KuulAire PACKA45 Portable Evaporative Cooling Unit with 200 Square Foot Cooling Capacity, 375 FCM, Black

Full Overview

When it's hot enough for ya, you need a solution and evaporative coolers can really help. The problem is that many of them look like abandoned lab equipment. Not this Kuulaire 375 evaporative cooler, though. It cools a 200 sq. ft. area by 10 to 25deg F with a 4-gal. water reservoir and 375 CFM fan. The fan's attractive case features swing louvers to direct the cooled air and has casters for portability. Features a timer and remote for easy control.View Product Manual

Technical Details

- Cools 200 square feet with 375 CFM
- Three-gallon water capacity with water level sensor
- Three-speed operation with remote control
- Swing louvers, timer, and casters for better use of cooling
- High-efficiency rigid media and tap water generates cooler air with no assembly required

First of all, you can't tell from the picture but this unit is quite big. Set up is very easy; all you have to do is to fill the reservoir with water, plug it in, and press the buttons. The fan is very powerful even at Low speed, which means it is also a little noisy. If you have it in the "Cool" mode, it pumps water to cool so you can hear water flowing. It sounds like fountain. So, if you plan to use this to cool your bedroom while you sleep, and you're a light sleeper, you might want to take the sound into consideration. Of course it does not cool like a real AC would, but it is better than a fan. I tried filling the reservoir with cold water and it makes it cooler. It comes with a remote control so it is very convenient.
This is the first time I bought a Portable Cooling unit and I have to say I was rather disappointed. If you're naive like me and think that it is going to make your room cold like an AC then you will be disappointed. The sound bothers me too so I'm going to have to take it back :-(

This Cooler is not small, but it is powerful. I took it out of the box filled the unit with two gallons of water plugged it in, and cool air was abound. And I'm using it in a Living room that is 440 sqft. It's 90 degrees outside and about 77 degrees inside.
And truthfully I don't find the unit to be loud for the amount of air that it is producing, and I haven't turned it off of low setting.
I am quite pleased with my purchase and look forward to a Cool Summer at less cost than running my AC unit.
By the way I live in the Southwest; where humidity is low most of the Summer.

PS: Hats of to the supplier because I received my order in TWO DAYS... Outstanding service!

I read the reviews and was nervous about this one but went with it because I could afford it. My elderly mother needs heat but I'm dying here, so I got this to cool just my room. The first time I used it I wanted to test it so I left it on high in a closed room for just the time it takes to shower, and when I returned whoo-ee! Hot and muggy, just like the other reviews have said. However, now I leave the window open (you only need a few inches of open window), and it works perfectly. I have it by the window approx 6 feet away from me and it feels like a lovely spring breeze. It is 88 outside and 76 in my room, and that's without the house a/c on. The side of the box says specifically to put it by an open window, so that's something to remember. I guess the key is to have at least some airflow at the back of the machine, not a closed room. It probably won't always cool the whole room, especially in say, Arizona in August. It will, however, cool you. It makes noise but less than my old window AC and the pitch is low, which is less annoying than a high pitched machine. You probably won't hear the dogs barking outside but I don't find the noise to be a big issue. Besides, there are times when I really don't want to hear the neighbor's stupid dog anyway.

The KuulAire PackA45 does what it claims to be able to do. I gave it the highest rating. I bought one with hope that it would cool a specific area. I was somewhat reluctant at the time because the reviews on this site at that time were only a handful in number and the overall rating at that time was just a shade above 3. The first unit I bought performed exactly as claimed, so I bought another unit that I needed for another defined area. Each does well. I have noticed that one seems to use water a bit faster than another but that's of little consequence to me. Units can vary from one to the next. It may be in an area that's drier, even though they're placed in what seems to me to be fairly close proximity.
As for the odor upon opening the package (which some criticized in these comments), the manufacturer explains straightforwardly what's the source (an element along the backside) and that it will dissipate after opening. That is accurate. Neither unit filled its area with lingering foul odor. The first one vented itself overnight before its first use. The other one vented in my vehicle, also overnight, and my vehicle was not foul smelling the next day. The smell goes away without difficulty. In my opinion, it's inconsequential.
Paul Eaglin
Fairbanks, Alaska

Bought this to supplement an inefficient HVAC in the second floor condo I rent. It definitely cools my small bedroom even with the door open. Nice that this one did not say you have to have an open window, nor of course do you have to worry about venting. On low it lasts 12 hours while I am at work, or all through the night even though it says 5 hours and only takes a bit over two gallons. Moderate noise like a loud fan; had to turn up my TV several notches. Easy maintenance and certainly easy on the budget. I read so many reviews about coolers and portable AC I did not want to put out bigger bucks for what many were saying would be about the same results-about 5 degrees cooler (on low). But this can make a difference to be able to sleep so I recommend it if you know what you need. I live in desert Utah now but am from Ohio. Humid places cannot use swamp cooler units so don't bother. Can't understand that people do not know that. I saw one bad review from Key West. Not going to work there folks!

What you're buying here is a $150 fan that makes your room moist. Evaporative cooling only works if this moist air is able to evaporate off of your person. Meaning you have to either be sitting directly in front of it naked, or wearing soaking wet clothes in very strong wind to feel the effect.

I recently bought this to try and cope with some very high temperatures we were experiencing (>90°F). I have to say I'm disappointed. The product does what it says it will (pump wet air at you), but this type of cooling doesn't work like an AC. The manufacturers claim it will lower temps in a small room by over 15°F. I have found this not to be the case, but rather that the room remains generally at the same temperature (if not warmer), and just becomes insanely humid. Ask yourself, is it better to sit around at 90°F with 10% humidity, or at 85°F with 90% humidity. I personally find hot and muggy to be far more uncomfortable. That said, if you place yourself directly in front of the unit you will experience a small evaporative cooling effect - I should have realized this given that in all the videos the manufacturer has, they have industrial sized evaporative cooling fans pointed at mechanics etc. But this also makes the unit less versatile, and quite frankly obnoxious - since its unrealistic to spend several hours at a time sitting within INCHES of the unit.

I agree with the review that thought this item was rather large. It takes up a lot of space in my <200 sq ft apartment. In general, while I think this item is made very well (and in the USA), it is also very overpriced for the only marginal cooling effect it produces. Actually if you already have a fan and are curious, save the $150 and just spray yourself with a water bottle and put your face up to a fan.

I have returned this item and purchased a stand-alone portable AC unit made by LG. The unit is virtually the same size as this KuulAire, but guess what, it actually brings my apartment down in temp and is energy star compliant! It cost 2x as much, but in my opinion totally worth the extra cash.

My Wife and I recently bought a historic 2 story home that has only one HVAC unit for both floors. Where we live, has recently been hit by an extreme heat wave. with the house not having storm windows, and the original windows still in place, we needed something to cool the bedroom upstairs. A neighbor of ours suggested this fan. He and his wife bought it earlier this summer and love it. So I went to the local hardware store and purchased it. Didn't read a single review, just wanted something to cool the room that didn't require opening a window. The first night, the fan brought the room down by at least 10 degrees. However, like most of the other reviews state, the sound of the water returning to the reservoir is very loud. So loud, that I had to turn off the "Cool" option. So, the next day I set out to fix the problem. Using the side of a 2 liter pop bottle, I created a slide for the water to run down, and silently return back to the reservoir. All we hear now is the sound of the fan. If you remove the fan from the base, and look underneath it, you will see an opening from the fill tray. I cut the a sliver of the bottle to fit this opening, running it back to the handle side of the fill tray. You have to cut a piece long enough to reach from the handle side of the tray, as far into the reservoir as possible. I used a pop bottle due to its ability to flex easily, and not be effected by the water. This is the best way to solve the water noise problem I could come up with. I hope this helps anyone with this fan, or buying it. I would recommend this to fan to anyone. It is a great buy, as long as you install the modification I mentioned.

I ordered this for my husband. We live in North-East Texas and he works outdoors in an enclosed garage so an a/c unit simply wouldn't have worked or been practical. My husband has had nothing but nice things to say about it. His co-workers are all known to crowd around the machine, too. Obviously this machine doesn't blow "cold" like an a/c but if you know what a swamp cooler is and what to realistically expect, I feel you'll be satisfied. The machine looks nice and modern from the outside and it is a good size, lightweight, etc.

Worth noting is that if you put in a 10-pound bag of ice, it will blow about 15 degrees colder for approximately 3 hours. Not too shabby!

The unit doesn't really cool the air but rather acts as a fan and moves hot air around a little. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone as its really just an expensive fan.

First off people need to understand that these portable evaporative units AKA swamp coolers only work effectively in low humidity environments i.e. Arizona or New Mexico Where the relative humidity stands at 10 % for example.Since the appliance operates on the principle of a fan blowing water thru a saturated filter and the evaporation of water produces cool air, They will not cool the room in high humidity areas like Florida where humidity typically stands at 80 to 90 %. I purchased 2 of these units ( I live in New Mexico in 10% summer humidity ! ) thinking that 2 units operating simutaneously could cool down a 30 X 30 foot room....Well I found out it will not cool a room that large.......in fact It will not cool the room at all despite putting out a quite nice cool air. Puzzling it seems yes. But the fact is that It could not over come the hot inside air of 90 degrees with the windows shut.....it made the air more humid but not cool. However I figured out that even though the air is 90 degrees inside...by turning fan on medium to hi and pointing directly at myself about 6 to 8 feet away I could sit on my couch quite comfortably and read or watch TV......(you have to open a couple of windows so the humidity will not build up inside the room) mind you...the surrounding air does not cool down but cool air directly on me felt quite comfortable. So, to answer anybody questions about the the quality and performance of these units....they work quite well under the proper circumstances of use and will work nicely in a small 10 X 10 room...but you must leave a window cracked open and have the fan blowing directly on yourself.