May 2012 in Tennessee like most places this year was scorching, so I decided to research misting systems. After seeing pictures and videos of misting systems in action I decided this is what I wanted. In my normal fashion, I went for broke and purchased 6 twenty foot 3/8″ low pressure misting systems from Misty Mate. I also purchased an Orbit Arizona misting system from the lawn and garden section of Home Depot. Here are my pros and cons with these low pressure misting systems.
Great Look with a Cooling Effect
Let’s start with the purpose of the misting systems and what they accomplish. I loved the foggy enchanted look it gave to patios and gardens in videos. Low pressure misting systems don’t give this effect to a large area like high pressure systems (pictured online). I connected several systems and ran them around the house; one misting system runs side to back and the other side to front. I have well water and some sites said well water might not have sufficient pressure for low pressure misting systems. In my case the misting spray is rather fine even running six systems together.
Purchasing and Cost of Misting Systems
I bought several for different prices. Misty Mate is now selling a different system than before that is larger. Nonetheless I bought two misting systems from Home Depot online for $45 each with tax, then two at K-Mart for about $28 each after tax and shipping. Later in the week I found two on EBay for $23 each total. I found the Misty Mate systems to the largest misting systems for the price at the time.
Misty Mate and Orbit Arizona Misting Systems Quality
The Misty Mate Systems were easier to work with, but Orbit has much better misting nozzles and hardware. Unfortunately, both systems give you nail down cable clamps for installing which will not work on houses (only in wood). I tried using long screws through the clamps, but couldn’t find anything thin that didn’t split the clamps. Misty Mate’s nozzles were also disappointing as they are cheap and busting daily. On a positive note, Misty Mate provides a four year warranty. Misty Mate sent me out new nozzles twice, but finally provided an allegedly better misting nozzle. The Misty Mate systems ALL had broken nozzles out of the box that split with ease on the side under pressure. The newer nozzles look like a better mold.
Misting Systems in Action
I like how the systems look when misting and they provide some cooling on hot days. As I’ve read in other reviews this system is suppose to flash dry, but within a few minutes everything around the misters will be WET, and the misters have started to remove the paint on my rain gutters from the fine spray getting under the paint. The provided cooling is minimal, but feels good to walk under occasionally or if in a bathing suit. Last, I plan to write an article about installing, but I suggest setting up this system as high as possible to get the best affect. I think it would provide better cooling for the house if it were soaking the roof which I considered, but not sure how UV resistant the hoses are.
Overall, I like the systems, but wish mine was higher up and I would not buy this for lowering ambient temperature, just for looks and feel. Also, these misters would easily corrode even with an inline filter as some offer. I have well water that is TERRIBLE and use a RainSoft water filter that I describe in detail in my article RainSoft Self Regenerating Water Softener Review and wouldn’t use misting systems without some kind of filtration.
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