To beat the summer heat and keep ideal temperatures in the atmosphere, people use air conditioners or air coolers in their houses. When compared to air conditioners, air coolers are most inexpensive and effective way of handling hot, stuffy and dry climates. They not only save large amount of money on electricity bills but also conserve environmental benefits with no harmful Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) or gases emissions. Today we can find different types of air coolers in the market from various brands but the basic functionality of working remains same for all models. Some primary features that we have to look out for when buying an air cooler are – variable speed, tank size, timer, water level indicator, remote control operation etc.
The working principle of air cooler is simple not as complicated as AC systems – a pump is used to circulate water to the cooling pads, which in turn becomes very wet and gives cool air due to evaporation. During this process the fan draws the required air from outside into the unit through the cooling pads. Instead of fan some air coolers are equipped with blower with multiple speed controls. Most of the buyers do not really pay much attention to the air cooler types because they care only about tank size and efficiency. But there is a much difference in performance and technology between these two types – fan and blower air coolers.
Which is better – Fan or blower?
- Functionality:
Even though the main functionality of fan and blower is to circulate and supply air, they differ in technical aspects from one another. Fan is an electrical device which circulates or moves air around the entire space whereas blower mainly focuses on positioning air in a specific direction or point. Most of the blowers come with powerful air throw capabilities that can even reach up to 65 to 70 feet distance from the unit. Blower type air coolers work effectively only for small to moderate rooms as they dispense air in a specific direction whereas fans are ideal for large circulations of air in bigger rooms. - Airflow:
Airflow for an air cooler is measured in CFM (Cubic feet per minute) which is specified as the amount of air cycled in your room each minute. Fans can create airflow with low pressure but in large volumes and hence they are usually used in big air coolers. But blowers create high pressure airflow from the cooling system with higher speed and air throw. Hence fan type coolers are ideal for entire room cooling whereas blower types are good for instant cooling in a specific area. - Design:
When compared to older fan models, blowers have compact design that can be accommodated even in small spaces. Some of the newly introduced blower type air coolers have intelligent features like automatic louver movement, remote-controlled LCD display, and empty tank alarm which are not seen in older models.
- Efficiency:
we all know that, comparatively air coolers consume less power than air conditioners. On an average, an AC system with 1-ton capacity would consume 0.8 units/hr whereas an air cooler for equivalent size of room would consume only 0.1 units. If we drill down on air coolers, the modern type blowers offer more power efficiency with great comfort of cool air luxury in contrast to fan based old model air coolers. - Cooling Pads:
Apart from the functionality and design, even the cooling pads of the air coolers contribute to the efficiency and performance. Generally air coolers use two popular patterns in their cooling pads – honeycomb and the aspen (wood wool). These patterns differ in the capacity of absorbing water and letting the air through them for evaporation. Now-a-days, most of the blower type air cooler models are coming with Honeycomb pads which are more efficient and help in faster evaporation process.
Now that you have the basic idea on fan and blower type air coolers, you can be clear on choosing the right one based on the room size and airflow requirements.