Our attic room has become stiflingly hot this summer.
Is the air cooler system better than the fan? I don't want to go the airconditioning route because that involves venting the heat outside the building.
I'm just looking for a quick solution. Argos are selling units in the =A350-=A390 range but are also selling electronically controlled fans in the =A320-60 range.
Just wondering if anyone had any experience of either they would like to share?
Thanks,
Alex
fans are noisy and only serve to move warm air about.
evaporative coolers are a waste of money.
air con is your best and most cost effective option.
If positioned correctly they can bring in fresh cooler air from outside and send the stuffy air out. It works for us. Although am also looking to get hold of a whisper-quiet ceiling fan at some point.
Indeed.
I disagree about cost effective, air-con is expensive, and they can also be very noisy.
As to the OP. The important thing with a fan is to get one that is as quiet as possible if you think you might want to sleep while it's on.
I doubt it makes much difference with electronic or not. I guess you're more likely to find a timer control with an electronic fan.
Rob
They're also OK if you aren't moving about a lot. Here's a three- speed tower one with/without oscillating action, with a timer (up to two hours), all for £12.50:
The evaporative coolers will increase the humidity of the air, ultimately leading to stuffier and more draining environment. Hmmm, looking at the £99 argos one, that'll ADD 12 litres of water to your room.
Fans, well, I'm sure you know about fans - but to keep you feeling cool you're looking at noise, airflow (& associated disruption). Ultimately you're not cooling anything, but recirculating air that's hopefully less that your body temperature around, giving a chill effect. Of course, the warmer the room temperature, the less effective the fan becomes.
Neither is an ideal solution I'm afraid. How about a few ice-cold beers instead?
Mike
(sat underneath a self-install split-unit very quiet, A-rated energy efficient air-con system, with nipples like bullets)
LOL
We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember Mike Dodd saying something like:
TMI.
The message from "." contains these words:
For all that they can make hot weather far more bearable. Even with all the windows open there's not much airflow on a hot still day. An intelligently placed fan can draw air through the house and keep temperatures lower and improve comfort by allowing sweat to evaporate more easily.
Is the air cooler system better than the fan? I don't want to go the airconditioning route because that involves venting the heat outside the building.
If you really want to make a difference then AC is the only way.
A fan will work provided it isn't humid.
An evaporative cooler is just junk.
Why not try freezing some two litre bottles of water and put them in front of a cheap fan. They will cool and dehumidify a bit.
PS. Where is the heat coming from? If its a window then fit an *external* blind or shutter. Internal blinds do not reduce the heat much.
There are various options, but most of them arent cheap. A fan is the cheap one and will help. I once tried 1.4kW industrial fan, and it turned an intolerably overheated space into a pleasantly cool one. Anything involving paperwork was however impossible.
A ceiling fan cools you. A ceiling level exhaust fan or floor level intake fan will maintain the stratification and blow out the hottest air. Run it at night to cool the place right down and it will take longer to get too hot in the day - if the house is brick, block or conrete. Doesnt work with timber frame due to lack of thermal storage.
Evaporative coolers are not replacements for ac. They cool the airstream right in front of the machine by a few degrees, if you sit right in front of it its noticeable but otherwise not. Theyre not worth =A350. You can make your own evap cooler by putting a wet towel or shallow water tray in fron of a fan.
The real solution is to stop the place overheating in the first place. A non-destructive deciduous climber is a good approach to cooling walls (not ivy), but they should be kept off roofs. Whitewashing the roof really helps. Waterspraying it does too but is a risk to the roof structure. Thin white curtains on windows reduce solar gain while allowing enough light, eg made from bedsheets.
The one way to get ac without the energy guzzling is to use an earth pipe, but you do need to do a lot of digging to put one in. Preventing the heat usually makes more sense.
NT
When you say it's A-rated, do you mean it does not simply chuck the heat outside? I can't see how anything that moves heat to outside your building, just to throw it away (and hoping it does not come back in) can be A-rated.
-- JJ
Defintely the fan. Evaporative coolers are not appropriate for the UK climate. They only work in dry climates, as you can evaporate a lot of water into the dry air without making things uncomfortable. In the UK, with high relative humidity, they can make things much worse by raising the already uncomfortable humidity even higher.
Christian.
What else can it do?
However, a split unit is much more efficient than a single hose portable unit, as you don't use blast expensively cooled interior air over the radiator (condenser) and outside again, but can use cheap uncooled air from outside for the same purpose.
Christian.
Peering at my single-hose portable[1] aircon earlier, it occurred to me that it would be relatively trivial to tape a cardboard box over the condenser's air intake (which on this model at least is separate from the evaporator's) and attach a couple of metres of duct to the opposite end of the window to the exhaust hose. Assuming the airflow isn't overly restricted (ie. using a short length of large-diameter duct), this should make a significant improvement in efficiency.
On one hand, it seems daft that they aren't designed with the option of being used this way, but I suppose it would be asking for all manner of idiotic installation problems.
Kim.
[1] Rented house, so a split unit requiring brackets and hoses passing through walls and the like really isn't an option. It only really gets used in weather like this where cool dry air is the only thing that can keep my allergies under control.The message from kimble contains these words:
They aren't designed with that option because they want you to fork out extra money for the one that is.
Its even more daft when you consider that I paid £200 for a split unit in B&Q when the equivalent non split unit was £299. Its hanging out of a window with some shrink film double glazing sealing the window until I decide if its a suitable spot. I don't want to drill a big hole until I am sure.
This widespread myth is fuelling a large amount of pointless energy consumption. There are many ways too cool houses down that dont involve the energy guzzle of ac. AC is popular because it is the ignorant solution: you put ac in and your house is cooler, and thats that. The other solutions require thought and comprehension.
NT
Definitely; complete waste of money unless you live in a hot, dry climate.
I once had a car with a dodgy radiator fan (haven't we all) and was obliged to keep the heating on full blast in traffic in very hot, humid weather. I found that I felt more comfortable with the heating on (higher degC, lower Rh) than with the heating off.
So how do you cool an existing traditional house without rebuilding half of it when the outside temp is 30C and humidity is 100%? When you have a good answer let the world know and we can save loads of energy.. provided the energy used in your solution is less than it saves that is.
PS. There is no easy way to achieve the above without some sort of air conditioning and that is before you add solar gain to the equation. Maybe you live in a nice cool cave? (I shouldn't have said that as it might give you ideas.)
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.