We're on a roadtrip that has currently taken us to the Southwest U.S. With 108-degree days being routine, every outdoor dining experience we've encountered has been complete with a very fine mist overhead to help cool things down. It's a detail that's new to us, but we've come to like the cool, inviting mist and look for it when we're choosing a place to eat. It's got us wondering if we could recreate something similar when we're grilling outdoors back in the Midwest this summer:
Here are a few ideas for recreating such an oasis at home when dining and entertaining outdoors this summer:
- The WindChaser Outdoor Misting Fan is an all-in-one package for misting and moving air.
- We really like this green-apple-colored Misting Patio Market Umbrella for shade and mist.
- Here are step-by-step instructions on how to install an all-out overhead misting system yourself from the DIY Network.
A fine mist is an economical way of cooling outdoor air: it uses a minimum amount of water and the moisture in the air cools you as you move about. Is this something that would work as a coolant for you when you're eating outdoors this summer? Or do you think it's an unnecessary frill that over-complicates simple outdoor home dining?
Related: Weekend Project: Spruce Up the Dining Patio
(Image: Big Fogg Restaurant Cooling)
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I grew up in Tucson where this is common. We even had a portable one by the pool that we got cheaply at a pool supply store. It was just a L shaped tube with holes in it that you hooked up to a hose.
Our outlet mall here has this installed and pointing out towards the parking lot so as to not soak customers. It's nice and keeps the temps bearable during the hot summers down in Louisiana.
They are really easy to make with a length of hose and a few misting tips you can pick up from Home-Depot or Lowes.
It probably won't work as well in the midwest because of the humidity you'll have. It works wonders in Arizona because the mist lands on your skin and evaporates quickly. In 90% humidity it might just make you damp and clammy.
@LibrariNerd - yeah, I was wondering if everything would just end up soggy here in the Midwest.
Wow, that's crazy; I am ALSO on a road trip that's taken me through the Southwest. Left from Florida on Saturday, in LA today.
What is the water-usage rate on these things?
as said above, this is for dry environments -- the mist gets on your skin and the dry heat evaporates it, cooling you. in the midwest, this would make you feel even more disgusting with the humidity we get (and if may and june in chicago have been any indication, it's gonna be nasty).
i live in phoenix, and while it is rather cooling, i find it problematic given the constant water crisis in the southwest. even if it doesn't use a lot of water, it's still wasteful, and so many cities down here are already running on an unsustainable water supply. you wouldn't sit outside in mid-winter in the northeast because you'd be miserable, so why sit outside in the summer in the southwest?
I'm going to agree with the folks who've said this won't work as well (if at all) in a more humid climate.
This does work well in a humid climate. The restaurants in South Beach use this and I just brought one for my husband to install in our yard. Cools the air by several degrees and if kept far enough from linens, etc. would get things soggy.
I have been to several restaurants in Bangkok (very humid and hot climate) that have them and they work very well there. They are lovely!
Seems crazy wasteful to me in a drought climate that has to import water from elsewhere, but I live in cool northern CA.
I agree with DCarl1... what a waste of water! I'm sure we all leave our A/C on in the house while we go outside to crank up the mister to sit outside...but do we really need that? Probably not. And honestly, when I'm already hot, the last thing I need is frizzy mist hair too! Unless I'm at a theme park, this seems a bit over the top.
These were developed for use by people who MUST work outside in the heat or as an alternative to AC units. Most older homes in Tucson/Phoenix have these units on the roof called swamp coolers. It cools the air by sucking it through water soaked filter pads. Yes, it does use more water but it uses half to three-quarters less energy than a comparable AC unit does. It also encourages fresh air intake (you need to leave a window or two cracked to let the humidity out again).
It's a trade off. Water or energy use?
Lizliterarius: thanks for the info. I was wondering the same thing--this vs. AC.
Before I was born my family lived in the Southwest. They had these odd box fans (one survived their many, many moves--my dad was in Air Force) that you put water into and the air blew over the water. These would have been from the 50s. I wonder if people still use that kind of thing...
I live in New England now, not least because most summer nights are cool enough to sleep well withOUT AC or even fans! (I grew up in the South and hated the weather the entire time)
I live in Charleston,SC where its about 1000 degrees outside now.I have installed a system like this on many offshore fishing boats,makes the day fishing much cooler.
Using a high pressure pump and 1/16" tubing it uses less than 50 gal. of water in a trip offshore.Reduces air temp by as much 10 degrees on the deck. In the middle of installing one on my deck but too hot to mess with it today.Will be using well water to help keep the cost down.
Chris, I'm from Charleston too! And you're right--it's freaking hot right now. So glad to hear you say this works in our humid climate. We are just about to build a deck and a cooling system might allow us to use it more often during the summer.
I can't get past the water waste. And it also uses electricity, albeit not as much as AC.
We collectively mourn what's happening beneath the waters and along the shores of the Gulf right now... yet we still fall back on wasteful energy practices when they suit us. We can't have it both ways, can we?
If it's too hot to eat outside... eat inside.
Experienced these a few years ago at South Beach. We would slow down as we walked under them and they felt refreshing, not at all what you would expect.