product ratingsMy neighborhood has some of the hardest water in the country, and I like to use an evaporative cooler to cool my home in the summer. These coolers work well when the humidity is low because they work on the principle of water evaporating to cool air. It really works well, and is far cheaper than running air conditioning. The problem, however, comes with the salt content in the water that plugs up the original paper pads quickly, so I was reading product ratings and reviews to find if there were cheaper cooler pads that I could just toss when they got so plugged up with salt deposits. Lo and behold, the product ratings for foam pads were far better than for the expensive paper pads that my cooler manufacturer sells ($120). The product ratings and reviews said that the foam pads actually worked better and lasted longer than the expensive paper ones, so I decided to give the foam ones a try. The foam pads work remarkably better than the original, expensive pads, just as the product ratings indicated. My house is 5-7 degrees cooler, and less humid. Thank you product ratings. product ratings