Is Instachill worth buying or is there a better alternative?

[barryk]

I phoned the Instachill 0800 number after watching their TV ad several times. Looks like one Instachill machine costs $550. I want to cool down my rooms in the coming hot 🥵 summer days which are about one month away.

Looked up a similar machine on the Bunnings website which shows its price as $340.

Then had a look around for air cooling hacks on the Net and found this: https://www.wikihow.com/Make-an-Easy...-Water-Bottles

Looks like this third option would be cheapest after a bit of tinkering to make sure the third option works well.

Any new suggestions from this forum on chilling air without air conditioners would be welcome.

Thanks in advance,
Barry.

[wainuitech]

The inlaws brought one of those, while it did cool, it was also quite noisy, to the point of if listening to TV in the same room you had to increase the volume.

[piroska]

I phoned the Instachill 0800 number after watching their TV ad several times.

Avoid.
If you really want one, buy elsewhere and not their one.

I went for an interview with TV Shop once....fit of madness really...
I walked out....it was shocking.
I could list their devious behaviour but google some reviews of their products and that will give you an idea.

[barryk]

Avoid.
If you really want one, buy elsewhere and not their one.

I went for an interview with TV Shop once....fit of madness really...
I walked out....it was shocking.
I could list their devious behaviour but google some reviews of their products and that will give you an idea.

That's interesting. I won't be buying Instachill from TV Shop.

I'll be trying to find something that is effective in cooling down a room in the hot and humid Auckland days without too much expense and hassle. Maybe a ceiling fan or cooling option of a heat pump?

[1101]

Then had a look around for air cooling hacks on the Net and found this: https://www.wikihow.com/Make-an-Easy...-Water-Bottles

.

another internet DIY is using Dry Ice in a bucket with fan to cool the room
I kid. Dont do that . It fills your room with CO2

A few weeks back Farmers had a cheap portable aircon , $350
Thats an option.
portable aircons do cool a small room , but are very noisy & ridiculously inefficient.
I used to use a portable air con on a timer to cool my bedroom on hot humid nights so I could get to sleep .

[tweak'e]

I phoned the Instachill 0800 number after watching their TV ad several times. Looks like one Instachill machine costs $550. I want to cool down my rooms in the coming hot �� summer days which are about one month away.

Looked up a similar machine on the Bunnings website which shows its price as $340.

Then had a look around for air cooling hacks on the Net and found this: https://www.wikihow.com/Make-an-Easy...-Water-Bottles

Looks like this third option would be cheapest after a bit of tinkering to make sure the third option works well.

Any new suggestions from this forum on chilling air without air conditioners would be welcome.

Thanks in advance,
Barry.

basically evaporator type coolers do not work in most of nz. thats because we are to humid.
they really only work in hot DRY countries.

best option, install a heat pump. running costs is not much.
2nd best is portable heatpump which cost more to run.

freezing bottles is a bit bogus. way to small to have any real meaningful effect. it will make you keep cool for a short time but will not cool the house at all.
in fact it will heat your house UP a tad. a freezer take heat out of the water but puts into the air in the house. the more you run the freezer the hotter the house gets.

[piroska]

basically evaporator type coolers do not work in most of nz. thats because we are to humid.
they really only work in hot DRY countries.

Most? The Northern part, Waikato and up is humid.......even possibly Taupo and up, but most isn't.
I heard people complain about it last year here...humid, what humid I thought. They have no idea.

Humid is when it stays sticky all night, humid is when your car vents leak mist, humids is when the windscreen mists up, all of which we got regularly in Auckland.

Here it is hotter for sure, but it isn't humid.

[barryk]

Most? The Northern part, Waikato and up is humid.......even possibly Taupo and up, but most isn't.
I heard people complain about it last year here...humid, what humid I thought. They have no idea.

Humid is when it stays sticky all night, humid is when your car vents leak mist, humids is when the windscreen mists up, all of which we got regularly in Auckland.

Here it is hotter for sure, but it isn't humid.

Let's use scientific facts which Trump apparently doesn't like. Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Humidity cannot be more than 100%.

Wikipedia has this article on humidity: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humidity .

My humidity meter is, unfortunately broken. My thermometer is still working.

I'm living here in Auckland which is certainly more humid in the summer than Dunedin where I lived for two decades. It's definitely more dry, colder and less rainy in Dunny.

Now, here's my opinion, which isn't necessarily fact :-)

Air can't hold more than 100% humidity, which is the maximum amount of water that air can hold.

I think the sticky bit piroska refers to is when the water molecules (i.e. H2O) can't stay in the air but instead stick to human skin or surfaces.

[tweak'e]

Most? The Northern part, Waikato and up is humid.......even possibly Taupo and up, but most isn't.
I heard people complain about it last year here...humid, what humid I thought. They have no idea.

Humid is when it stays sticky all night, humid is when your car vents leak mist, humids is when the windscreen mists up, all of which we got regularly in Auckland.

Here it is hotter for sure, but it isn't humid.

the average humidity for NZ is 70%. many town, especially anything moderately coastal is typically an average humidity of 80%. included in that is winter where its a lot lower humidity especially south of auckland.
for evaporation coolers to work well they need the humidity below 50%.
eg chch in 35c heat at 40% humidity. it can work ok.
in aucklands "heatwave" of 32c 95% humidity they just do not work at all.

one of the issues is it adds moisture to the air increasing the humidity, which in turn can make it feel hotter.
comfortable humidity is around 50%. so anything above that, an evaporation cooler is going to make the humidity worse and make you even more uncomfortable.
keep in mind the country average is 70%

i suggest getting some gauges and seeing what it actually is. relying on "feel" is a really poor and subjective way to test.

[CliveM]

the average humidity for NZ is 70%. many town, especially anything moderately coastal is typically an average humidity of 80%. included in that is winter where its a lot lower humidity especially south of auckland.
for evaporation coolers to work well they need the humidity below 50%.
eg chch in 35c heat at 40% humidity. it can work ok.
in aucklands "heatwave" of 32c 95% humidity they just do not work at all.

one of the issues is it adds moisture to the air increasing the humidity, which in turn can make it feel hotter.
comfortable humidity is around 50%. so anything above that, an evaporation cooler is going to make the humidity worse and make you even more uncomfortable.
keep in mind the country average is 70%

i suggest getting some gauges and seeing what it actually is. relying on "feel" is a really poor and subjective way to test.

An exellent explaination of how they work. May be usful in Canterbury but pretty usless in Auckland.

A couple of other considerations: Anything that has a big promotion on TV adds is going to be more expensive than it should be. I am always wary when it is difficult to easily find out the up front all inclusive cost of any item. Weasel words such as may, could be, and the like which abound in the current Funeral insurance adds are also a reason to be careful before handing over your credit card details.