Here in the central valley of California, it gets hot in the summer—rountinely over 100—and while our house does have central air and there’s a ceiling fan in almost every room, there are times when the air conditioning just can’t keep up. Now that we’re all home all day every day, it can at times get warm no matter how hard the Nest tries to keep things in line.
Like everyone else, we’ve used traditional fans for years. But the Honeywell ZETA personal evaporative cooler is truly a game-changer.
First, it’s footprint is much smaller than other fans that cool at a similar level. It easily fits on the card table that now serves as my desk, leaving plenty of room for my second monitor and laptop.
Second, it does a great job of cooling. But it doesn’t blow everything not bolted down around the room. You can’t put a stack of papers right in front of it and expect them to sit still, but you also don’t need a paperweight holding everything else on the table down.
Third, it’s highly energy efficient: the lightbulbs in my room are consuming more power than the ZETA.
And even better, it is much, much quieter than other fans. It isn’t silent, but I don’t have to turn the volume up when I’m listening to music or watching a movie on my computer, unlike when I’m in the other room watching TV with an oscillating floor fan.
The ZETA has two modes. In one, it’s basically an ordinary (but quieter) fan. However, it also has an evaporative cooler mode. There’s a tank on the back of the unit you can slide off and fill with water. This has an added advantage of working as a humidifier. One really nice thing here is that I found that I was able to refill the tank and carry it from the bathroom to the unit in the bedroom without leaking.
There is a set of simple touch controls on the front that allow you to set the speed and turn the evaporative cooling feature on and off.
The ZETA honestly works better than I would have anticipated. It’s quiet and efficient, and far better than the oscillating fans we use in other rooms. You’re going to spend more on this than on a traditional fan, but I think you’ll find it worth the cost.
