Ah... but it is more complex than that...
I could write a book, Zen and the Art of Swamp Cooler Maintenance.
The fan is ying, the pump is yang... all must be in balance or you will flood your air ducts.
Don’t ask me how I know this.
Where we live now we have refrigerated air and a furnace with no pilot light.
Winterizing = set the thermostat switch to “Heat”.
Summerizing = set the thermostat switch to “Cool”.
If we had spent one more year in NM, our Ultracool would have been replaced with a refrigerated unit. I really hate swamp coolers.
Admittedly, I know nothing ‘bout bog coolers. We are usually outdoors in the summer chopping trees for next winters wood for the stove.
Indeed, I wonder. You live in an area where you could replace the cellulose in the pads with ponderosa/pinon pine shavings, if you have one at all.