Which Misting System Is Right for Me?

There are 6 types of misting systems:

• Low-Pressure, Misting Line Systems

• Mid-Pressure, Misting Line Systems

• High-Pressure, Misting Line Systems

• Low-Pressure, Misting Fans

• Mid-Pressure, Misting Fan Systems

• High-Pressure, Misting Fan Systems

Each type of misting system has its own advantages and disadvantages. Please read about them below.

MISTING LINE SYSTEMS

Misting Line Systems use evaporation to cool the air around misting lines (usually positioned around the perimeter of the area to be cooled). Water is forced through specially designed nozzles to spray droplets of water into the surrounding air. These tiny water droplets absorb the energy (heat) present in the environment and evaporate, becoming water vapor (gas). The energy (heat) used to change the water to a gas is eliminated from the environment, hence the air is cooled.

Three types of Misting Line Systems are available: Low-Pressure Systems, Mid-Pressure Systems, and High-Pressure Systems.

LOW-PRESSURE, MISTING LINE SYSTEMS

• The Advantages of Low-Pressure, Misting Line Systems

The biggest advantages of low-pressure misting line systems is that they are very inexpensive and very simple to install.

Some simply clip on to an umbrella or a lounge chair or a tree with gator clips and can be moved to new locations as needed. Other low-pressure systems are more durable and attach more permanently, but they all have one thing in common. They all use your existing water pressure from your faucet to create mist.

• The Disadvantages of Low-Pressure, Misting Line Systems

Because they rely on existing water pressure and have no pump to improve the pressure and quality of the mist, the greatest disadvantage of low-pressure misting systems is significant residual moisture. Because the lower the water pressure the larger the droplets of water created, the droplets from low-pressure systems cannot evaporate before hitting the ground, or the table, or you and your guests. The result is that anyone near the misting lines will get wet.

For that reason, we only recommend low-pressure misting line systems (and low-pressure misting fans for that matter) for use around swimming pools, on fishing piers, by hot tubs, etc. where people don't mind getting wet.

The other disadvantage of low pressure misting line systems is that the number of nozzles your system can have is limited by your water pressure. Residential water pressure generally runs between 35 and 90 psi. Most are under 70 psi. To see how many nozzles your water pressure will support in our nozzle chart CLICK HERE. At standard 2 ft nozzle spacing, a low-pressure misting system at a normal pressure of about 50 psi, can support a maximum of 30 nozzles or 60 feet of misting line.

MID-PRESSURE MISTING LINE SYSTEMS

• The Advantages of Mid-Pressure, Misting Line Systems

Mid-pressure misting line systems are basically low-pressure systems with a relatively low-pressure pump (appx. 160 psi). They create smaller droplets than low-pressure systems, and those droplets evaporate more efficiently, resulting in less residual moisture. They cost more than low-pressure systems, but are an economical alternative to high-pressure systems. If a high-pressure misting line system is beyond your budget, we recommend that you at least consider a mid-pressure system for any area not associated with water . . . like pools, fishing piers, boats, or hot tubs.

• The Disadvantages of Mid-Pressure, Misting Line Systems

Mid-pressure misting systems still produce some residual moisture, especially in humid areas. To effectively vaporize water into droplets small enough to flash evaporate, you need a pump that produces at least 700 psi.

The other disadvantage of mid-pressure misting fan systems is that they to are more limited in the number of fans you can have in the system. But instead of water pressure being the limiting factor, pump volume is. The 160 psi pump has a 1/2 gallon per minute maximum flow rate, which limits the number of nozzles it can support to 30. The #108 nozzles, that ship with our mid-pressure systems, use approximately 1 gallon of water per hour, so 30 nozzles use 30 gallons per hour which is the mid-pressure pumps maximum flow. At standard 2 ft nozzle spacing, the mid-pressure misting systems can support a maximum of 60 feet of misting line.

HIGH-PRESSURE MISTING LINE SYSTEMS

• The Advantages of High-Pressure, Misting Line Systems

High-pressure misting line systems are the best. They are the kind that you see and enjoy in outdoor restaurants and amusement parks. Our high-pressure misting systems use pumps that produce 1000 psi or more to create tiny droplets that evaporate almost instantly. That flash evaporation cools the air more effectively and virtually eliminates residual moisture.

High-pressure misting line systems can also be extended farther than low or mid-pressure systems.

Our largest stock pump can support a maximum of 100 nozzles and 200 feet of misting line.

Larger pumps are available for even bigger jobs (up to 680 nozzles with 1360 ft of mist line). Please email us for a quote.

• The Disadvantages of High-Pressure, Misting Line Systems

There are no real disadvantages with high-pressure misting systems. They cost more, but they are the most effective, most attractive, most long-lasting misting line systems available...period. If you are serious about outdoor cooling, a high-pressure system is the right answer for you.

MISTING FAN SYSTEMS

Outdoor cooling works best when evaporative cooling (misting) is combined with convective cooling (moving air). The mist cools the air and the fan enhances the cooling effect. Together they are better known as the "windchill factor". The ocean is a great example. Firm breezes blow across the evaporating water, providing nature's best cooling.

As with Misting Line Systems, there are three types of Misting Fan Systems: Low-Pressure Misting Fans, Mid-Pressure Misting Fan Systems, and High-Pressure Misting Fan Systems.

LOW-PRESSURE MISTING FANS

• The Advantages of Low-Pressure, Misting Fans

As with low-pressure misting line systems, the greatest advantage of low-pressure misting fans is that they are inexpensive. They are also more effective for the limited area that they cover than low-pressure misting line systems.

• The Disadvantages of Low-Pressure, Misting Fans

You still get wet if you are near the fan (see low-pressure misting line systems above). For that reason, we only recommend low-pressure misting fans for use around swimming pools, on fishing piers, by hot tubs, etc. where people don't mind getting wet.

The other disadvantages are that low-pressure misting fans are not as powerful as our pressurized fans, it is more difficult to connect multiple fans to cool a large area, and wall mounts are not available to hang low-pressure fans on walls or ceilings.

MID-PRESSURE MISTING FAN SYSTEMS

• The Advantages of Mid-Pressure, Misting Fan Systems

Unlike with misting line systems, our mid-pressure misting fans are not just low pressure fans with mid-pressure pumps. They are the same high quality, high velocity fans used in our high-pressure misting fans, with a lower priced, mid-pressure pump (160 psi) that improves the quality of the mist over low-pressure fans.

The pump creates smaller droplets and the fan(s) creates much more air movement than low-pressure fans. The smaller droplets evaporate more efficiently, resulting in less residual moisture, and the air volume cools a much larger area than low pressure misting fans.

Mid-pressure misting fans are available on portable stands or with wall or ceiling mounts for a more attractive, more built-in look, and a less intrusive installation. Mid-pressure fans cost more than low-pressure fans, but are an economical alternative to high-pressure misting fans. If a high-pressure misting fan system is beyond your budget, we recommend that you at least consider a mid-pressure fan system for any area not associated with water . . . like pools, fishing piers, boats, or hot tubs.

• The Disadvantages of Mid-Pressure, Misting Fan Systems

Mid-pressure misting fans still produce some residual moisture, especially in humid areas. To effectively vaporize water into droplets small enough to flash evaporate, you need a pump that produces at least 700 psi.

The other disadvantage of mid-pressure misting fans is that you cannot run more than two fans with a single pump.

HIGH-PRESSURE MISTING FAN SYSTEMS

• The Advantages of High-Pressure, Misting Fan Systems

High-pressure misting fan systems are the ULTIMATE in outdoor cooling. Even better than high-pressure misting line systems.

Evaporative cooling (misting) is combined with convective cooling (moving air). The mist cools the air and the fan enhances the cooling effect (otherwise know as the windchill factor). The ocean is a great example. Firm breezes blow across the evaporating water, providing nature's best cooling. It is also a good example of outdoor cooling's effectiveness in higher humidity situations.

Like high-pressure misting line systems, high-pressure misting fan systems are popular with outdoor restaurants and amusement parks. Our high-pressure misting fans use pumps that produce 1000 psi or more to create tiny droplets that evaporate almost instantly. That flash evaporation cools the air more effectively and virtually eliminates residual moisture. In addition, the high velocity fan creates air significant air movement to spread the cooled air across a large area.

High-pressure misting fan systems can also be extended much farther than low-pressure or mid-pressure fan systems. Our .5 gallon per minute, high-pressure pump can support 2 fans, our 1 gallon per minute pump can support 5 fans, and our largest, 2.1 gallon per minute, stock pump can support up to 10 misting fans with a single pump. That will save you money on large area multiple fan, outdoor cooling systems.

Larger pumps are available for even bigger jobs. Please email us for a quote.

• The Disadvantages of High-Pressure, Misting Fan Systems

There are no real disadvantages with high-pressure misting fan systems. They cost more, but they are the most effective, most attractive, most long-lasting, multiple misting fan systems available. If you are serious about outdoor cooling, a high-pressure fan system can't be beat.