What is an air cooler

Each of us at least once in a lifetime observed an amazing phenomenon. If in the heat we swim in the warm sea, then, going ashore, we feel cool, despite the fact that the temperature of both water and air is quite high. This paradox is based on the phenomenon of evaporation: water evaporates from the body due to its own heat. Cooling of the body through sweating works in a similar way.

The natural process of evaporation began to be used to cool indoor air several thousand years ago, when a system called the “wind catcher” was invented in Persia. It was a complex structure mounted on the roof. Now, rather compact devices called evaporative coolers are used to produce cool and humidified air.

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• How the cooler works

• Environmental conditions

• Application area

• Service maintenance

• Additional functions

• Installation

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Evaporative cooler — This is a device designed to create comfortable air in the room — cooled, purified and humidified. Air cooling occurs due to the evaporation of water, without the use of chemicals, including refrigerants, and also requires less energy than air conditioning.

How the cooler works

An evaporative air cooler is a device consisting of a fan, a water pump and a filter system enclosed in a plastic or metal housing. The fan sucks in air through openings in the housing and passes it through a filter that is constantly wetted with water. The heat of the air contributes to the evaporation of water and the subsequent cooling of the air.

The filters included in the cooler purify the air from harmful impurities and particles larger than 10 microns, as well as unpleasant odors. In some cases, it is possible to aromatize the air with a selected smell, for example, eucalyptus.

It is important to note that the air must pass through the cooler only once, otherwise the cooling effect of the device will be reduced.

The main rule of evaporative cooling says: how much air was supplied to the room through the air cooler, the same amount must be removed from the room through open openings (windows or doors), and if there are not enough of them, then with the help of exhaust ventilation. Violation of this rule can lead to the fact that the humidity of the air will increase greatly, making being indoors uncomfortable for both people and animals and plants.

The cooler can operate both in air cooling mode and in fan mode. Switching to ventilation is necessary in cases where environmental conditions do not allow cooling the air, for example, at sub-zero temperatures, when the water in the device can freeze.

Water supply

Stationary coolers are connected to the water supply network using metal or rubber pipes, and can be additionally equipped with a water purification device, which allows extending the life of the cooler filters. In household coolers, water is poured into a special reservoir manually.

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The water flow depends on the relative humidity and temperature of the outside air, as well as the fan speed. On a hot day, a stationary cooler connected to a water supply network with a constant water supply consumes 13-48 liters of water per hour, household coolers — from 1 liter per hour. The lower the air temperature, the less water is required to cool it.

Energy consumption

As for energy consumption, it depends on the power of the cooler motor and for household coolers is approximately 125-220 W / h, and industrial-commercial coolers consume from 0.25 to 20 kW / h, This is approximately 15-20% of that energy required by air conditioners to cool the same volume of air. For comparison, a household refrigerator consumes approximately 60 Wh and a desktop computer with an LCD monitor consumes approximately 300 Wh.

Environmental conditions

The performance of an evaporative cooler depends on environmental conditions, in particular relative humidity and air temperature. Stable operation of the device is guaranteed at outdoor air humidity up to 70%, however, even at higher values ​​of this parameter, the air will be cooled, you just need to increase the number of air changes in the room. If humidity exceeds 80%, the cooler should be switched to fan mode.

It should be noted that the actual moisture content in the air is lower than that indicated in the weather forecast, which is proved by humidity measurements using hygrometers, so evaporative coolers can be used in almost all regions of Russia, even those that are traditionally considered very humid — for example, in St. Petersburg .

In general, the efficiency of the cooler increases as the humidity decreases and the air temperature rises. That is, if it is dry and hot outside, the performance of your cooler will be maximum.

During the cold period of the year, when the outside temperature is below freezing, the cooler must be disconnected from the water supply and switched to fan mode due to the possibility of water freezing. In this case, the device does not purify the air and does not work to cool it, although it still brings coolness to the house.

Using the data in the table, you can calculate how much an evaporative cooler can lower the air temperature, based on external conditions:

outdoor temperature, ºС	Relative humidity of outside air, %
	ten	twenty	thirty	40	fifty	60	70	80	90
ten	four	4.5	5.5	6	7	7.5	eight	9	9.5
fifteen	7.5	8.5	9.5	10.5	eleven	12	13	13.5	fourteen
twenty	eleven	12	13	14.5	15.5	16.5	17.5	18.5	19
25	14.5	16	17	18.5	twenty	21	22	23	24
thirty	17.5	19.5	21	22.5	24	25	26.5	28	29
35	twenty	23	25	26.5	28.5	thirty	31.5	32.5	34
40	23	26.5	29	31	32.5	34.5
45	26	29	32.5	35
fifty	29	32.5	36.5

Application area

Evaporative coolers are used to cool the air in rooms of various purposes and sizes: in shopping centers, offices, restaurants, residential and industrial premises, greenhouses, and so on. These devices are indispensable in cases where it is impossible to completely isolate the room from the external environment for the installation of an air conditioning system — in summer cafes, on verandas, open stages.

An important feature of coolers is that they do not dry out the air, unlike air conditioners, and also do not use any chemicals for cooling. The air supplied by the cooler is 100% natural.

Service maintenance

In order for the evaporative cooler to work efficiently and for a long time, it is necessary to carry out regular service. It consists in cleaning the water tank, filters and pump from contamination. The frequency of these procedures depends on the degree of pollution of the surrounding air. If in ecologically clean areas such cleaning can be carried out once at the end of the summer season, then in industrial areas the frequency of service cleaning can reach up to once a week. To put the tank, filters and pump in order, no special tools are needed, but only water and a sponge.

Regular washing of filters, which are most often made of aspen shavings, allows you to extend their service life up to 3-5 years. After each flush, it is important to make sure that the chips are evenly distributed over the filter frame.

Since maintenance does not require special skills and experience, cooler users can carry it out on their own without involving specialists from the relevant organizations.

Additional functions

Modern models of coolers are equipped with remote controls (sometimes backlit), which makes their management more convenient, as well as a timer and an empty tank indicator, which will remind you with light and sound signals that it is time to add water.

A number of models have the function of restoring parameters after a power outage. That is, if there was a power failure, there is no need to reconfigure the cooler, the system will restore the previous settings itself.

Installation

Installing a household air cooler is very simple: you just need to add water to a special tank, plug the device into an outlet and enjoy the comfort of humidified and cooled air.

In order to start using an industrial air cooler, it is necessary to perform a number of manipulations. Firstly, it is necessary to carry out a network of air ducts, as when installing forced ventilation, and secondly, to ensure the supply of water. This work is best entrusted to specialists with the necessary experience and appropriate qualifications.

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The publication was prepared with the help of Juventa specialists

Source: TopClimat.ru