Grace, I'm glad it is working well for you even in your situation of high temp & humidity.

Nevertheless I still recall 3 separate instances in my life when humidity was at an extreme & no cooling was to be found through evaporation. Once was in Montreal several decades ago, once in Winnipeg, and likewise where I currently live in Alberta.

The science behind the product is simple, when water evaporates it uses or takes away heat to change from liquid to gas. But if the air is nearing saturation, little to no evaporation takes place.

The site that tells about the unit which you purchased notes that air from a plain fan seems cooler when it blows over you, even though it is at the same temp as the surrounding air. They go on to explain that this is because the air is moving. My thoughts on this is that the air only cools you because it is evaporating the moisture or sweat from your skin, moving air probably does this better than still air, but movement in itself does not constitute the cooling effect.

I have experienced, in times of extremely high humidity, that a fan blowing on me cools not one whit and in fact feels like hot air - as if you were aiming a blow dryer at yourself. So it's not moving air in itself that cools, but moving air that either has been cooled by evaporation (or some other process), or that blows across your moist skin, causing heat loss as the moisture vaporizes. Once again, if the humidity is excessive, little to no relief will be had from evaporative cooling although the fan might still be useful to move hotter air out of environment if there is a differential between what is outside & what is inside.

As weather patterns get more freaky, there are more concerns to deal with. I probably never would have thought about all of this had it not been for my experiences under these unusual situations. I've also experienced unfortunate situations where, due to humidity, freshly laundered clothing would not dry, causing it to become musty, and even had complications dehydrating food at such times.

Nevertheless, you have purchased a useful unit for most circumstances, and one that I might even consider buying as well, even though I'd keep my former experiences in mind and try to have still another back- up plan lest I ever find myself reliving former unpleasant, and even dangerous conditions.

Misting machines work well in California/Nevada/Arizona and fans work well in Florida/Carolinas/Georgia. Sums it up.

Without any use of power at all, things like the "Polar Breeze Bandanas" and the "Cool Snap" towels that have come out can be lifesavers. One needs soaked and one needs dampened and then jerked between the hands to activate.

For real lifesavers, because a box can become dangerous to youngsters, especially, who can't be made to drink enough, and our furry and feathered friends. I backpacked with furry friends a lot and used the originals of the "Polar Breeze" wrapped around their necks, with the fur parted to get as close to the blood vessels as possible. Az to Wy to Al and Ga and Md, it works pretty well.

Even in high humidity evaporation is a cooling process. Having spare bandanas and the wonder absorber cloths to blot heavy sweating away can help. The same process can be used to cool liquids (even in Alabama and I promise you, we know humidity like white knows rice). A ceramic cookie jar or large pot with a lid forms the center of an Egyptian fridge. It's going to go inside a large, un-glazed clay pot such as huge ornamentals would be in. Between the layers go sand. The sand gets dampened and drinks or short-term goods to be cooled go inside the center pot. The clay allows evaporation. It can drop the temp inside the central pot by 10-20 degrees F without problem, although it requires a lot of water to do so, and can lower it as much as 30 degrees F. Even 10 degrees F can provide super mental relief and can kickstart an animal or child into drinking more again.

Even a small battery operated fan can make an enormous difference, if there's a handcrank charger that can power it (since ash might/would affect solar arrays).

Electrolytes are going to be super important for both man and beast with that much sweating, so extra Gatorade powder, pedialyte-type drinks and powder mixes, and possibly even the tabs we had in the military might be a good idea.
🙂