Evaporative Air Cooler Tips

An evaporative cooling system has a lot of benefits in low-humidity climates over traditional air conditioning systems. Evaporative air coolers supply cool air into a house through evaporation of water. These coolers cool the outdoor air by 15 to 40 degrees Fahrenheit by passing the warm air through the pads that are saturated with water. The cool air is forced into the house, as the warm air is pushed out the open windows. These coolers are extremely affordable and use up to 75 percent less electricity, compared to air conditioning systems. 

Sizing Tips

When purchasing your cooling system, you must ensure you find the appropriate size. Calculate the cubic feet per minute (CFM) of your home. CFM is the cubic feet of air that is in the house and the volume of air that is needed to replace it in one minute. Multiply the length by the width by the height of the home. Divide this number by two. Commonly, this number will be in between 3,000 to 6,500 square feet. Select a system that matches this number (3,000 to 6,500 CFM). Additionally, if you have certain allergies or find dust particles annoying, invest in a system that contains a filter.

Safety Tips

     You must abide by certain safety tips and guidelines to prevent harming yourself. When working on the evaporative cooling system, ensure the electrical power is turned off and the system is unplugged. Wear rubber shoes, protective gloves and goggles when performing maintenance. Never work on your cooling system in poor weather conditions.

Maintenance Tips

     It is imperative that you perform a complete and thorough investigation each spring. Bring a pen and paper with you when you go onto the roof to inspect the evaporative air cooler. Look over the components and ensure they function correctly. This includes checking the pump, motor, pads and float valve. If anything needs to be replaced, write down what it is and what size it is. Try to get every piece of information you can, as this will save you additional rooftop excursions. Depending on the hardness of the water, removal of any mineral and sediment deposits needs to be done on a regular basis. You need to perform these tasks again at least once before the season ends, preferably once each month.

Cleaning Tips

     Do the cleaning when you do the maintenance. You must clean the cooler out in its entirety at the beginning of the season, then again when the season ends. You must check the reservoir, pump, pads, and filters once each month, at minimum; thoroughly clean each item. Lastly, replace the pads twice each season. Make sure you take the appropriate safety measures and that the system is unplugged.

Window Tips

      You must make sure the windows within your home are open at least a forth of the way. If you do not do this, the warm air will not be able to get out, as the cooler air enters the room. The amount a window is open will control the temperature and humidity for that room. Simply close the window to any room that does not need cooling. Minimize the heat from these windows by utilizing heat absorbing film or adding blinds to them. You should also employ reflective film and windows, if budget allows.

Definition of Evaporative Cooling

    Evaporative cooling is becoming increasingly relevant as energy costs continue to skyrocket, because it can be up to 80 percent more efficient than classic refrigeration or absorption air conditioning. Evaporative cooling is simply cooling of air or anything else by the evaporation of water or other liquids. It is easy to illustrate by merely pointing out the effectiveness of perspiration cooling, the human body's own built-in evaporative cooling system. Evaporative cooling works best in warm, dry climates such as is found in the Southwestern United States.

Latent Heat

    Evaporative cooling in a coffee cup.Whether from a boiling pot or a wet towel, water takes about the same amount of heat to vaporize, or turn from a liquid, a lower energy state, into a gaseous form, a higher energy state. This is called the latent heat of vaporization, and the heat source is any material or space from which or in which the vaporization takes place.

Preferential Environments

    Dry air has a particular affinity for moisture because water has such a low partial pressure due to water, and it is relatively easy for molecules of water that are moving rapidly to be absorbed by the dry air and assumed in a gaseous form. This is why the visible spires of water vapor rising off a hot cup of coffee disappear only several inches above the cup. Therefore, evaporative cooling is far more effective in dry locales, such as deserts and prairies, as opposed to tropical and subtropical climate zones, such as Florida.

Perspiration

    There is nothing quite like a brisk breeze on a hot day, because more strident air movement presents perspiring skin with a much higher volume of air with an affinity for water. Ceiling fans provide even and steady air movement, which is often just enough to keep diners or sleepers in tropical climes cool and comfortable. Dogs pant on a hot day because they only perspire through their tongues, and the panting or rapid breathing instinctively increases the amount of air passing over the tongue, which absorbs the water that causes the evaporative cooling.

Nature's Cooling

    Trees evaporate enormous amounts of water into the air through their leaves, which is why many vacationers prefer a cool stroll through a dense, tall forest on a hot sunny day to a walk on a beach.

Direct-Indirect Cooling

    The only downside to evaporative air  cooler  is that the air becomes more humid as it is cooled, which can be a trade off on a hot, muggy day. For this reason, indirect systems evaporate water outside of recirculating air ducting, so that a portion of the heat absorbed comes from the living quarters, without the added humidity, which is subsequently exhausted outside.