How Evaporative Coolers Work

Evaporative coolers are a relatively new innovation to make the temperature in a room cooler. Unlike traditional air conditioning systems, these utilize less energy resulting in lower electricity bills, making these a popular choice among owners of residential, commercial, and industrial properties.

What are Evaporative Coolers?

Evaporative coolers, also known as swamp, desert, or air coolers, trace their roots in the 1920s, when people lived in the sweltering heat of the Arizona desert. In order to try to keep themselves as cool as possible, they put moist cloths in front of the electric fans in order to get cooler gusts of wind. This technique, while somewhat primitive, became the predecessor of what would become the modern-day evaporative cooler, a device that uses water, blower fans, and the warm air in order to keep people cool even during the summer.

How Does an Evaporative Cooler Work?

The premise of evaporative coolers was actually based on the principle that people feel cooler when water on their skin evaporates. For example, when the perspiration on their skin dries up, the body temperature drops down by a few degrees, burning off energy and creating a cooling sensation.

To understand how an evaporative cooler works, it is important to understand what its parts are as well. The basic device is made of blowers, evaporative pads (which are moistened by water), a recirculating water pump, water distribution lines, and blower fans. Warm air from the environment is absorbed by the pads, which are usually made of wood shavings or other absorbent materials (while preventing the formation of mildew). The air is then cooled down thanks to the moisture in the pads, and the cool air is then blown by the fans, lowering the temperature in the room.

The pads are continually supplied with water through small distribution lines. The liquid eventually trickles down to a sump at the bottom of the device. The water pump recycles the water, pumping the water back up to the distribution lines to moisturize the pads once again.

Do note that while the recirculating water pump continually recycles the water and the float valve continually refreshes the liquid in the device, a lot of the fluids end up lost because of evaporation, especially since the evaporative cooler is more commonly used in hot areas that make the process of evaporation much faster. As such, the pads will need to be refilled every so often in order for the evaporative cooler to maintain its cooling effect. An average evaporative cooler can use between 3 to 15 gallons of water a day if it is used continually. The water can be filled up manually, although there are some evaporative coolers that have a mechanism wherein you can attach a garden hose to the device, removing the need for you to refill the pads by yourself.

The water evaporation and air-moving systems of evaporative coolers can lower the temperature of a room by as much as 30 degrees. However, these devices are dependent on air humidity in order for these to cool a room effectively. In order for the appliance to work as effectively as possible, the cool air it generates should be allowed to flow through the home and escape. As such, you will be able to control the flow of the cooled air by opening certain doors and windows through your home. Evaporative coolers are less effective when used in areas that have high humidity, such as swamps (making it slightly ironic why these are also called swamp coolers). On the other hand, these work best in dry environments, such as deserts.

There are three ways to install an evaporative cooler in your property. You can choose to install the device and connect it to a duct system in order for the air to flow to the different areas of the property. This is advisable for places that have several rooms or big areas where it’s hard for the air to flow to. A central location installation system can also be installed, which is essentially the same as centralized air conditioning systems. Lastly, you can choose to get a portable evaporative cooler, which may be preferable if not all of the rooms are occupied most of the time.

Benefits of Using Evaporative Cooling

There are several benefits you can enjoy should you set up an evaporative cooler in your home. These include:

Lesser energy consumption. As mentioned earlier, you actually will be able to save more money if you use an evaporative cooler instead of a traditional air conditioning system in your property. In fact, you get to save as much as 75% of what you would have spent should you have an AC unit installed instead.
More savings. Aside from smaller electricity bills, you also get to save more if you use evaporative coolers since these units are much cheaper compared to regular air conditioning units. The savings you get from these become much clearer when you realize that there are actually single units that can already cool your whole property at a time.
Better air circulation. Traditional air conditioning systems actually promote stale air, especially since you will need to close all of your windows and doors in order to actually feel its cooling effects. On the other hand, an evaporative cooler actually uses fresh air in order for it to work, so you need not worry about inhaling stale air, which can contain bacteria and other irritants known to trigger allergies.
Harmless to furniture. Even if the device uses water in order to create a cooling effect, you need not worry that the moisture will affect your wood furniture, because it won’t, In fact, it actually prevents the wood from drying it out, which can cause early wear and tear to even the most well-constructed wooden furniture.

Given these benefits, it’s no wonder that evaporative coolers have become popular in areas that have low levels in humidity, even being utilized in commercial, industrial, and agricultural settings as well as in residential places.