Patio Mister Systems to Fit Any Budget

So this week we’re showing you how to take back the outside this summer. First up: How to beat the heat.

Flagstone patios trap summer sun, so suddenly you and a pepperoni pizza have something in common. Decks become sweatboxes in high humidity—good for losing weight, bad for sipping chilled wine.

Misters are the best way to drop the temperature and raise your comfort level. They spray a fine mist into the air, which evaporates and cools the surrounding air.

The less expensive misting kits ($60) operate on city water pressure, about 50 psi. The mist tends to fall from nozzles, sometimes wetting whatever’s underneath.

High-price misting kits ($1,200 to $3,200) use a pump to send water through nozzles at 1,000 psi, which creates a finer mist that evaporates faster.

“Low pressure misters cool by wetting people,” says Dave Paul, owner of Misting Pros in Sacramento, Calif., which sells higher-end misters. “We cool by evaporating water into the air.”

Hey, cool is cool. Here’s a look at misters for every budget.

• EZ Mister Patio Mister Kits: Kits contain from 10 to 16 brass and stainless steel nozzles that cover 20 to 32 linear feet. Tubing comes as a roll, not precut, so you can customize your misting system. Hang it from the roof or along the edge of awnings. It attaches to an outdoor spigot or indoor sink faucet. (Cost: $58 to $112).

• Portable Misting Tower (Sky Mall): This T-bar tower has a 360-degree adjustable misting bar that can handle 1,000 PSI (if you’ve got that much pressure coming through your hose, which you probably don’t). The portable unit can grow to 7 feet tall and has a shut-off valve, which reduces trips to the spigot. (Cost: $89.99)

• Poly Fan Misting Ring: An economical way to turn any fan into a misting fan. Attach the ring to fans 8 to 18 inches in diameter. (Cost: $9.99 for 1 nozzle; $19 for 2 nozzles; $39 for 3 nozzles).

• Fogco 50 Foot Professional Pulley Drive Misting System Kit: Top-of-the-line, spare-no-expense misting system that includes a pulley-operated pump, which promises to run cooler, quieter, and longer than most pumps. (Cost: $3,179)

• And for a no-purchase alternative that only costs pennies, you can hose down your patio or deck to cool things off.

We’d love to hear from you. How do you cool things off in the heat of summer?