Last Updated on July 9, 2023
This post is an open thread and contains affiliate links.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Aldi sold this again in 2022 for the same price of $79.99.
In most places in the United States, it gets hot in the summer. That means keeping cool is a top priority for most homes. There’s no question that air conditioning is the most effective way to cool a household — central air is best, followed by portable air — but air conditioning can be expensive to install, run, and repair. For that reason, some people look to fans, which don’t cool the air but do help make things a little more comfortable.
An old but popular approach to cooling off is a combination of air and water. If you’ve ever been to an amusement park, for example, you’ve probably seen those giant misting fans that kids love to stand under. Or maybe, if your air conditioner has gone out, you’ve splashed yourself with water before sitting in front of a box fan.
Evaporative air coolers basically use air alongside either water or ice or both. A fan blows over the ice and / or water, then sends the cooler, humidified air out. They’re mostly designed as portable devices, but in some parts of the country, you can buy whole house air coolers.
It’s important to remember that these devices do have limits. They’re not as effective at cooling the air as an air conditioner. More importantly, they work best in low humidity areas where the air is dry; in high-humidity areas, they can make the air feel more muggy and be more of a negative than a positive.
Recently, Aldi took to selling an evaporative air cooler.
What We Know:
The Easy Home Evaporative Air Cooler (Product Code: 806165) is an Aldi Find, which means it’s only in stores for a short time. Once it’s gone, it’s gone. We’ve never seen Aldi sell this product before, so 2021 appears to be the debut year for this cooler.
At the time of this post, the Aldi evaporative air cooler retails for $79.99. This is a very low price compared to evaporative air coolers on Amazon and Walmart.com.
According to Aldi, the cooler measures 11.8″ x 29.1″ x 10.6″ and comes with:
- the cooler
- a remote control
- an ice pack
- a removable filter
- a manual
The cooler also comes with a 3-year warranty, serviced by Medion. Medion is a subsidiary of Chinese electronics company Lenovo and a brand we’ve seen among the Aldi finds.
According to Aldi, features include
- the ability to reduce temperature through water evaporation
- a 1.58-gallon tank
- three fan speeds: low, medium and high
- three fan modes: normal, natural and sleep
- a timer function: 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours and 4 hours
- a touch control panel
- a low-water alarm
- a swing function
- built-in side handles
- four casters for easy transportation
What We Don’t Know:
Since this is the first time Aldi has sold this product, we don’t know how well it works or how long it lasts. We also don’t know who manufactures it.
Do you have experience with this evaporative air cooler? Let us know in the comments.
It will not cool by more than 1/2 deg. Have had a similar priced one in the past.
To be effective on a 40 deg Australian summer day, it would need to evaporate about 1-2 liters of water per hour using thick porous honeycomb like pads on all sides and a large fan drawing 150 to 200 watts of power. The model shown will use only around 60 watts blowing over a cloth like pad, dipping in the tank or use a aquarium submersible pump. Will work as a humidifying fan. But will be very quiet. Good for sleeping. I buy a lot of things from Aldi.
Does anyone know how to remove the water tank for cleaning?
Thanks
Find someone with a steam cleaner. I always use filtered water in appliances, so they seldom require cleaning.
I recently bought this and I think I’m returning. I haven’t felt or seen any cooling. I have a thermometer in the room and nothing has changed. I was really intrigued about this but after using it a couple days in deferent bedrooms I’m disappointed in the results.
Did you hit the cool settings? Mine room when down 5°
I just bought this today and found myself here while searching for a troubleshoot guide. First time setting it up, plugging it in and turning it on, and the control panel is immediately malfunctioning. The timer indicator lights are going crazy, flashing all over the place and beeping everytime it automatically switches modes. *Beep*beep*beep*beep*…..gah! Clearly I have a defective one. I’m not sure, though, that I want to bother exchanging it. Thinking this might just be a return.
I just got mine today and have the same problem
Same issue here. Very frustrating.
Same deal here! Glad I’m not the only one, and thank you for sharing your experience.
I just received this as a gift and don’t want to sound ungrateful, but this thing is awful. I like the idea of it, and if it worked it would have been perfect. The fist time I used it it seemed to work the way it was supposed to though it never cooled the room down. The next day the remote stopped working and now anytime I plug it in there’s a new problem. First I couldn’t even get it to turn on. I tried a different outlet and the same thing happened. Now when I go to turn it on it beeps like crazy and cycles through the different modes and won’t stop. It’s nice to know everyone else is having these same problems.
You just got one that has a problem mine works great, send it back n get another one.
Mine did the same. I think it has something to do with the capacitive sensors on the unit. When I held my hand where the buttons were, it stopped going crazy, but I wasn’t going to sleep with my hand on there all night. I tried unplugging it from my smart outlet and using a power strip, but that made it go crazier. Finally I plugged it straight into a grounded outlet, and that seemed to do the trick. For now, anyway. Wish there was a way to disable the capacitive buttons and solely use the remote.
I have the same problem. Within an hour it’s constantly beeping and changing settings on it’s own.
Mine is doing the same thing with the beeping and switching modes on it’s own. I can’t even power it off, I have to unplug it. Has anyone found a fix for this? It works great for what I need, but can’t have the constant beeping! 🙁
Same beeping the second time using it. Was also looking for a troubleshooting guide as well.
I just purchased this one day ago and plan to return it today. It is not blowing any air at all. I had doubts about the unit working in high humidity. However I thought I would be able to use it as a tower fan. All the indicator lights come on but nothing else.
I just purchased today and am having the same problem. The fan does not seem to be working at all.
My question is, does it need electricity or is it battery operated?
It needs electricity.
Just purchased today for use on the back patio that faces west with hanging sunshade to block the sun. All the controls work fine and it is quieter than my floor fan. Outside temp per my digital probe thermometer is 96 degrees here in central Florida. According to Alexa the humidity is 49% at 7pm. The temp in front of the regular fan is also at 96 degrees. When I insert the probe into the front vents of the evap cooler it is 89 to 91 degrees. I think I am achieving the lower temp by having a frozen water bottle in the top and bottom tanks. Not sure if I am going to keep it or not, but it is making a slight difference in my comfort level In the summer heat.
So the top tank can be used for ice too? An thank you for your help
Model 10229 Portable Evaporative Air Cooler did not work. It did increase the humidity and temperature in the small room. My plan is to exchange it and see if another one works to cool the room. Still on the fence to exchange or just return it.
I’ve lived in AZ & NM, where it was very dry, & evaporative coolers cool great! I’ve also lived in areas with high humidity & they don’t cool well at all! If you live in an area with high humidity, this cooler prob won’t ever be sufficiently cool for you!
Hello,
Frustrated….exchanged due to malfunctioning controls then on second exchange remote stopped working, though it maybe the battery, replace still not working
Thank you! That is exactly the info I needed!
After a few minutes it began beeping/chirping. The swing feature wouldn’t shut off and the entire unit could not be turned off; I had to unplug it. Returning it today.
I think the worst part about this was that you automatically had to buy warranty but it was NOT refundable. So I spent thirty minutes driving each way to spend roughly 20 non-refundable dollars and then was told my card was declined during the return (what?) and was given the $62 (rather than $79) on a gift card.
Unimpressed.
This is news to me. In all my years covering Aldi products, I’ve never heard of a required warranty purchase for any product. (I’m not sure I’ve heard of a required warranty purchase for any product, to be honest.) Aldi products that have warranties just have them.
What would you suggest I do, then? It was a defective product and the receipt had an asterisk next to the product and small print describing the warranty.
Aldi receipts now do that. Whenever you get a product with a warranty, it notes what the product is and how long the warranty is for at the bottom of the receipt. (I got the same sort of note at the bottom of a receipt when I recently bought a small inflatable boat from Aldi.) Aldi does that so consumers know to hold on to that receipt in case they need to contact the warranty provider and the warranty provider asks for a copy of the receipt as proof of purchase. In that situation, you can contact the warranty provider listed in the manual or try to return the product to Aldi. (It sounds like you returned the product.)
I purchased my unit yesterday. It seems to be working fine, but I’m not sure it’s actually cooling anything down — I’m in New England and it is very, very humid right now. I haven’t decided whether or not I will return it yet.
Folks – these evap coolers are for low humidity areas like AZ, parts of CO, NV, NM, etc. Florida has high humidity. Evap coolers or swamp coolers work well in low humidity areas. I am not sure why they are even sold in high humidity states. Also this is for a smaller room.
I’m not sure why the unit starts beeping when I turn it on. Eventually the beeping stops and at night it doesn’t beep at all. Maybe when the humidity is high it malfunctions? I go to school at UConn in Storrs, CT it’s been humid these past couple days. It doesn’t freeze the room or anything crazy. Just cools a small area near the unit. Doesn’t cool through out the room. My room is 80 sq ft.
Seems like a lot of these are sold in high humidity areas vs low humidity which can truck those who don’t understand them. I bought mine because it is for a small room humidity can be high in my area but non issue. So far this has worked exactly as described, I read the instructions before setting up which is helpful. The ice blocks they give you are necessary to get the air to come out cooler so if you plan on using it for long periods I would look into buying extra. If you want to maximize on using this in high humidity areas best to buy a dehumidifier and keep it near by.
Mine beeps and light flashes (chill setting) when the water runs out. I did not notice and think i burned out the pump because when i refilled it, it no longer pumped water into the upper tank.