The patio misting system is proving to be one of the most effective and cost-efficient ways of staying cool outdoors.
With the tiny water droplets that a standard misting system forces out of nozzles at very high pressure, anyone can spend their time on their patio without overheating, even during the hottest days and nights of the year.
If you’re planning to install a patio misting system for your home, it’s best to have a professional misting system technician do the job. It’s not uncommon for some homeowners to take the DIY route, but many make mistakes with the installation that their misting systems end up not working as well as expected.
Here are some of the most common patio misting system installation mistakes.
Choosing The Wrong Pump Size
Whether your patio misting system produces microdroplets of water, as it should, or a dripping mess out the end of its nozzles depends primarily on the pump you’re using.
It’s the pump that supplies the pressure to force water out of the very tiny holes of a misting system’s nozzles and produce the very fine mist that keeps everyone comfortable. Appropriately-sized pumps should be able to do the job.
Some homeowners, however, end up choosing a pump that’s too small for the job. It may be able to provide enough pressure for the nozzles nearest to it to produce the expected mist, but the farther nozzles will tend to just drip water and make a mess.
To ensure you have the right pump size and power for your misting system, it’s best to ask your provider about it.
Too Many Nozzles
A patio misting system pump is designed to perform optimally with a set number of nozzles.
However, many homeowners make the mistake of adding more nozzles, thinking it with help with distributing the mist over a larger area.
What happens when your patio misting system has one nozzle too many is that it messes up the required pressure to produce the mist that keeps people cool without getting soaked.
Each extra nozzle will take away some of that pressure, and the system will end up producing larger droplets that will get people and things wet.
If you want to add more nozzles to expand your misting system’s coverage area, make sure you get the right pump size for the number of nozzles you have in mind.
Forgoing The Filtering System
Most misting systems come with a filtration system, which is essential, especially if you live in an area where the taps run hard water.
If you skip the filter and the water coming out of your taps brings minerals like calcium and magnesium along, your patio misting system will eventually have problems.
The scale that hard water leaves behind as residue is bound to build up over time and eventually clog the tiny holes of your nozzles. Worse, scale buildup can also clog the pipes.
Forgoing the filter can eventually damage your misting system, and that’s why you should not skip this step if you have hard water coming out of your taps.
Failing To Tighten Joints
A misting system is essentially a plumbing system with pipes, elbows, nozzles, and joints, and water running through it.
As with a plumbing system, every single joint must be tightened to prevent water from escaping in places where they shouldn’t be.
However, with the sheer number of parts involved, many DIY installers tend to forget to tighten every single joint. The only time they realize that there are loose connections is when they turn the system on and see pressurized water blasting out of everywhere.
When installing your patio misting system, make it a point to double-check every single piece to ensure that all of them are securely fastened.
Nozzles Are Too Close Together
Some DIY misting system installers get creative with the spacing of the nozzles and put them too close together.
The problem with nozzles that are too close together is that the tiny water droplets they produce will likely collide, and they end up becoming large enough to make the people within its coverage area feel damp.
As much as possible, follow the manufacturer’s recommended spacing and distribution for the nozzles.
These are just some of the most common mistakes people make when installing their patio misting systems the DIY way. Avoid them when you finally decide to install one yourself and have a smoother and more enjoyable patio misting system experience.
About the Author
Anna Fox is the Content Marketing Strategist of Señor Mist, a Phoenix, Arizona-based company that provides high pressure misting systems/fog effects, comfort heaters, patio drop shades, hvls fans and more. When not writing, she makes use of her spare time reading books and hiking with her dog, Blaze.
