Ken Horkavy

Hi Gay, No snow where I am.  I would be cautious with the type of mounting to make sure it can withstand the weather.  For me, it would be wind and hail, so not nearly the reinforcement you would need for snow.  Maybe having the curve facing away from the house a bit more, so that the snow won't be as inclined to pile up, but again, that is just an idea, I do not have that kind of experience.  My general rule is if in doubt, double the reinforcement or screws...  

Gay Wiseman wrote:I have this problem too. Ken, thanks for the design pic. Do you know—is this used in snowy places? What will happen when snow is sliding off the roof? Is the hanging wire rigged so gutter will  swing under the overhang, out of the way? Or will it get ripped off the roof? Also—snow weight on that gutter itself—seems like that could get substantial, too much. How to handle the need for a roof gutter where snow happens as often as rain, and without buying fancy expensive products--that's been hanging me up for a ridiculous number of years. I'd love to solve that this year, good topic. Surely, someone's figured it out cleverly?

Teresa, I don't think water cost for a swamp cooler in the city would even be a blip on your radar and would be a lot cheaper than a compressor (ac) running.  The problem is based on humidity.  The more humid the less effective swamp coolers typically become.  I live in FL and they are basically worthless for true cooling because we are most often above 70% humidity.  Now, cooling outside is easy, hook up a fan with a mister and that will drop the temperature by ten degrees or more in the zone the fan is facing.  I use a large blower and it covers about 500sqft easily, but inside this will just make a huge mess and make everything damp....  

In other areas, with lower humidity, the swamp cooler will work great (had one in New Mexico and never used the AC).

So it comes down to the details once again.  

Here is some other options for cooling (for my own area of high humidity):

http://menga.net/the-easy-way-to-cut-a-florida-electric-bill-for-cooling-by-more-than-half

I've used discarded 3" PVC cut in half (long ways)  Screwed it in (directly under the roof and a few I hung with wire)  and hung drying vines at the end to slow the flow (draping down to guide the water).  Most of the water flowed down the vines unless it was torrential, then it went shooting off several feet from the house, either way, water averted...  

Wasn't pretty, but very functional.


https://www.calvin.edu/academic/engineering/senior-design/SeniorDesign09-10/team02/web/images/raingutters.jpg

I saw voles my first year of heavy mulching. I go way beyond sheet mulching going several feet deep in the early spring and it cooks beautifully in the hot Florida sun. so there is a lot of volume for the voles to flourish.

After the first season of chasing the little beasts I decided to bring in the owls. Now I must say I was lucky in that they decided to move in right away. We have screech owls and they are voracious eaters of mice, small rats and the like. I built the box as a test (free plans here: http://www.horkavy.com/ken/category/products/owl-boxes/), three weeks later it was inhabited (had to run off a few starlings early on) and once the babies showed up, it was a continual swooping sound of feathers and rodent terror. I have seen two voles in a year and that was in a cats mouth. I do miss the soil aeration voles provide, but knowing they are no longer a species in explosive growth in my 1/4 acre is a relief.

The owls come back even when they are not nesting, spend a few nights and move on, so it isn't a part time control mechanism, it is nature filling a need and I'm humbly grateful.

The beer system works for me too. I still have snails that like to stay atop the plants that I chase on occasion, but a few small stashes of beer where they linger and they are drunk/dead in a days...