Air Cooler Buying Guide-How To Choose Air Cooler For Your Home And Outdoors
When you think of buying an Air Cooler for your home, do you get confused looking at plethora of air coolers in the market? Well you are not alone, this struck me last year during summer and i found that there were very less guides that actually helped me in buying one. I had to research a lot and finally got one, which perfectly fit my needs.
In this Air cooler Buying guide i will give the very exact research i had to go through and help you understand your needs and also help you keep your air cooler in good condition, as many of them ask how to keep air cooler from smelling? Read along to find out.
Table of Contents
How does cooler work?
Air cooler works on evaporative cooling wherein fan/blower pulls in air from outside and passes through cooling pads which are soaked with water. Which evaporates and thereby cools the air passing through it. Therefore most of the performance of the cooler depends on Cooling pad, fan/blower and capacity of the cooler.
How to choose Air Cooler for your home and outdoors
There are many factors that lead to choosing perfect air cooler, and these are:
- Type of Cooler
- Size of your Room
- Storage Capacity
- Type of Climate you live in
- Fan/Blower
- Type of cooling pad
Comprehensive Air cooler Buying Guide
Type of Cooler
There are mainly three types of coolers.
- Personal
- Dessert
- Tower
Personal
Personal Coolers are air coolers that are used for small to medium rooms and are of 15-30 litres, there are some even higher. These are mostly preferred for humid weather condition, and have lower power consumption and also low sound.
If you are living in a humid area,require cooling of small to medium sized room and also have a fixed budget then consider Personal Cooler.
Desert
Desert coolers are more of higher capacity mainly in the range of 30-50 Litres. These can also be used for outdoors and terrace. Desert air coolers use fan for providing the air flow and are preferred in dry climate regions and they cool medium to large rooms easily.
If you live in a dry and hot climate conditions and need cooling in large rooms or outdoors then consider Dessert Air Cooler.
Tower
Tower air coolers are similar to personal air coolers but only differ in design and aesthetic appeal. Tower air coolers look better and are most portable air coolers. These are the most popular coolers and are trending in the market.
If you are looking for a sleek and good looking personal cooler, also need your cooler to acquire less space then consider Tower coolers.
Others
There are other types of air coolers like window cooler, similar to an AC it is fitted to a window or wall and occupies no floor space.
Size of your room
The first thing that should come up before buying an Air Cooler is the room in which you want your air cooler to be in. Suppose you want the air cooler for your hall, a hall is biggest room in most of the houses and hence would require a larger air cooler(Desert). Similarly a bedroom would require a personal air cooler.
Most of the air coolers have the area or size mentioned in their specifications, where it fits best. Always consider buying air cooler that cools larger room size than what you plan to buy as it would allow you to use it effectively in quieter condition, resulting in low power consumption and less noise.
If you do not know the size of your room and want to measure it easily, refer to FAQ’s down below.
Storage Capacity
This is water storage capacity, as air cooler uses water for cooling, it is an important consideration.
Larger the air cooler larger would be the storage capacity, hence there must be an optimum capacity that must suit your needs. The storage capacity ranges from 10-50 litres or more. Personal air coolers are more in the range of 15-30 litres. Whereas desert has range of 30-55 litres.
Type of Climate you live in
Humid Weather
Usually in humid weather where the air has more water content the air cooler may require more of a blower than a fan for air flow. Personal air coolers usually have blower and are perfect for humid conditions.
But then extreme humid conditions the Air cooler may not work at all, hence avoid purchasing an air cooler if you live in extreme humid conditions.
Dry Weather
Evaporative coolers function well in dry weather conditions as it is perfect condition for a water to evaporate and cool. For these conditions a desert cooler is best buy.
If you live in hot and dry regions then Desert Coolers should be your pick.
Fan/Blower
The air flow of the cooler depends on whether it uses a fan or a blower. Fans produce large volumes of air with low pressure, thus suitable for large rooms or even outdoors. Blowers produce high volume of air with high pressure, which is why they are used in personal or tower coolers.
Airflow of the air cooler is usually measured in CFM(Cubic Feet per Minute). Which can be measured by (size of room*height )/2, where size of room is in square feet. Suppose 180 square feet is size of your room and height is 10 feet. (180*10)/2 gives you 900 CFM. That is, your 180 Sq ft room needs an air cooler that gives out 900 CFM of air.
Type of cooling pad
Cooling pads are main component of cooler, these are the ones that provide cooling. Cooling pads absorb water and allow air to flow through them.
There are two types of cooling pads:
Cellulose Cooling pad
These are more like honeycomb design and are thicker. These are low maintenance pads that are slightly higher in price but are known for their efficiency.
Aspen
Aspen are made up of synthetic fibre and wood shavings. They are cheaper than cellulose but have a shorter life and are high in maintenance.
Honeycomb
Aspen
Miscellaneous Features
Remote Control
Some coolers come with remote control feature that helps you control the speed, direction and others without having to change its settings again and again.
Air coolers that work on inverter
Consider buying these if you have frequent power cuts and use inverter for backup. This one particularly has helped me during summer when there are frequent power cuts and when I desperately needed an air cooler.
Portability
A portable cooler is best when you do not have a designated place to keep the cooler. I usually take the cooler to the bedroom during the night. Hence portability should be a priority if you want to use the cooler for cooling say your bedroom and also the hall.
With this we come with an end to Air Cooler buying guide, purchase one that suits your room size and your requirements. There will be some that will meet your expectations and some which will not. Therefore always focus on the main aspects which would satisfy your need.
We have also mentioned some Frequently asked questions that one gets before buying air cooler, do give it a look.
Frequently asked questions
1.How to keep air cooler from smelling?
The water in cooler when kept for many days develops a strange musty smell. To prevent your air cooler from smelling, regularly clean your air cooler and drain out the water in the cooler. Also clean the cooling pads to prevent any fungus formation which may result in foul smell.
Replace the cooling pads if the problem persists.
1.AC vs Cooler. Which is better?
AC and Cooler are both different machines, both have some advantages and disadvantages. Air conditioners recycle the same air in the room and cool it, whereas air cooler takes in fresh air and cools it down.
When we consider cooling, an AC provides far greater cooling than an air cooler. But it comes with a price, as the Air Condition system consumes a lot of power. We also know that AC uses refrigerants that harm the environment, hence we should always look for an eco-friendly option.
3. How does cooler work?
We have answered this question in the section of the air cooler buying guide.
4. How to measure your room size? to get the best air cooler for your room.
Most of the coolers in the market have room capacity mentioned in the description, usually in Square feet. If you do not know the size then you can follow the steps below:
With Measuring tape
Measure the length and breadth of the room in feet and multiply them to get the size of your room(in square feet). Do not have a measuring tape? Not to worry we got you covered.
Without measuring tape
Use your foot, walk toe to heel across the length and breadth of the room. The average length of the Indian foot is around 9-10 inches. Note down the number of steps you take and multiply by 10 to get in inches, and finally multiply by 0.08 to get in feet.
Suppose you take 10 steps along the length of the room and take 8 steps along the breadth of the room .
Length: 10 steps*10 inches= 100 inches*0.08 ft = 8ft.
Breadth: 8 steps*10 inches= 80 inches*0.08 ft = 6.4ft.
Multiply the length and breadth to get in Square feet. Here we have 51 Square feet.Hence you need a room cooler that cools 51 sq ft of room or more.
You do not have to be dead accurate on this and estimate is more than enough.
Have any other questions relating to your air cooler then feel free to ask us in the comments below.
