evaporative cooling - anyone using?, page-7

G'day KISMET,

Thanks for your comments.

I guess I should have explained that our choice is not Evaporative Vs R/C, it is Evaporative Vs nothing.

There are a number of reasons why we don't want R/C A/C. I guess cost woud be one of the reasons but not the biggest. We just don't like the idea of living in a single parcel of air that is recycled around and around. Aside from the general unwellness that comes (I believe) from the dryness of the air, the problem of recycling airborn disease is of some concern. I guess this concern is similar, in a way, to the concern that you raised re pathogens growing in the water of the evaporative cooler. This was something that I had thought about also. On delving a little deeper, I find that the modern evap coolers actually have an automatic dumping cycle built in. Apparantly, after a certain period of time, they dump their entire water content and only refill next time they are used. I guess the danger of disease spread (for both types) are always going to be less in the home than in an office or shopping centre.

Re the heating. This is one of the reasons that we don't want a R/C A/C. At the moment we keep our home beautifully warm and inviting in the colder months with our convection combustion fire. We love the ambience that this creates - even though it involves a little more work than turning on an A/C. The danger is that if we have R/C A/C and human nature being what it is, we would be tempted to be lazy and use the A/C rather than the fire.

According to the information that we have been given so far, the evap cooler will stop working at about a humidity of 85%. Upon checking for our area, it seems that a humidity of > 85% would be rare. Interestingly, looking at the bom charts, humidity is much higher in the mornings (9am) than in the afternnoons (3pm).

I shall keep researching and would appreciate any further input. It would be enormously valuable to hear from somebody that is using an evap cooler in my area (Hawkesbury River).