If it seems too good to be true, it probably is
This page doesn't say, but it's 60 quid
How can it possibly have (as is claimed) the same cooling capacity as aircons 8 times the price?
Presumably, it doesn't, I'm guessing all it does is cool a tiny fraction of the volume of the more expensive ones?
any comments?
Seems to work on the same principle as hanging a damp towel over a fan. Lots of pages on the web (google "aircool review") - but most of the reviews are the manufacturer's blurb regurgitated.
I guess it will give the effect of cooling, as it's blowing damp air over you....
As you say, if it seems too good to be true....
Evaporative cooler, they do work but only work well in dry air. We used to have them in our house in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) back in the
1970s. Riyadh was much smaller then and the humidity was low, the 'desert coolers' worked well and made for very pleasant feel to the rooms indoors. They were much quieter than Air Conditioning and, of course, cost *much* less to run.
It appears to be an evaporative cooling system. It is a principle that has been with us since the days of ancient Egypt.
They work best in hot, arid climates, with the effectiveness decreasing at lower temperatures or higher humidities. They also output moist air, which is not always desirable.
It's a swamp cooler, it's not air conditioning. They work in dry climates, where evaporating water takes heat out of the air. They're good in arid deserts, less good in the UK where the air can be muggy (and this will make it more muggy).
There doesn't appear to be anything special about this one compared to fan-and-grass-mat swamp coolers the world over.
Theo
It doesn't actually claim "the same cooling capacity". That'd be an objective statement. It claims the other coolers "perform worse" which is subjective.
However in "hot, arid climates" moist air is very desirable! :-)
Looks like a "swamp cooler"
Where does it claim that? There is a vague comparison but not a claim.
"The majority of air conditioners on the market are 10x heavier and up to 8x more expensive and, shockingly, they perform worse."
Yep. "With CoolAir you get your own personal bubble of comfort."
The fact it'll run from a USB port ought to tell you something. It simply hasn't got the power to do very much.
It's an evaporative air cooler, blow air over some thing wet, the water evaporates which requires energy which is obtained from the passing air, thus cooling that air. It does appear to have quite a large surface area for the evaporation which is how it might be able to achieve that 14 C below ambient temperature reduction. How well it performs will be very dependant on the humidity, 36 C and high humidity it's going to do SFA, 36 C and 10% humidity it will do a lot better.
Proper air conditioning removes the heat from the air but then dumps it somewhere else (outside normally). An evaporative air cooler doesn't dump the heat some where else, it just hides it temporally in the water vapour. This heat is given back when the water condenses.
will it take dust out of a room ? ....
Yup, 'latent heat of vaporisation or somesuch.
When water goes from a liquid to vapour phase (in this case) it requires energy and so it takes energy from it's surroundings and hence cooling it (very slightly). ;-)
You get the same effect standing next to a fountain or by spraying a very fine mist of water into the airflow of a fan when outside (and you can buy fans that do that).
Cheers, T i m
If the dust is air bourne and drawn into the unit most likely. It'll get stuck on the wet cloth. Assuming that there is no open bypass route for (some) of the air/dust to take.
OK
so back to one of these then:
Indeed, evaporation is a cooling action. In the hottest of deserts, the sun on a porous clay pot can drive the water to extreme low temps. Knurling the surface creates more faces and greater exposure.
When its very warm weather, I will dampen a towel and place it around my shoulders or, when in bed, over the body. It's very effective. Which leads to survival and NOT wearing wet clothes when exposed to the cold and near a localised heat source.
Ray.
Forgive me if I'm stating the obvious but they really, really, do need to vented outside if you want to cool a room. I knew someone who missed that minor little detail before parting with his money.
Do you *need* a portable unit? A wall-mounted split unit is more efficient as it doesn't suck any air in from the room, it simply runs through a chilled heat exchanger. Portable units often use room air to exhaust the heat, which causes a negative pressure in the room and sucks in more warm air through any leaks it can find. You can get dual-pipe portable units but they're less common.
No idea who the OEM for 'Electriq' is (being a rebrand of random Chinese stuff), but experience of maintaining A/C in very hot climates (50C+) indicates to go for a major Japanese/Korean/American vendor. The Chinese stuff just dies. eg
however it might be tricky to get someone to gas it up, in which case:
Theo
it can't, unless they've found someone selling an equally ineffective minia ture ac unit for silly money.
It's a pc fan & a bowl with some cloth. If you have a fan you can try the e xperiment yourself. If you cba, yes you get a little cooling right in front of it, not much. £60 is laughable, £6 would be a bit steep.
NT
When camping I wrap a wet towel round my beer and put it in the shade. ;-)
Ah, good point and one I'd never considered (not that I have been in that position as such etc).
Cheers, T i m
That's what we have here and with some temporary curtaining around the landing and all the bedroom doors left ajar, it keeps the whole upstairs very comfy cool. ;-)
Cheers, T i m
Yes had one on Perth, WA. It was ok but would have been a waste of space in Papua New Guinea (coastal) where the good old fashioned big ceiling fan was quite effective.
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