If you’re looking for a new cooling system for your home or business, it’s worth doing a bit of research rather than buying the first air conditioning device you come across. You may even discover an evaporative cooler is more appropriate than traditional equipment.
There are pros and cons to both these options, so below is a bit of information about each kind of system to help you work out what is best suited to your needs.
Traditional air-con: pros
We’ll start with traditional air conditioning equipment and the advantages of going down this route. One of the biggest benefits to this kind of system, as opposed to evaporative coolers, is that you can set them to reach a fixed temperature.
Ultimately, this gives you more control over the temperature of your environment. Air conditioners also remove moisture from the air, which may be a plus if you live somewhere with a particularly humid climate. They’re also known to reduce the level of airborne particles (like dust) in the air, which can be good news for those with allergies.
They are not difficult or expensive to maintain and, as the main condenser will be located outside the building, they aren’t overly noisy either.
Evaporative coolers: pros
Evaporative coolers work by adding moisture to the air drawn in from outside to cool it. If you live in a dry climate, they make the air more humid, which can be more comfortable than what you’d get from a standard air conditioner.
The biggest plus points for evaporative coolers are their cost and eco-friendly credentials, though. These devices typically use a lot less energy than traditional air-con units and, because they don’t have refrigerants in their system, they’re better for the environment. They’re reasonably cheap to buy and install, too.
Another advantage of this kind of device is that they don’t recycle stale air; they always draw in fresh air from the outside.
Traditional air-con: cons
One of the big issues with standard air conditioners is the cost of buying and installing them, not to mention that the refrigerant they use to cool the air is not good for the environment. Their running costs are also high, especially if they are used for prolonged periods, such as in an office.
While the fact that they remove moisture from the air can be a good thing in particularly humid climates, it can also be considered to be a disadvantage in locations where the air is already pretty dry.
A further disadvantage is that the air is repeatedly filtered and recycled, so there is very little fresh air introduced to the environment while they are in use.
You should also note that this kind of cooling device is most efficient in a sealed environment, which may or may not be an issue depending on where you plan to use it.
Evaporative coolers: cons
The increased humidity caused by using evaporative coolers can also be a bad thing, depending on the environment you’re using them in. As the rate at which they lower the temperature depends on ambient conditions, you also don’t have as much control over the degree of cooling you get with one of these devices as you do with a standard air conditioner.
Another issue with evaporative coolers is that they only work in locations where the air outside is very dry. In humid environments they’re not effective as they can’t introduce enough additional moisture to the air to cool it.
They also require more maintenance than standard units, as you need to ensure the pads that put the moisture into the air are constantly kept wet. In particularly dry, hot conditions, this can mean quite high water consumption.
These are just some of the things to bear in mind when choosing between standard air conditioners and evaporative coolers. Where you want to use them and what the ambient climate is will usually dictate which of these two options is most appropriate.