Air Conditioning or Evaporative Cooling?

If your home or office is too hot then it's very important that you use some kind of air cooling device in order to reduce the temperature and to allow you to continue to work and play without feeling too hot and without being distracted by oppressive heat. At the same time this can help to increase your alertness and energy levels and it can help to prevent problems such as dry skin and headaches.

But if you decide to implement a new cooling device you will find that you have multiple options, and specifically you will be able to choose between air conditioning and evaporative cooling. Here we will look at what the difference is and what evaporative cooling actually means.

What is an Evaporative Cooler?

An evaporative cooler is also something called a swamp cooler or a desert cooler, and it works (as the name might suggest) via the evaporation of water in order to cool the air. This will then work by transitioning liquid into water vapour and releasing it into the air, and the main benefit of this is that it takes significantly less energy in order to accomplish when compared to refrigeration - particularly in very hot climates which makes it highly suitable for very hot and dry rooms.

At the same time evaporative coolers have the added benefit of course of increasing the amount of moisture in the air. This can be very good for occupants, not only helping breathing and preventing skin problems, but also improving their comfort. Of course this requires a water source in order to operate.

The downside of an evaporative cooler however is of course that it can sometimes create too much moisture if the environment is already quite moist. For instance if you should be in a property that has problems with mold and with leaking, then using an evaporative cooler may in fact worsen this problem resulting in dank and wet air - which can also cause various health problems.

Air Conditioning

Air conditioning can use multiple methods such as vapour-compression or an absorption refrigeration cycle. The latter is more common, and this works by sucking the air in using a slight vacuum, then moving it around a cool area before dispelling it once again. This process then cools the air without increasing moisture, and normally the air will be taken through a filter and possibly treated in other ways. This has the big advantage of not altering the moisture levels in the air, and at the same time it is also useful in that it can be used to clean the air of various unwanted particles and bacteria thus helping to prevent the spread of disease, and also helping to keep the air and the property much cleaner.

The downside to air conditioning is of course that it uses up a lot of energy comparatively as a lot of energy is needed to cool the air that much. Furthermore, if your property is very dry, this can actually increase the dryness in the air and cause problems as a result.