Evaporative Cooling FAQs

What is evaporative cooling?

Nature's most efficient means of cooling is through the evaporation of water. Evaporative Cooling, or "Swamp Cooling" works on the principle of heat absorption by moisture evaporation. The evaporative cooler draws exterior air through special pads soaked with water (or in the case of our FreshWater™ Slinger designs, through a curtain of atomized water), where the air is cooled by evaporation, then circulated into your facility.

Why evaporative cooling?

Evaporative cooling, or "swamp cooling" has gained wide acceptance because the process relies solely on water evapoartion with extremely low energy consumption to produce a significant amount of cooling. Evaporative cooling will generally pay for itself (including installation) in just a few seasons. Also, the low cost of maintaining our equipmnt is an added advantage. Evaporative cooling makes sense as add-on equipment to complement existing refrigerated air systems. Installing an evaporative cooler significantly reduces the amount of time that mechanical refrigeration is needed in a given season and the associated higher cost of operation.

How much energy does evaporative cooling save?

Evaporative cooling is a "green" technology, consuming up to 90% less electricity versus conventional air conditioning.

Are evaporative coolers more suitable for specific climates?

Evaporative cooling is especially well suited to dry desert climates, where humidity is low and the air is hot. However, even in higher humidity areas there are many proven cost effective uses for evaporative cooling that make it the best solution.

What is exhaust air?

The evaporative cooler, or "swamp cooler" draws fresh exterior air through special pads soaked with water (or through our patented FreshWater™ Slinger) , the air is cooled, filtered and circulated through the facility. The hot, stale air will need to exit and this is referred to as relief. A good relief design is to exhaust slightly more air than your cooler is supplying.

What will the discharge air temperature be of my evaporative cooler?

The discharge temperature is determined primarily by the temperature and relative humuidity of the incoming air. To determine the temperature of air leaving a cooler, three factors must be known: The current outside dry bulb temperature, the current outside wet bulb temperature and the evaporative efficiency of the evaporative cooler. You may use complex equations involving thermodynamics or you may refer to an evaporative cooler of average efficiency to provide a guide to approximate discharge air temperatures.

I will not be using my evaporative cooler for a period of time. Is there anything I need to do?

The water should always be drained if the cooler has not been operating for a week and start with fresh water. If the cooler is not being used for an extended period of time or if you are turning the cooler off for the season it is recommended to drain the water and clean the cooler.