The upgrade
From swamp cooler to refrigerated air
Some houses outgrow a swamp cooler: a closed-up sunroom, damp monsoon afternoons, a family member who needs a sealed house. Others keep their cooler for good, and that is a fine answer.
If you are weighing the switch, this page says what changes in the house and how a conversion goes, before anyone climbs on the roof.
We install either system, so we have no reason to push one
Keeping the cooler is a real option
Ask us what your state or utility offers; we don't promise rebates
What changes in the house
Six things a conversion touches
Each one gets a line in the written plan.
The roof opening
A swamp cooler's big roof opening is closed and sealed, or kept for the cooler.
The ducts
Cooler ducts are large. We test whether they can be reused, resized or replaced.
The equipment
An outdoor unit and an indoor coil, sized from a load calculation of your house.
The power
The panel and a dedicated circuit are checked, and added if the new unit needs them.
The permit
We tell you in the quote whether the job needs a permit and who pulls it.
Your habits
The open-window rule ends. Doors and windows stay closed while it runs.
How a conversion goes
From the first visit to the old cooler leaving the roof
- 01
Step 1: Home visit
We look at the roof, the ducts, the panel and how you use the rooms.
- 02
Step 2: Load calculation
We work out how much cooling your house needs from its walls, windows and sun, not from square feet alone.
- 03
Step 3: Written quote
Scope, equipment by model, permit, haul-away, warranty terms and how long the quote holds.
- 04
Step 4: Install day
The outdoor unit, the coil, the electrical and the duct work, with the roof opening dealt with as agreed.
- 05
Step 5: Start-up and walk-through
We start the system, measure it and show you the thermostat and the filter.
Questions about switching
Can I keep the swamp cooler too?
In some houses, yes. The cooler keeps its own duct and opening, and refrigerated air uses its own. We check at the visit whether your house can carry both.
Can my furnace take a cooling coil?
Often. A furnace in good shape can carry an indoor coil. We check its age, its size and the plenum and tell you plainly if it is better replaced.
Will my bills go down?
Usually the opposite for cooling: refrigerated air draws more power than a swamp cooler, and no water line is needed. We won't promise a saving; we explain what moves the bill.
What about rebates?
Ask us what your state or utility offers. Programs change, so we don't print amounts, and we don't promise any.
Want it written down first?
Ask for a home visit. You get a load calculation and a written plan, and you decide after.