Overview
The mercury rising at such critical levels makes it difficult to spend day-to-day life with comfort. If you are thinking of beating the heat this summer without digging a hole in your pocket then air coolers are the best deal to invest upon. There are many brands and types available in today’s market that can make it little tedious job to choose amongst them. Keeping your environment cool and, making an affordable and cost effective investment are the chief factors that one thinks at present times.
Air-coolers are cheaper and efficient way of cooling a room, they work well in dry areas but not much in humid conditions. Though, they have been taken over by air conditioners, there are people who still prefer air-coolers overs air conditioners as they have lots of advantages and still have maintained their popularity in market.
Here is a list of important features and variables you should know about air coolers before spending your hard earned money.
Types of Air-coolers
1. Direct, Indirect and Two-stage Evaporative Cooling
Direct evaporative coolers are the most common ones that are sold in the market today. They lower the temperature of air using latent heat of evaporation i.e. changing water to vapor.
With indirect evaporative air cooler, the temperature of air is lowered by using some heat exchanger and the moist air never comes in contact with environment outside.
Two-stage cooling, as the name suggests goes has 2 stages of cooling, first being where the air is pre-cooled using heat exchanger. In second stage, pre-cooled air goes through water-soaked pads. As pre-cooled air runs through soaked pads, the percentage of humidity is less.
2. Desert / Evaporated Air-cooler
Desert air coolers are effective if you are looking to cool a larger area. These air coolers require more power, more water (water tank capacity is 30-50ltrs) and also more space but the cooling done is very good. They are preferable in dry weather conditions.
3. Personal Air-cooler
Personal or portable air cooler, as the name suggests, can be used for cooling smaller spaces. It can be moved, without any difficulty, from one place to another. They consume lesser energy, less water (water tank capacity 20-30ltrs) and doesn’t occupy much space. These air coolers are best for humid weather conditions.
Difference Between Air Coolers & Air Conditioners
Air-coolers are more energy efficient compared to ACs.
Air-coolers do not require elaborative installation unlike ACs and maintenance is less as well.
Air coolers do not emit Chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) and has low power consumption.
Air-conditioners are effective for extreme climate conditions and humid environments.
ACs can control the temperature according to surrounding which air-coolers cannot do.
Air-coolers add on to humidity which lessens the evaporative function of human organs.
As air-coolers require regular water to soak pads, areas with irregular water supply cannot use them upto its efficiency.
Things to Look While Buying Air-cooler
For a cooler to work efficiently, a cooler’s size is an important factor. The size of air-coolers are rated by air delivery or cubic feet per minute (CFM) of air a cooler can blow into your home. There is a simple calculation that can help you find the right cooler for you.
Air delivery or Air displacement (in CFM) = Area of room in square feet x height of your room / 2
So if you have a room of 500sq. ft with ceilings of 8 feet high then
(500 X 8 / 2) = 2000
Hence, your room needs an air-cooler with minimum air-flow of 2000cfm.
It is important to have a cooler of right size, if not, it will take longer time to cool the room and the energy consumption also variably increases.
Cooling medium installed in air-coolers nowadays is honeycomb pads. The pattern used in cooling pads has effects on absorption of water and evaporation process. Therefore, these pads are made specially engineered cellulose paper which is chemically treated to reduce deterioration. It is designed to provide maximum cooling, low pressure drop and durability.
The thickness of cooling pads also plays a necessary role in air-coolers. These should be generally 90mm thick for better functionality.
Like fans, air-coolers too come with regulators. It is better to opt for coolers with multiple speed options which can be controlled using remote or regulator. It comes handy during the chilly times.
Castors are the wheels attached to the bottom of the cooler. They are used for easy mobility and are included in price itself. But trolleys come at an extra cost.
It is more logical to buy an air-cooler with an electronic thermostat which varies the fan speed automatically and switches the pump on and off.
- Automatic Shut-off Dampers
There are times when coolers do not work properly and it is those periods when it becomes necessary to cover the cooler. The shut-off dampers are flaps in discharge of fan or ducts which opens when fan starts and closes when fan if off. They help reducing the loss of heat through the cooler when it is not working.
- Automatic Water-level Controller
Air-coolers come with preset water level controllers which helps in maintain the water at determined level. This allows or prevents water from the connection to flow into tank and hence prevents flooding.
The water level indicator suggests how much water is left in the tank and saves the trouble of opening the tank to check on the water level by opening the cooler. When is indicates low, it means it time to fill the water tank.
Some Other Tips
As it is said to close all the doors and windows for effective cooling from air-coolers, it is just the opposite; having good ventilation will work in favour of air-cooler. Placing it near the window will be an added advantage.
Whenever you suspect a foul smell, it means that it is time for some cleaning. Cleaning and maintaining will only increase longevity.
Air-coolers works best with ice water or ice itself as it will further lower the temperature.
Well, these are few things that should be kept in mind while making a purchase. After all, we need to have things with value-for-money criteria.
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