Air coolers (not Air Con) - any good ?

[paulfoel]

Obviously, they're not going to complete with your proper AC unit but are they any good at all?

B+Q are doing one for =A340 where you stick ice and water in it.

Any better than a plain old fan ?

[s--p--o--n--i--x]

IME they increase humidity in the air and make things appear even hotter!

Personally, I'd suggest one of the B&Q 20" box fans is more effective and better value for money.

sponix

[GlintingHedgehog]

If you are looking at a room where you can use a ceiling-fan, that's better still. Ceiling fans are very effective for cooling a room, can be used to circulate air in winter too, and are easy to install.

[bigcat]

They do work, yes, I've used them. But no, they dont compare with ac at all.

They work primarily by evaporating water. This has a cooling efffect of

4C or so on the air. You need a litle ventilation, not much, so as RH rises the higher RH air is lost to the outside allowing more evaporation, which keeps cooling things down.

Expect maybe 3-4C of gain. Nothing huge, but yes on a hot day it makes all the difference.

However, if youve not spent anything yet, Thing 1 to get would be a ceiling fan. Less money, more effect. The evaporative cooler would be one of several secondayry choices.

Dont put ice in it, as making ice releases more heat into the house than melting it removes.

BTW these evap units will give you no joy on wet damp days, but those are not normally the hottest ones, so its not a biggie.

NT

[Dave Liquorice]

Do you like cool damp air? I remember being in a small hirise type flat filming, in summer. What with 10+ bodies, the lights and keeping the windows shut to keep the noise out it got a tad warm. Someone produced and evaporative air cooler, it blew cool air which was quite pleasant but after a couple of hours the humidty in the flat must have been approaching 100%, the place started to drip...

A big slow fan is much better IMHO.

[Chris McBrien]

I'll second this opinion. I lived in Singapore for five years and could not get used to sleeping with noisey A/C and waking up with a cold. My next house had big ceiling fans and no A/C.............. just bliss. They are quiet and did the job.

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[Dave]

Personally, I would not touch anything that buy an spew sell.

Dave

[bigcat]

I expect you can misuse any type of cooling method.

NT

[paulfoel]

Already got a ceiling fan in the bedroom in question.

[GlintingHedgehog]

Is it set to spin in the right direction? Most of them go both directions - one to cool the room, one to redistribute warm air in winter.

TBH if a ceiling-fan isn't providing adequate cooling, a proper air- conditioning unit is really the next option.

[bigcat]

There are lots of options. The simplest is to get a dual thermometer, mount it so it reads indoor and outdoor temp, and open window when outdoor is cooler than indoor. Very simple, very cheap, can knock a good amount of heat out.

In evening and am it cools directly. evening cooling also reduces the temp of the house brickwork, which in turn gives cooling thru the hot afternoons.

Nother good idea is shading with deciduous climbers. There are lots of options. AC is the no brain option: plug it in, it works, no thinking is required. But its one of the last options Id pick myself. All the others cost either nothing or almost nothing to run.

NT

[Steve Firth]

Not really, and British prices are a complete sodding rip-off. Proper aircon for self-install costs just EUR 167 for a 2.4kW unit at Castorama. Castorama *is* B&Q, right down to the Performance Pro tools, which are also cheaper there.

The same Aircon units from B&Q here are sold for £670. That's a neat markup for Kingfisher group.

[Aidan]

Voila.

seems the cheapest, unless the on-line prices are more than in-store. Maybe someone who knows more than 2 words of French can find a cheaper one on the site.

[Steve Firth]

Ah sorry, should have said, my local Castorama in Italy, not France. There was a display opposite the cash deskstarting at EUR 167. For about EUR 400 there were some very dinky looking units which don't have an external, but which can also function as heat pumps in winter.

[Aidan]

ecco!

euros seems to be the cheapest.Maybe someone who etc..

[<me9]

I think I could negotiate the site. Do you think they'll deliver to UK? I assume no custon the EU, but is it VAT inc.

[Andy Hall]

>

You would pay French VAT as an end customer but I am pretty sure that this is included in pricing at a retailer, as it is here.

It would probably be cheaper overall to take a day trip on Eurotunnel and go and buy one in the store in Calais or close by.

[<me9]

>>

It's not on the website today. The cheapest 500odd euro now. Have they sold out or re-priced?

[Steve Firth]

The websites don't give the full range. There's more in the stores than on the site. Hence the really cheap E167 units. TBH if you want a heatpump as well A/C I would budget for about E300-500.