Hoot (Apr 22, 2001 10:31 a.m.):
The fan mounts on the slanted junction and lightly blows air into it. the air goes up the stack while the water rains down. The air brushing the water evaporates some of it into water vapor, taking heat along with it. Great concept as long as you can keep your room comfortable in the summer. As the humidity goes up in the ambient air, less evaporation occurs and less heat is carried off. For those of us in cold climates, this can be a nice way to humidify the house during the long winter. I don't think a mister would work as well, because it will not allow as much water to flow (less gph). I like Spodes idea of the evaporative still. A piece of metal pipe would do a better job of condensing than glass, but then there is the introduction of contaminants to consider, as well as corrosion over time and evaporative stills that use water are slow recovery systems without some form of active cooling on the condensing surface.
Hoot