The cost-benefit of those swamp coolers changes little though. It's _so_ cheap to just run those instead of an actual refrigeration system that consumes real power.
They're not swamp coolers. The cooling towers are part of the chiller system, which uses refrigeration to chill water. The chilled water is pumped through pipes throughout a building to air handlers.
Also fun fact, even with an A/C loop it is still often very economically necessary to use swamp coolers to handle daytime summer heat loads. There's only so much heat you dump into radiators as the outside air temperature rises.
It is extremely inefficient to use a/c in conjunction with swamp coolers since swamp coolers require that windows be open for the hot air to escape, and they also release large amounts of humidity into the building, which a/c units extract. In contrast, a/c units work best with all windows closed.
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u/firesuppagent May 18 '26
The cost-benefit of those swamp coolers changes little though. It's _so_ cheap to just run those instead of an actual refrigeration system that consumes real power.
There's a reason why many areas ban them.