Browse Forums Heating, Cooling & Insulation Re: Evaporative cooling myths 67Jan 20, 2013 7:54 pm There was a recent news report where two evaporative units in Melbourne caught fire on the same day. Typically, the media were beating it up to say that the problem was inherent of evap units - but we all know that ANY unit can catch alight. This might seem strange that I am defending evap units for once. I still don't like 'em, but I won't bag them just because of a media beat-up. As far as dodg-ee solenoids go (and I understand them, being a sparky), that is indeed unfortunate. The ONLY components that should be available should be, put in laymans terms, industrial strength ones. Even they are prone to failure, more often due to high duty cycles than ambient temperatures, but at least they come with an inherent robustness. Actually, thinking ahead, I can imagine the day when the average new home has an air conditioned plant room, housing the hot water heater, the central heating unit, the solar inverter, the air conditioning unit whatever its type, maybe an air scrubber, the switchboard, the gas meter, the water meter, (metering of fluids would be measured by vortex meters and carried out remotely via SCADA), your NBN node, etc. It could even house your central vacuum unit and spa or pool pump! Think about it...sheltered, no noise, everything in one place instead of being bolted onto the side or top of your house here and there, controlled operating environment...am I dreaming? Geoff - Decophile. Re: Evaporative cooling myths 68Jan 20, 2013 8:13 pm I love our evap a/c. We are in perth, whilst it is generally a dry heat in WA we do get humid days and we have never had a problem with our unit. Uses little power (our last elec bill was $70) and I like the idea of fresh air, rather than having to close everything up. If i Was to build again I would get another evap installed without a doubt. Our unit isn't noisy either? The road to success is always under construction House completed April 2011 - slowly making it a home... Re: Evaporative cooling myths 69Jan 23, 2013 1:43 pm last week I got to test a home (neighbours) with evap cooling double storey 44 sq 5 outlets upstairs and 2 downstairs it was 39 degrees outside, in melbourne, blinds were shut and theatre window open about 30cms and upper bedroom window open 30cms, the house is 6 star rated I must say i was very impressed with the temp inside, perfectly cool. just thought i'd post. I will post my review when we get into our home in a few weeks Re: Evaporative cooling myths 70Jan 23, 2013 3:28 pm Tengals, Note that the hot days last week was exceptionally dry in Melb. We were at a family member's house with evap cooling and it was great last week, but generally not so effective. I remember they use to work well in Melb, but in the past 10 years I beleive it has become less effective due to climate change. Re: Evaporative cooling myths 74Jan 25, 2013 8:53 am AJW In that case evap there is no reason for evap to be getting any worse as they work better in hotter DRYer climates. They only fall down with humidity. Not entirely true. Once the temperature hits mid to high 30s even with low humidity they are still useless. Building the Riva by Dale Alcock Homes. Follow our progress here: https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?t=57075 Re: Evaporative cooling myths 75Jan 25, 2013 9:28 am MissEm AJW In that case evap there is no reason for evap to be getting any worse as they work better in hotter DRYer climates. They only fall down with humidity. Not entirely true. Once the temperature hits mid to high 30s even with low humidity they are still useless. That probably depends on your expectations of how cold you want it to be inside when it's 39 outside. We have always had evap. On a 39 degree day our evap cools our house down to approx 24 degrees, which is fine by me as anything under that inside and I am putting a cardi on. Re: Evaporative cooling myths 76Jan 25, 2013 11:30 am rellie MissEm AJW In that case evap there is no reason for evap to be getting any worse as they work better in hotter DRYer climates. They only fall down with humidity. Not entirely true. Once the temperature hits mid to high 30s even with low humidity they are still useless. That probably depends on your expectations of how cold you want it to be inside when it's 39 outside. We have always had evap. On a 39 degree day our evap cools our house down to approx 24 degrees, which is fine by me as anything under that inside and I am putting a cardi on. Exactly they are not designed to uber cool a house, just take the edge off. That is one reason why when you set an evap it doesn't ask for a target temp, rather a comfort level. Re: Evaporative cooling myths 77Jan 25, 2013 12:02 pm tengals last week I got to test a home (neighbours) with evap cooling double storey 44 sq 5 outlets upstairs and 2 downstairs it was 39 degrees outside, in melbourne, blinds were shut and theatre window open about 30cms and upper bedroom window open 30cms, the house is 6 star rated I must say i was very impressed with the temp inside, perfectly cool. just thought i'd post. I will post my review when we get into our home in a few weeks If the house is designed properly it should be cool even with the evap turned off. 36 Degrees yesterday and I didnt turn on my aircond until 3:30/ Inside the house got to 26/27 degrees by the time and I want it a bit cooler to encourage me to get some stuff done around the house. Re: Evaporative cooling myths 78Jan 27, 2013 8:31 am MissEm AJW In that case evap there is no reason for evap to be getting any worse as they work better in hotter DRYer climates. They only fall down with humidity. Not entirely true. Once the temperature hits mid to high 30s even with low humidity they are still useless. nope it was 39-40 degress outside, and lovely and cool inside, was working a treat. Maybe your unit was no good, or your house was not very energy efficient. Im just saying how this house was, thats all. Im hoping ours works the same... Re: Evaporative cooling myths 79Jan 29, 2013 12:22 am In Melbourne I would say they work ok except for approx 14 days during summer. During those 14 days you will wish you had gone refrigerated. Speaking from experience from house built in 2000, insulated well, right orientation, large eves, but no double glazing. I going refrigerated for the next house. Re: Evaporative cooling myths 80Jan 31, 2013 5:40 pm Yikes.......is this true? We were gonna go the evap but I had my reservations that it would be enough. The $14,000 price tag definitely is pretty nuts imho! I have two hairy cats and I worry about them getting overheated in the summer. HD |