Air Conditioning - AC Misting systems

I guess that my first question is do they work? Do they actually save energy?

A local company is advertising 30% AC electric bill savings by installing their $600 system.

I don't believe the numbers that they are quoting, but it does make sense that if you lower the temperature of your condensing unit, you will use less energy to cool your home.

You can buy a kit online for $100 that uses the fan from the condensing unit to turn on their misting system, connected to a garden hose supply.

I'm too cheap to buy their system, without knowing if it will work, so i paid about $20 for an outdoor misting system and garden hose adapters at home depot. It's setup and working, but i haven't figured out a good way to turn it on and off.

Is there an inexpensive valve that i could buy that turns the mister on when the unit is running?

Do these systems cause your AC system to work more efficiently? Does anybody have any numbers?

Does the water vapor cause any problems on the condensing unit? Rust? Hard water deposits problems?

Thanks,
Doug

water will destroy the fins on the unit.

Check out this long post on the HVAC Talk forums and you will have a lot of info to make your decision

http://www.hvac-talk.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=165177