefier power cord and needs to be plugged directly into an outlet. I'm holding on to the smaller, cheaper version of this (from another seller) for camping/beach/sports, etc where there isn't a wall outlet handy My only real gripe is that my bar is getting awfully crowded right now as all the servers and managers find "excuses" to hang out in front of this cooler. I never knew how many important things needed to get done in the exact spot where I put the A/C, lol! I've bought 5+ different versions of coolers from different companies over the last few years. This one is by far the best for work, and I'm back right now to get another for my home. UPDATE I just received a second unit that I'm using for home. I had bought a smaller unit for outside use, but wanted one of these for my room, as the A/C doesn't really make it upstairs, and putting on makeup with a sweaty face is a frustrating exercise in futility. I decided to test this outside first. I like the little unit I already had, but when the wind is blowing (and it DOES here!) I have to keep repositioning it so the misters blow in my direction. So I decided to see how the Xamatts would do in similar situations. I've now been sitting outside with this for about 20 minutes, and holy moly, THIS FAN IS POWERFUL. It's moderately windy right now, but this cooler does not care! I actually had to move it back and position it a bit farther away from me because I was getting too cold. Sigh, looks like I'm going to have buy a third unit for my room, because I don't see how else I'll survive the summer outside. This is larger/taller than most cooling fans but still small enough for easy portability. You can find many cheaper options that function acceptably, but if you're looking for something powerful, drop the extra $$$ right here. You won't regret it, although there is a danger that once you buy one, you'll find you can't live without one in every hot room/area! Read more
