When extreme heat hits, it hits hard. It can be debilitating to your employees, guests, and anyone else at your industrial facility. But cooling devices can be expensive, leaving you looking for the most energy-efficient and effective cooling solutions without breaking the budget. And that’s where evaporative cooling comes in.
The primary reason facility managers opt for evaporative cooling is how it cools the air. By pulling in hot air from outdoor spaces and passing it air over water-saturated pads, the water evaporates and absorbs the heat from the air. And unlike traditional air conditioning that struggles with areas that are open to the outdoors, evaporative coolers excel in these environments because hot air has a lot more energy than cold air. This means hot air will evaporate MORE water and get cooler than if it were pulling in cold air. And it also means no mist, fog, or spray water; just perfectly chilled air.
Some of the places and applications this benefits most, way more than simple fans that move hot air around, or costly and ineffective A/C units that drain power and increase humidity, include:
- Factories
- Warehouses
- Garages and car workshops
- Sport centers
- Outdoor and open-air settings
- Schools, offices, educational centers
- Data centers and telecom
- Hospitals and laboratories
- Commercial kitchens
- Retail centers
- Greenhouses
- Restaurants and guest houses
- Mining operations
- Large residential buildings
If you don't have an open-air source, you'll draw already-cooled air through the cooler. Each time you do this, the cold output will become less effective, and it’s why these coolers are not ideal for indoor environments with no access to outside air.
So, Why Do You Need Evaporative Cooling?
Scorching temperatures can seriously hamper an employee’s ability to work. A study by UC Berkeley reveals that every degree above 71.6 F (22 ℃) can reduce productivity by 2%. This may not seem like a lot, but when you’ve got a large workforce it can drain significant time and money from business. Not only that but when people are working in stifling conditions, day in and day out through the hottest months, their attention spans will suffer. This can lead to shoddy work, accidents, and fatalities.
In fact, Public Citizen, a Washington, D.C., based consumer rights advocacy group, estimates that “extreme heat contributes to between 600 and 2,000 deaths a year, along with 170,000 injuries, making heat one of the three main causes of death and injury in the American workplace.” For these reasons, you need cool air; and it’s why evaporative cooling can be a godsend for your company.
Why Are The Other Benefits of Evaporative Cooling?
Evaporative coolers – often referred to as swamp coolers or desert coolers - offer numerous benefits, particularly in commercial and industrial settings. Let's look at other reasons it’s such a popular choice.
Energy Efficiency
Evaporative cooling beats traditional A/C hands down when it comes to energy efficiency. They can maintain their cooling ability without needing to increase energy consumption, even as the temperatures skyrocket. In fact, the hotter the air it’s pulling in, the more efficient it gets; it thrives in heatwaves. This results in substantial energy and cost savings for your business over time.
Portability
Where you need cold air is just as important as how you’re getting it. With a portable evaporative air cooler, you can choose exactly which areas need climate control. Warehouses, schools, and construction sites can have areas prone to heat at certain times of the day. Also, some parts of your business may not be as busy as others, depending on supply and demand. You can move the portable air cooler to where it’s going to have the most impact.
Environmentally Friendly
As they use plain water as a refrigerant, evaporative coolers are a greener choice than traditional A/C systems that use ozone-depleting chemicals. This means they cool the air without having a carbon footprint, and that’s good news for everyone.
Minimal Maintenance
You could follow this with “What maintenance?” As only water and electricity are needed to operate an evaporative cooler, it requires less maintenance than other cooling devices. That means more money in your pocket, and less downtime, as maintenance is rarely required.
Humidity Control
Contrary to what many people think, evaporative coolers can be very effective in humid environments. They don’t create any mist, fog, or water spray, but instead work by using a fan to push air through a damp water-soaked material, cooling it down. As the air passes through, it interacts with the water, removing heat molecules and leaving you with cooler, slightly moistened air. In short, you don’t have to sweat about evaporative coolers in humid environments.
Strength and durability
Evaporative coolers have a simple but sturdy design that makes them work horses year in and year out. Unlike traditional air conditioners, evaporative coolers have fewer moving parts, which in turn reduces the chance of a mechanical failure. Plus, evaporative coolers use water instead of chemicals and refrigerants, the latter of which are common points of failure in air conditioners.
Programmable Timers
No one wants to play nursemaid to a cooling unit, and that’s why most evaporative coolers come with a built-in programmable timer. This allows you to program the device to switch on when it’s needed and turn off when it’s not. And with this kind of control, you save energy costs and extend the life of the unit.
Cost Savings
When you combine some of the other key points above, like energy efficiency, low maintenance, durability, and portability (allowing you to have one unit for several areas of your workplace) you can see the significant savings you’ll make. And evaporative coolers are often a smaller monetary investment compared to the purchase price of other systems.
With Evaporative Coolers, Size Matters.
Choosing the correct of evaporative cooler is key to ensuring its effectiveness and energy efficiency. An undersized cooler results in inadequate cooling; an oversized cooler means excessive energy consumption. So how do you know what to choose? Well, it all comes down to a simple calculation that gives you the Cubic Feet per Minute (CFM); this is the volume of air the cooler can process in one minute. The formula is CFM = Area x Height x ACH / 60 – let’s break that down:
- First, multiply the square footage of the floor space – length x width.
- Next, multiply that figure by the ceiling height to get your cubic footage.
- Multiply the cubic feet by the number of times you want the air to be recirculated in one hour (known as air changes per hour, or ACH).
- Finally, divide that number by 60, and you have your CFM.
For example: length 25ft x width 20ft = 500 sq ft; height 15ft x 500ft = 7,500 cu ft; 4 ACH x 7,500 cu ft = 30,000; 30,000 / 60 = 500 CFM. This is what you need for that space. And now that you have that number, let’s go shopping for the type of cooler you need.
