The Evaporative Cooling Site

I was wondering what the temperature cooling range evaporative coolers offer. Do they offer the same cooling range as refrigerated air conditioners?
Hilda

An evaporative cooler doesnt cool the air as much as a refrigerative cooler. However in inland and southern Australia comfort is good except in the most humid weather.
Clive

Hi Clive,
Firstly, what a great web site!!!! Congratulations and many thanks.

I have an old Breeze Air (Seeley) EA 9 D which is
in need of new pads. I would really like to use Celdek pads in it. Would it be possible to convert the 4 frames to take Celdek Pads and water dispersers?

The quickest way to find out is to go to http://www.coolmax.com.au/coolmax/index.php and follow the links to the Calculator.
For me to determine whether the cooler is suitable, I will need to know :
Your location
Roof (insulated/uninsulated) (area)
Floor (timber/raised/slab on ground/air conditioned below) (area)
Total length of external walls (insulated/uninsulated)
Total length of internal walls (adjacent space is/is not air conditioned)
Windows shading: (internally/externally/none) (area)
Use of room (Sleeping/Sitting/Cooking)

It is very hot and humid here 46C (115 f) dry bulb temperature, with the wet bulb temperature 26C (80 f). We need leaving air db temp. of 28C-29C (82-85f) maximum. Can we accoplish this tempetures by cooling the cooler water before beeing supply to the wet media?

Changing the temperature of the water supply will change the leaving air temperature, but only slightly. Basically there is a lot more energy absorbed in evaporating water than raising its temperature a degree (or even 10). To change the temperature of the air significantly would require a lot of refrigeration. A better approach would be to use an indirect cooler.

You say “Theoretically Sydney should be a suitable climate as well, however they have not as yet been accepted there. Part of the reason, I believe is due to lack of knowledge of how to get the best out of an evaporative cooler.”

I have a new flat roof 45sqm room, that I’ve gone to a lot of trouble to insulate *all* around (R6 in the ceiling etc), double glazed, low-e glass timber framed windows blah blah etc.

I understand that Sydney is generally more humid than Adelaide etc but I’m also aware of chewing energy.

Can you give me “knowledge of how to get the best out of an evaporative cooler”?

I am pleased to see you have gone all out to minimise energy waste in your house. Hopefully the rest of Australia will eventually follow your leed with double glazing etc.
Re evaporative cooling, the biggest issue is one of expectations. With evaporative cooling in Sydney, there will be at least 150 hours per year where the cooler only provides relief, rather than comfort. There will also be several days per year where there is a strong possibility of condensation occuring on concrete floors and sometimes masonry walls. During these times it is necessary to switch the pump off and just use the cooler as a ventilator. I originally wrote those words about 8 years ago, and I think that peoples expectations have increased further since then, so now I don’t think evaporative cooling would be accepted in the area except where there was no alternative, (eg large factories, people on remote area solar power or similar). One possibility in Sydney would be to use an evaporative cooler for those times when it is able to provide comfort and to switch over to refrigerative when it is too humid.

I have an evap. Cooler for my shop. During the day my pads have dry streaks in them, and they only get wet haif way down. The unit is still factory spec, it has new pads and all water lines are clear. Is this normal or is there a potential problem with my unit.

A small number of narrow streaks are probably not going to affect the performance a noticeable amount but a large number of wide streaks will give a notable deterioration in capacity. If the dry areas are in one corner it could mean the cooler is not level. If it only happens in very hot weather (or is much worse in hot weather) it may mean the pump is undersized. Otherwise it may simply be a problem with that brand and model. Try and find someone else with the same model and see if is a problem for them.

Do you have a solar powered air cooler or air conditioner for a camper van, please? It would be great if you did have. if not can you invent one? Lots of people would buy them if you did have them. Think of parking your car in the sun then getting in to it …. only to find it deliciously cool! Best invention yet! Lin Sproule

We are not marketing the cooler specifically for campervans, although they can be used on caravans or mobile homes.

Evaporative cooling works well in quite a wide range of climates. If there is a lot of moisture in the air, it has less capacity to cause evaporation, which means the air does not cool down enough to give as good comfort.
Accordingly I dont recommend evaporative cooling in tropical areas. In subtropical areas I generally only recommend evaporative cooling where there is a particular reason for example you an on solar power.
However in most of southern and central Australia evaporating cooling is an effective way of keeping cool and saving money while helping the environment.

Water should come from the bleed hose, but it should not come from anywhere else. With some designs of cooler it can be difficult to stop water leaks from around the pad frame. If there is Salt On the pad frame try cleaning it off. Cheek that there are no pieces of woodwool Striking out from the frame. Make sure thal the pad frames are securely in place. Check that the cooler is level. Check that the water level is not set too high.