Review of Port-A-Cool PACKA70 KuulAire Portable Evaporative Cooler With Automatic Swinging Louvers

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(More customer reviews)I bought this unit to cool a small area in my basement because there are no windows down there to vent a air conditioner.I didn't think a company would sell me a fan for 200.00!!! I'm so "HOT" right now(pun intended). According to the description you would be led to believe that this unit is a bit more than a fan. There is absolutely no need for this product, it is absolutely unneccasary.It's less than a fan! A fan covers more area than this box of nothing.It is described as an air cooler that can handle approx 150 square feet.That's a lie! I called the company and they told me that depending on where you live it might not work! If you are in the market for something more than a fan this is not the product for you.The sad thing is I paid extra for shipping and I have to pay to send it back to them I'm gonna be out of 73 bucks!!!.Choose wisely.

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Product Description:
The KuulAire KA70 portable evaporative swamp cooler utilizes the naturally occurring process of evaporation to provide a flow of cool, refreshing air into a hot, uncomfortable environment. It features a modern appearance and manual switch operation for easy adjustment. This personal evaporative cooler also covers areas up to 150 square feet and features automatic swinging louvers to distribute more cool air, faster.
More Energy Efficient Than Air Conditioning
Unlike traditional refrigerated cooling methods such as air conditioning, the KA70 evaporative cooler is incredibly energy-efficient and keeps you cools for only pennies a day. Multi-Functional
The KuulAire KA70 portable evaporative swamp cooler actually works as three different appliances in one. It functions as an air cooler, fan and humidifier. Portable Design
The KA70 portable evaporative swamp cooler provides cool, fresh and filtered air and is completely portable. The design is compact and attractive, allowing it to fit into any decor.Automatic Swinging Louvers
This swamp cooler has automatic swinging louvers that gently sweep cool air throughout larger spaces. No Installation Required
The KuulAire KA70 is ready to use right out of the box. No installation is required - simply fill it water, plug it in and enjoy cooling right away!

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Review of AW-280E NewAir 28 Bottle Thermoelectric Wine Cooler

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(More customer reviews)SEE the UPDATE at the bottom of this review.

I've owned this fridge for three months now, and for the price, it hasperformed reasonably well--so far. When you add together the price and the shipping rates, you probably won't be able to find a cheaper thermoelectric wine fridge with this storage capacity. (I consider the non-vibrating feature of thermoelectric fridges an important requirement for cellaring wine long term.) However, there are some definite deficiencies and one really big question mark about long-term performance.

As my wine collection has grown, I've purchased several wine fridges from different manufacturers. Of the four wine fridges I now own, this one has the cheapest look and feel. Yes, it looks quite attractive from a distance, but when you get up close, you notice that every element of its construction seems just a little (and sometimes a lot) flimsier than my other fridges. For example, the material used for the inside walls of this fridge looks and feels like extremely thin plastic that could easily crack or be punctured. (The plastic liner seems comparable in weight and thickness to the thin plastic that is often used for packagaing small electronics accessories like headphones or video cables.) This plastic inside wall liner will probably hold up just fine if treated gently, but it seems like a clue to overall quality.

Similarly, the chrome trays that hold the bottles are just a little thinner, lighter, and flimsier than those in my other wine fridges. Speaking of the trays, with a tray loaded with bottles, you are supposed to be able to pull it out a few inches to get easier access to the bottles and a better view of the label. But the trays on this fridge do not slide smoothly once they are loaded with wine. Instead, they snag and get hung up. In fact, I worry that the force required to unstick and pull out a tray with bottles on it either might cause the bottles to come flying out on onto the floor or might tear the thin plastic that lines the inside walls of the fridge. So to get a tray out safely, you have to remove the bottles first, which defeats the purpose of having trays that are supposed to slide partway out for easier viewing and access.

With gentle and careful use, you can probably avoid problems with the flimsy physical construction of this fridge; however, the thing that worries me most about this fridge is the long-term endurance of the thermoelectric cooling device. This fridge sits side-by-side with another fridge I own that was made by another manufacturer and has exactly the same storage capacity. Compared to the other manufacturer's fridge, the AW fridge's cooling device kicks on and runs more often and longer--probably more than twice as long--to maintain the same temperature. With the temp set at 55 degrees, this fridge's cooling system runs almost non-stop, never shutting off for more than just a few minutes before kicking back on for another long stretch, and that's what makes me worry about long term durability. Because of my concern about the cooling device running constantly, I've raised the temp setting from 55 to 58 degrees, and that seems to help somewhat, but this thermoelectric fridge's cooling device still runs much more often andmuch longer with the setting at 58 degrees than my other same-size thermoelectric fridge does at 55. It only makes sense that the more often the cooling device kicks on, and the longer it runs, the shorter will be its working lifespan.

One last word to the wise: For those who are just starting to appreciate the pleasures and advantages of cellaring your own wine, maybe it makes sense to buy a small cheap "starter" unit until you can decide whether your wine bug is a temporary infection, a manageable illness, or a lifelong obsession. But before doing as I did--buying a second, and then a third, and then a fourth fairly small fridge--consider taking the money you'd spend on a bunch of small fridges and instead putting those dollars into the cost of one higher quality, higher capacity unit that will solve your wine-storage needs over the long haul. Better yet, find 25 or 30 cubic feet of space under the stairs or in a closet of your house, wall it off, put in racks, insulate it, and buy a cooling unit to refrigerate it, to make your own mini-cellar where you can easily store several hundred bottles.

The Bottom Line: This fridge seems like a fair deal for the price, but if I had it to do over, I think I'd be better off in the long haul spending just a little more for a probably more durable fridge of the same size (which you can find on sale for not that much more), or putting the money into a much larger fridge or cellaring system that would better satisfy both present and future wine storage needs.

UPDATE: The original review above was written in July 2009, about three months after I purchased this wine frig in early April 2009. This update was written in mid-August 2010. Today my New Air 28 bottle wine frig died. It lasted about 16 months. To reflect the short life span, I've deducted a star, reducing my rating to two stars. This unit never was able to get down to 55 degrees. The coldest it could do was 60 or 61. So to keep the unit from overworking itself, I set the temp to 60, instead of 55. Two of my three comparable Wine Enthusiast branded units are still running. One of my three WineEnth branded units has also died, so the fact is, none of these thermo-electric units can be expected to last very long. As stated in my original review above, rather of buying one or more of these cheapie units, I would recommend putting that money into a better product that will hold more bottles, or better yet, build your own mini-cellar in closet or under a stairway.

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Product Description:
The NewAir AW-280E Eighteen Bottle Thermoelectric Wine Cooler has a capacity to hold twenty-eight bottles. The digital controls make it incredibly easy to use. There is an LED light and a touch screen on the display. There is also an LED light inside the wine cooler so that you know exactly what wine you are pulling out. For a touch of sophistication the racks inside of the NewAir AW-280E are chrome plated. It also operates silently and vibration free so that given any situation it should not disturb anyone. For a compact thermoelectric wine cooler that holds twenty-eight bottles, try the NewAir AW-280E.SpecificationsModel: AW-280EBottle Capacity: 28 bottlesDimensions: 18.0" x 29.8" x 21.3"Ground Weight: 59 lbsNet Weight: 50 lbs.Made in: ChinaVoltage: 100-120V ACFrequency:60 HzWattage: 70W (77 degrees Fahrenheit)Current:1.0A (77 degrees Fahrenheit)Vibration-free thermoelectric coolingTouch control panelLED displayDigital temperature control

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Review of NewAir AF-330 Portable Evaporative Swamp Air Cooler with Built-In HEPA Air Purifier

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(More customer reviews)The AF-330 NewAir Evaporative Swamp Cooler with Special HEPA Air Purifier is a pretty good swamp cooler with just a couple of flaws.As with all swamp coolers, it isn't going to make your room feel air conditioned, but in dry climates, it is good to sleep with it blowing over you, or it is good to get raise the humidity levels somewhat.Now for the good stuff first about this unit.

For starters, the 13-liter water tank means that you won't have to fill it as often.Most portable swamp coolers I've owned only had a 10-liter tank which means they don't last more than 8-hours on "cool."There's also an ice tray to add ice for additional cooling effect.

Next on the plus list are the air filter system.In addition to the standard foam filter, it comes with a HEPA filter and a carbon filter.Combined with the ION setting, this really seemed to make an improvement in air quallity.After a month of use, I haven't noticed the normal "swamp stench" that swamp coolers usually get.I don't know if those filters are the reason or not, but there you go.

The fan is much more powerful than any previous portable swamp cooler I've owned.Even at the low setting, the fan works pretty good when sleeping in front of it.

The controls are pretty standard.You get the 1-8 hour timer, oscillating louver control, 3 fan speeds, "cool" function (to activate the swamp cooler function), and ION control.The unit comes with a handy remote control which handles all features, which is great for controling the unit while in bed. ^_^

There were two negatives.The biggest is adding water to the tank.The portable swamp coolers I've owned before have had a convienent port on the side of the unit were one can add a gallon of water to the tank in a few seconds.This unit has no such port.Instead, water has to be added to the top of the unit where a small section is partitioned off from the ice tray to add water.As such, it only holds a small amount of water and the drain into the tank isn't very large.So it can take a couple of minutes to empty a gallon of water into the tank.That's pretty tedious, especially when you are tired and just want to go to sleep.

The other problem I had was with the documentation.As you note, the product description proudly mentions the carbon filter.The box the unit comes in proudly mentions this.And a carbon filter comes sealed with the unit.Initially, I thought that maybe this was some sort of water filter since I've used carbon filters for fish tanks and for water pitchers.However, there is NOTHING in the documentation that says anything about the carbon filter.The regular foam air filter and the HEPA filter are mentioned, but that's it.Since it didn't seem to obviously go into the water tank (that is a bit of a pain to get to) and it did fit the back panel where the air filters are, I put it back there.But does it go before or after the HEPA filter?Some documentation would have been nice.

The final negative about the unit is purchasing replacement filters.I found none on Amazon's site. Air & Water, the company from which the unit actually came, has a website, and while ordering the unit directly from them gives you the option to purchase additional filters, their website has no place to just purchase replacement filters.That's pretty stupid if you ask me.

Bottom line: There are many good things about this swamp cooler to include the HEPA filter, carbon filter, larger water tank, ION feature, and greater fan power.The lack of a good water input port, no information about the carbon filter, and a lack of ease to aquire replacement filters weren't enough to stop me from giving this an overall "buy" recommendation.

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Product Description:
When you need supplemental cooling or an alternative to air conditioning, consider eco-friendly swamp coolers such as the NewAir AF-330. This evaporative swamp cooler delivers refreshingly cool air for just pennies day - much less than traditional air conditioning!
8 Hour Programmable Timer: Keep your cooling completely energy efficient by programming it to switch off automatically at a chosen number of hours ahead. You can either set the machine to turn off 1, 2, 4, or 8 hours ahead or keep the machine running continuously by turning the timer off.
3 Selectable Fan Speeds: There are three air speeds that are selectable to customize your cooling experience. The settings are low, medium or high.
Fixed or Continuously Sweeping Air Flow: The swing button on the control panel switches the oscillation feature on for evenly distributed cool air. For fixed air flow, the oscillation can be turned off once the oscillation louvers are in your desired position.
Built-in Ionizer, Carbon Filter, and HEPA Filter: The ionizer can be turned on to introduce negative ions into the air. The carbon filter eliminates odors and the HEPA filter removes up to 99.97 percent of particles from the air.
Revolutionary Cooling Pad: This expertly designed water cooling pad never needs to be replaced.

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Review of NewAir AF-350 Portable Turbo Evaporative Swamp Air Cooler With True Cellulose Pads

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(More customer reviews)My parents live in Arizona and they constantly complain about the dry heat in the summer.I bought this evaporative swamp cooler for them hoping that it would work (these air coolers aren't really useful for areas with high humidity, but they're supposedly fabulous for really dry places).I had it shipped to my parents and they have been raving about it ever since.It's pretty compact, works really well, and is obviously way less expensive to operate than their central air conditioner.Would definitely recommend this product to others.

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Product Description:
Looking for an economical way to stay cool when the outside temperature rises? The NewAir AF-350 portable swamp cooler has you covered. This high-efficiency air cooler is the first of its kind to produce over 500 CFMs of cooling power in such a compact design. Because it harnesses the simple, natural cooling power of evaporation, it costs significantly less to operate than traditional refrigerant-powered air conditioners and is better for the environment. Here's what makes the AF-350 stand out from the competition:

Motor Power: The key to efficient evaporative cooling relies heavily on motor power, and the AF-350 offers more than double that of comparable units in its size range! It offers over 500 CFMs of cooling -- you won't find another swamp cooler that's as compact yet powerful!Advanced Cooling Pads: The AF-350's advanced TRUE CELLULOSE cooling pads retain a greater amount of water to achieve more cooling in less time. Extra-Large Water Tank: The 20-liter water tank means you spend less time refilling the tank. For extra cooling power, simply put ice into the unit through the water inlet.Compact and Lightweight: The AF-350 weighs only 22 pounds but provides plenty of cooling power in one small package!Remote-Controlled Operation: The AF-350's full function remote gives you the power to change settings without ever having to leave your seat!

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