Browse Forums Heating, Cooling & Insulation 1 Sep 17, 2013 2:05 pm Hi all, We are getting ready to start building in a couple weeks and have been told by a few friends not to get Evap cooling if we are having laminate floor boards through out our house as the moisture will warp them! Has anyone heard of this happening? I have called up 3 flooring places today to conform and they have all said along the the lines of yes this CAN happen! I'm a bit stuck as we were going to go Evap because of the cheaper running of the system! But now we are looking at going refrigerated! Can anyone suggest the best system or type, perhaps the cheapest lol Our house is a largeish house with 5 bedrooms, and 3 living areas! Anywho, any help would be really appreciated! Thanks, Mel Re: Evap cooling warping laminate flooring? 2Sep 17, 2013 5:13 pm Now sure where you are... and this CAN make a big difference to the effectiveness of the system. Evap cooling works by evaporating water, wetting the air basically. It cools by up to about five degrees, and is pretty much useless on humid days. (So if you are in Brissie... forget it!) In Perth they work well, but they can leave the air damp and the walls a little slick if you run them non stop endlessly, especially in humid weeks. (From my experience) This would warp your laminate possibly. In the wheatbelt where it's drier... evap is a treat Re: Evap cooling warping laminate flooring? 3Sep 17, 2013 5:39 pm I think alot of it comes down to how you run the evap as well. Some people leave all their windows closed resulting in a hugely humid house as they do not understand the principles behind the evap coolers. As long as the air is replaced inside the house continuously you shouldnt end up with a really humid home. I don't have any experience with the warping but i would suggest taking the recommendation of the flooring place over anyone on the forum as they are meant to be the experts Re: Evap cooling warping laminate flooring? 4Sep 17, 2013 7:46 pm THank you, and yes I am leaning to wards another type of cooling! I'm one of those people that has the aircon on A LOT in summer as I can't stand being over heated, I have 5 kids under 8 and one with sever eczema that reacts to the heat also! We are in MELBOURNE if that makes a difference... but you are right, 3 flooring places did say that it would be something that can happen and I should consider the risks especially when my whole house is going to be floor boards bar one room! So my next idea was big butt solar panels to help with the running costs lol Mels Re: Evap cooling warping laminate flooring? 5Sep 21, 2013 8:42 am Melany-7 THank you, and yes I am leaning to wards another type of cooling! I'm one of those people that has the aircon on A LOT in summer as I can't stand being over heated, I have 5 kids under 8 and one with sever eczema that reacts to the heat also! We are in MELBOURNE if that makes a difference... but you are right, 3 flooring places did say that it would be something that can happen and I should consider the risks especially when my whole house is going to be floor boards bar one room! So my next idea was big butt solar panels to help with the running costs lol Mels I have had laminate flooring and evap (in Canberra) for 13 years now, no issues with warping. I am very surprised to hear that there is a concern with laminate considering it is usually a man made product. Now solid timber or timber veneer on laminate I could understand potentially being an issue, but not 100% laminate. That said as a poster above said the thing with evap cooling is you need to open windows and let the air flow. If you don't then the humidity in the house will increase and the house will feel and smell damp. The other thing to remember is on humid days it doesn't work as well as on dry days and most aircon makers say to run the cooler with just the fan on, ie turn off the water pump. Re: Evap cooling warping laminate flooring? 6Sep 26, 2013 8:27 am Personally, I do not think this is a problem but as stated, one keeps a few windows open. re solar. it takes a lot of panels to run refridgerated cooling. Also, by what you say, you just might be the person to need refridgerated cooling anyway. cheers Re: Evap cooling warping laminate flooring? 7Sep 26, 2013 7:24 pm Friends of ours had their solid timber floors warp from the evap cooling. They ended up getting it ripped up and replaced under their house insurance. It was a lot of hassle though. I'm sure their floor was solid timber, not laminate. But it's definitely possible. 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