AC Units Linked w/Evaporative Coolers
AC Units Linked w/Evaporative Coolers
(OP)
I'm sitting here listening to my residential AC running and wondering why there are no swamp cooler pads pre-cooling the air before the air is drawn thru the condenser. Or maybe just very low gpm misters that cool the condenser directly with water. Am I missing something? It seems so simple - is there a practical reason why this is not done?





RE: AC Units Linked w/Evaporative Coolers
rmw
RE: AC Units Linked w/Evaporative Coolers
RE: AC Units Linked w/Evaporative Coolers
You don't do that in residential or small commercial appreciation because maintenance is horrific and only worthwhile when large application.
Staff grows in warm water, it needs to be winterized when freezing, corrosion... all things only worth to overcome when the plant is large.
RE: AC Units Linked w/Evaporative Coolers
what they found in the long run is that all the minerals in the water came out solution on the condensing unit fins restricting air flow and making it worse.
a pad may be different than water directly on the coil though.
RE: AC Units Linked w/Evaporative Coolers
It will reduce the load the same.
RE: AC Units Linked w/Evaporative Coolers
Here in the SW, we regularly see a swamp cooler drop air temp 20[°]F while raising relative humidity from 20% to 50%. I would expect in Oklahoma to be able to get a 6-10[°]F temperature reduction while taking humidity from 70% to 85%. Temp drop would be less on a 85% RH day. So, with air at 105[°]F and RH at 80%, your hard work would lower the cooling-tower temp to around 102[°]F. That may be worth it. It probably isn't.
In a lower humidity area, it could very well be a great idea to have a swamp cooler feed air to a ducted cooling system. I don't think that Oklahoma would be a great place to start.
David
RE: AC Units Linked w/Evaporative Coolers