Compare Outdoor Cooling Methods to Find What’s Best for You
Learn which solutions are best for the resources you have available, your activities, your climate, and your budget.
See tips to increase their effectiveness. Combine methods for even more cooling than one method alone.
There are four basic categories of outdoor cooling:
- Shade: radiant barriers that block the heat of the sun.
- Misting systems, swamp coolers, misting fans: evaporative cooling that uses water to reduce air temperatures.
- Fans: create a wind chill. Swamp coolers and misting fans combine that with evaporation cooling.
- Air conditioners: use a refrigerant and a fan to blow chilled air into a hot area.
Outdoor Shades
The only outdoor cooling solution that provides UV (ultraviolet light) protection from the sun. Consider where the sun will be during your activities to find the best position of your outdoor shades.
Outdoor shades are effective in every climate, as long as the sun is shining.
• Materials – heavier materials block and absorb the heat of the sun more effectively than lighter materials, but special lightweight and durable fabrics are also effective.
• Can combine with all other cooling methods for greater cooling.
• The best position of your outdoor shades is where it will cast shade when and where you need it.
Read our articles to predict how shade will move in order to make the most use of this method:
Understanding the Shifting Shade,
How to do a Shade Audit / Assessment.
Cost is based on size, permanency, and the countless options of materials used. These can be the least expensive to use compared to other options because they require no electricity or water. But they are available in such an enormous variety of sizes and configurations, depending on your options they can end up being the most expensive of all. $ – $$$$$
From least expensive to most expensive, the widest variety of cooling options fit in the category of outdoor shades. Because they require no electricity or water to run, outdoor shades can be the most portable of outdoor cooling methods. They can also be among the most permanent when they have no moving parts and are made of indestructible materials.
These are the only outdoor cooling method that can provide UV (ultraviolet) protection.
Read our articles to understand how shade changes in order to make the most use of outdoor shades.
For more information:
Misting Systems
Misting systems cool the area and everything in it – people, animals, and objects. They reduce dust, odors, and the presence of flying insects.
• Water – for all misting systems.
• Electricity – for the most effective systems – those that use a pump to create high water pressure.
Low pressure systems do not need electricity, so they are more portable and typically less effective than mid- and high pressure systems.
• Mid- and high pressure systems can be effective even in humid areas.
• Low pressure systems need dry air to be effective.
• Select systems that are designed for your climate:
– low pressure only for dry climates
– mid pressure for dry to moderately humid
– high-pressure systems will work in all but the most humid climates.
Visit this site to find humidity levels where you live: https://www.timeanddate.com/
• Combine with overhead shade for more cooling.
• Soft breezes can increase effectiveness. Strong breezes can reduce it.
Since low pressure systems do not use pumps, they are the most economical systems. $-$$
Pumps can be the most expensive part of smaller high pressure systems. $$-$$$
Installation can be the most expensive part of larger high pressure systems. $$$$ – $$$$
These can cool in gentle breezes or still air. The more powerful of these use pumps powered with electricity. Pumps are part of a system that ensures a very fine spray, often called a mist or a fog. In ideal conditions, these can cool by over 30°F or nearly 4.5°C.
Low-pressure systems don’t use pumps. The simplest can be attached to a garden hose. These give off a coarser spray that can get you wet, and generally won’t cool as much, but are less expensive, more portable, and simpler to set up and maintain than higher-powered options.
For more information:
Swamp Coolers
Beneficial in a wider range of conditions than fans or misters alone.
These enclosed units can be simple to set up and move. Can’t be tipped or tripped over like some floor fans.
- Electricity – use with care outdoors.
- Water – can be supplied through a tank / reservoir in the swamp cooler. Many can be attached to a garden hose.
- Fresh air – allows the water in the system to evaporate.
Especially effective in dry conditions. Use the fan alone for more humid mornings and evenings.
• Combine with shade for more cooling.
• The internal pads needs a few minutes to get wet before you feel maximum cooling.
• Maintenance is simple but crucial to avoid odor, bacteria, etc.
These are large units, usually built for function, not beauty. $$ – $$$
Swamp coolers / “desert coolers” combine the cooling effect of evaporation with the wind chill effect of a fan in an enclosed unit. They use a fan to blow air across a water-soaked pad. They are most effective in drier climates. You can use the fan alone during the more humid morning and evening hours and turn on the evaporation during the drier and hotter midday hours.
They need some fresh air flow or else the air they blow gets more and more humid or “swampy.” Fortunately, outdoor areas naturally have plenty of fresh air – any space with at least a window opening is all they need. 3-sided alcoves / patios are perfect, as are more open areas.
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Misting Fans
Misting fans can be used in a wider range of conditions than fans alone or misters alone. But using water and electricity together means taking some safety precautions. Misting fans reduce dust, odors, and the presence of flying insects.
Require a source of electricity so use with care outdoors. Water can be supplied through a hose or tank / reservoir. Use a water filter or filtered water to avoid clogging the nozzles.
Especially effective in dry conditions. The fan can help larger droplets evaporate completely, so may be more effective in more humid conditions than misters at the same water pressure without a fan.
Position the misting fans near activities so their breezes can be felt. Lowest pressure misting fans need to be positioned closer to activities, but being that close can also mean getting a bit wet.
Misting fans can increase the cooling effect of shade.
With misting fans, you pay for effectiveness, not stylishness. The least expensive run on typical household water pressures of 100 PSI or less, needing hot dry climates & conditions for a modest cooling effect.
More powerful pumps (300 PSI and over) and more powerful fans are more effective and usually built for function, not beauty. $$ – $$$
Misting fans combine the cooling effect of evaporation with the wind chill effect of an outdoor fan for a greater combined cooling effect. You may want to move them as the sun, breezes, and activities change, so water tanks and batteries can make them portable to wherever you need them.
As with outdoor fans, their positioning can make a huge difference in how much cooling effect you’ll actually get.
For more information: Misting Fans, Electrical Safety Outdoors
Outdoor Fans
Outdoor fans cool best when the air is still, but they also maintain a cooling effect during inconsistent breezes. They can limit the presence of odors and flying insects, as well.
Require a source of electricity so use with care outdoors.
Effective in dry and humid weather, but especially in humid weather.
Locating fans in an enclosed or partially enclosed area can extend fresh air and cooling to areas that breezes cannot reach. Position the fans near activities so their breezes can be felt. Fans can increase the cooling effect of shade, low pressure misting systems, and portable air conditioners.
Cost is based on style and power of the motor. Typically among the less expensive of all cooling methods. $ – $$$
Outdoor fans work beautifully in even the most humid of conditions. This contrasts with all evaporative coolers that work better in drier weather. Most fans work best in still air or gentle breezes but more powerful fans can overcome this.
Outdoor fans don’t actually COOL anything. Instead they make people FEEL cooler by moving the air around them, but the air temperature does not change. Ceiling fans are commonly used, but floor fans are especially useful for open areas. Positioning of outdoor fans can make a huge difference in how much cooling effect you’ll actually get.
For more information:
Portable Air Conditioners
• Portable air conditioners provide maximum cooling in most any climate or condition without adding humidity to the air. Their reliability makes them an asset when cooling is critical for important events or processes.
• Can reduce humidity in the air, making it the best choice for allergy sufferers and around sensitive electronic equipment
• Can reduce temperatures more than any other outdoor cooling method.
• The US Centers for Disease Control recommends air conditioners where heat illnesses can be a concern.
• Electricity – use with care outdoors.
• Enclosed area – the better enclosed, the better the cooling.
• Need to pass one or more hoses through an opening between the enclosed area and the outside.
Effective in any climate. Check the unit’s maximum capacity – some cannot operate in extreme heat and humidity.
They reduce humidity in enclosed spaces which, by itself can feel cooler. This is compounded with cooling from a refrigerant system and the soft drafts / breezes they create that carry the cool air.
Effectiveness can be boosted with increased insulation. This could be as simple as closing doors and windows or adding sidewalls to a tent. Or as elaborate as adding insulated panels. The more insulated, the more cooling.
In more open areas, position them in an alcove or corner where two solid walls and a solid roof meet.
Outdoor fans can increase the cooling effect of portable air conditioners.
Prices are based on cooling capacity. Larger units can be very expensive, and operational costs can also be very expensive. Renting can be a more cost-effective option than purchasing. $$$ – $$$$$
Portable air conditioners are commonly used for outbuildings – like sheds, garages, or workshops, and temporary or high-stakes outdoor events and activities that require the most reliable cooling. This may include weddings, business meetings, work areas, and cool zones where people can recover from the heat in more open areas.
Their cooling is most effective in enclosed areas – the more enclosed, the better. But they are also helpful with spot cooling in more open areas when it’s not practical to cool the entire space.
Air conditioners can provide more cooling than fans alone without exposing electronics to damaging moisture of evaporative cooling.
Unlike other cooling methods, air conditioners don’t depend on the position of the sun or the climate.
For more information: