About Air conditioners. Portable Evaporative Coolers – Are They the best choice For me?
An air conditioner is ideal to beat the heat. Nothing comforts than the cool breeze from its vent on a hot humid summer afternoon. With this appliance around, there is no need to let the warm weather outside affect your comfort indoors. Air conditioners are becoming more and more efficient, user friendly and energy saving. Its working is simple. Warm air passes through the cold coils in an A/C and moisture from the warm air is removed. This reduces humidity and makes the place cool. The moisture that is removed condenses on the coils and is drained out of the unit.
There are different types of air small cooler conditioners – Window, through the wall, portable, packaged terminal and mini-split or ductless. The window and through the wall types work in a similar manner except the way they fit in a room. While the window A/C is installed in your room window, the ‘through the wall’ one is fit through a hole in the wall. It is a good choice if you want to keep your window as such. Compared to these two, the portable type offers more flexibility. It has wheels and so the unit can be moved around from place to place. Hot air ventilates through a hose and condensation collected separately. The ductless type has a compressor that is kept outside the room and the air handler unit is kept inside the room. Packaged terminal air conditioners encase heating and cooling units and are installed through the wall. Central air conditioning units not only cool but dehumidify and filter air. This unit works from a mid point in the house and distributes conditioned air throughout the space (home or office).
The Btu (British thermal unit) rating of an air conditioner is critical for efficient usage. This measures the amount of heat that the A/C can remove from the room and as one would expect, better Btu means increased size, weight and price. Another important factor that influences the capacity of an A/C is the energy efficiency ratio (EER). A higher EER rating means an efficient and expensive unit. Either a programmable or manual thermostat regulates the temperature of air expelled out of the A/C. Filters clean the air and those that can be replaced or easily cleaned should be preferred. Units that have a fan with speed varying options are more effective.
The first thing to know is how Evaporative Coolers, or swamp as some call them, work. This is important to recognize because it will make the difference in what type of Cooler you purchase and where it is placed. All Coolers produce cool air the same way. As water is pumped over the pads or media it is evaporated into the air. This evaporation process causes a temperature drop of the discharged air. The more water absorbed into the air, the greater the temperature drop of the discharged air. Humid air is already saturated with moisture, therefore you will get far less temperature drop across the cooling media. In very dry areas much more water can be absorbed into the air. This causes a temperature drop from the outside air to the discharge air of 20 to 30 degrees. Swamp Coolers use about 25% of the energy that an air conditioner will use. They can be a very economical choice in the drier areas.
Many prefer to use a roof mounted or a window mounted Cooler. These usually provide cooler air, but both require installation. A roof mounted Cooler requires a roof stand, roof penetration, and a duct system in your attic. This will cost you several thousand dollar just for the installation. A window mounted Cooler is much less expensive, but a separate unit is required in each room to cool the house. Both of these types of Coolers draw in outside air. This dry outside air moving across the cooling media is cooler than air being recirculated continuously through a Portable Cooler. As the air becomes more humid in the room, less water can be absorbed when the air passes through the media. Because of this it is better to position the Portable Cooler in or close to a door or a window.
There are advantages that Portable Coolers give which you do not have with other types of Coolers. A roof mounted Cooler is more difficult to access and maintain. It also cools the house with a larger motor that uses more energy. This is not necessary if only one or two rooms of the house are used at a time. Window Coolers are more accessible but are too difficult to move from room to room. Portable Coolers are perfect for moving to different areas of the home when needed.
There are several manufacturers that make quality Portable Coolers. Tradewinds makes several models that are versatile as well as quality products. They currently have five models in their Gadabout series. The Tradewinds M500 is their largest model and is generally used in areas like workshops and garage areas. The Tradewinds M150, Tradewinds M201A, Tradewinds M301A, and Tradewinds M401A are all Portable Coolers perfect for residential use. These models all vary in size and CFM discharge (Cubic Feet of air per Minute). Champion also produces several quality Portable Evaporative Coolers. They produce three stylish pedestal design Coolers. These are Champion CP35, Champion CP65, and the Champion CP70. Many people like these models because of their oscillating louvers. The Champion EC302 is a model shaped similar to a box fan. This model can be rolled on it’s casters or set on a stand in front of a window.
There are quite a few companies that sell these Portable Coolers. I recommend going online to find the best Cooler brand and model that fits your need. All of the businesses that sell these coolers online will ship them to your home. To find a list of the many companies that carry Portable Evaporative Coolers Go to Google or Yahoo and type in swamp coolers online. Competition between Portable Cooler businesses can be fierce and you can often save money by shopping for them online. I hope these tips will help you find the best Portable Cooler for you at the best price.