[sachinpk]

Originally Posted by abhi3284

However, i feel the Water Cooler Placement is not ideal. It's back is to the wall. After some time, it starts throwing humid air. It is mostly used during the night time while sleeping, so a bit risky to have the windows or balcony door open while sleeping.

As per the manual which came along with air cooler, the recommended position is next to a window (or a door). Ideally the back side of the cooler (which I guess sucks in the fresh air) should be next to the window. Is your balcony not covered up by grills? I feel if you are staying in a multi storied apartment, no one can make an entry through the balcony if it is some 3-4 stories up from ground. Off course you would have to take adequate steps to ensure privacy etc.

What I understood is that air cooler should NOT be operated in a room which is completely closed (like how it is done when Air Conditioners are used).

[sgiitk]

Having lived with air coolers since my childhood, ie over 50 years, I think I have some experience. Now I put them outside the stairwell and it blows into the house. I get my own made since I find the enclosures of the ready-made units too small. If you keep the beastie indoors then air recirculation just builds up the humidity and as a result comfort goes to discomfort.

[ghpk]

I recently moved from my hometown, and out of 3 AC's I carried along, one Split was given to parents, one installed in our bed room, and the last one is lying idle as Its tooooo Big, Its a 14 yrs old, hard used Godrej 1.5 Ton AC
which can out perform any newer AC in terms of cooling

But its too Heavy, and little bigger than available install options in a rented apartment.

So I Badly needed a Desert cooler to keep my electricity bill under control and work from other room till late nights, Explored a lot of coolers and then found what I've previously used, The Old and affordable "SUMMERCOOL" brand, its model is "Tornado"
Reason, its based on Kit FAN, which consumes far less electricity than a orthodox exhaust fan.
Can be easily run on Apartment provided power backup, and even at Rs.16 a unit it won't consume much electricity.
AC and other power points don't work on backup power so Its best option.

Lastly its Just Rs.3300 from Local store in Summercool Ghaziabad.

its a small and decent looking cooler, Solves my purpose and best part is very very effective. I am currently sitting few feet away from it, and my room is chilled.

kept it on apartment balcony, facing the room glass door opening and its beast.

Personally I would not buy a 10K Desert cooler, no matter how elegant it looks I would opt for a 1 ton AC for anything between 15-20k instead.

attached pic

[adithya.kp]

I am sorry about the late reply. Missed this. I bought it from adishwar. i have seen it in many other retail chains like reliance,unilet etc. Its there in amazon too.

Originally Posted by sachinpk

I might also have to buy an air cooler in next 12-14 hours. This model was in mind, as I read good positive reviews. How ever the nearest shop only has Orient and Butterfly models available. Do you have any information about them?

[nilanjanray]

I moved to a new place in Bangalore, and need to get a couple of coolers or split acs for next 2 months.

Any suggestions re from where I could rent? What would make sense, most, in Bangalore - given the humidity? And I can't tear up the walls or windows to fit an ac.

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by nilanjanray

I moved to a new place in Bangalore, and need to get a couple of coolers or split acs for next 2 months.

Any suggestions re from where I could rent? What would make sense, most, in Bangalore - given the humidity? And I can't tear up the walls or windows to fit an ac.

I almost rented from this site after seeing some ad's

https://www.grabonrent.com/Bangalore...er-CGID2321618

But found that you need to rent for minimum three months and although they had advertised 999 per month, it was for an unknown brand. Calculations showed that one could buy the same thing with 5-6 months of rental.

Still, worth exploring if you don't have any other choice.

[grazd]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

Having lived with air coolers since my childhood, ie over 50 years, I think I have some experience. Now I put them outside the stairwell and it blows into the house. I get my own made since I find the enclosures of the ready-made units too small. If you keep the beastie indoors then air recirculation just builds up the humidity and as a result comfort goes to discomfort.

Originally Posted by anupmathur

You are getting close! It has nothing to do with whether or not there is a room on top (which, by the way, we do not have) but entirely to do with relative humidity!
Our cooler is just one of the many that are 'unbranded' and sold in Delhi by small timers. The fan size is 24 inches. It is a GE Alstom 920 rpm fan (15 years of age) and I run it at about 500 rpm via a 600 Watts dimmer (no, the fan does not consume anywhere CLOSE to that kind of wattage). Believe me, there is an art in setting up AND operating a cooler the correct way.
No cooler that is kept WITHIN a room can ever ever hope to deliver what a properly mounted cooler is capable of!

I have used desert coolers for many years and have generally not seen any technological improvements in this product area, so am wondering if there any technologies that can improve cooler performance.

I would like to know more about the following tech points, esp based on knowhow of our esteemed members - @sgiitk and @anupmathur.

1. Cooling media:
I have always used the traditional wood wool (aspen) cooling pads. They work OK but always tend to sag and become non uniform over time (esp the thinner varieties). I need to get them replaced each year.
On my recent visit to the wholesale market I saw an increasingly larger number of coolers with honeycomb pads (cellulose/paper type). Earlier these used to be available only on a few higher end/branded models (such as usha-honeywell, symphony etc), but this year for the first time I saw these fitted on local-make/unbranded coolers as well.
I am trying one of these honeycomb models out,and they seem to perform better than woodwool. It also claims to need less maintenance and can possibly last for a few years. (Theoretically there are some claims that they are more efficient than woodwool pads.)

They cost more. The question is do they truly perform better over the long term, esp in terms of cooling effeciency?


2. Blowers vs Fans
Most air coolers come with (axial) fans, but I saw a few that are fitted with blowers (centrifugal fans). The tradeoff here seems to be high volume/low-pressure (fans) vs low-volume/high pressure (blowers).

Which of these performance characteristics is better for cooling a room in a home (i/e not for a highly localized spot cooling)?

[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by grazd

....
....
They cost more. The question is do they truly perform better over the long term, esp in terms of cooling effeciency?
....

I haven't used these pre-fab pads, so cannot comment on them. The important thing is that I have not felt the need for any significant improvement on the old design and materials. Don't try to fix it if it ain't broke.
Also, the 'standard' models come at THE most cost effective price and are the cheapest to run and maintain. The fancier the set up the higher the cost. Not needed for something that works soooo well!

[INJAXN]

Wow, no posts since 2017. Is everyone getting AC these days?

I am bumping up an old thread as I am in search for an air cooler. I am at my home town this summer, temp here in Indore, can go as high as 47-48 degrees and my bed-room is on 1st floor of our 2 story home, which bears direct sunlight through out the day.

Not opting for AC as I will move back to my work city, Pune, once offices are fully functional.

So I am looking for a cheaper option than AC, and here I am looking for suggestions.

ps: room size is around 150 sqft.

[Akshay6988]

Originally Posted by INJAXN

Wow, no posts since 2017. Is everyone getting AC these days?

I am bumping up an old thread as I am in search for an air cooler. I am at my home town this summer, temp here in Indore, can go as high as 47-48 degrees and my bed-room is on 1st floor of our 2 story home, which bears direct sunlight through out the day.

Not opting for AC as I will move back to my work city, Pune, once offices are fully functional.

So I am looking for a cheaper option than AC, and here I am looking for suggestions.

ps: room size is around 150 sqft.

Get one of those desert coolers in small size. They're way better in cooling than usual air coolers. Although they make more noise but hey you need cool room to sleep well

[DIY410]

Originally Posted by INJAXN

Wow, no posts since 2017. Is everyone getting AC these days?

I am bumping up an old thread as I am in search for an air cooler. I am at my home town this summer, temp here in Indore, can go as high as 47-48 degrees and my bed-room is on 1st floor of our 2 story home, which bears direct sunlight through out the day.

Not opting for AC as I will move back to my work city, Pune, once offices are fully functional.

So I am looking for a cheaper option than AC, and here I am looking for suggestions.

ps: room size is around 150 sqft.

Whats the humidity in your place, air coolers work when humidity is low, should be less then 60%. They are useless in the night when the humidity will be very high.

[ariesonu]

Originally Posted by INJAXN

I am bumping up an old thread as, no posts since 2017. Is everyone getting AC these days? I am in search for an air cooler. I am at my home town this summer, temp here in Indore, can go as high as 47-48 degrees and my bed-room is on 1st floor of our 2 story home, which bears direct sunlight through out the day.
Not opting for AC as I will move back to my work city, Pune, once offices are fully functional.
Ps: room size is around 150 sqft.

There is no such thing as good air cooler. Desert cooler can be TOO big for your use & requires a window fitting like AC.
As per your room size, the best bet is TOWER shaped cooler which you should place near an open window at night.

Taking learnings from my Chandigarh ancestral house, which is now our holiday home, we have a permanently fitted desert cooler in one of our rooms and my father had ensured that there is an extended window shade over it so that it does not heat up like our cars & then it is of no use as it will throw moist warm air into the room.
Hence if you choose desert cooler (to save floor space inside the room), pls also ensure that there is shade (permanent or temporary) over the cooler as any cooler lying under direct sunlight in Indore summers will be of no use.
The material used in grills is of utmost importance but do not use wood shavings, instead use vetiver (Khus) roots one.

Regards.

[Chetan_Rao]

Don't bother with the tower-style indoor coolers available these days, from brands like Symphony.

Their entire model range uses a ridiculously low-powered water pump, which also struggles to handle salty borewell water and clogs often. I bought one a couple years ago and the motor packed up before getting through a single summer.

[INJAXN]

Originally Posted by DIY410

Whats the humidity in your place, air coolers work when humidity is low, should be less then 60%. They are useless in the night when the humidity will be very high.

I checked online and looks like it is less than 60% throughout the summer.

Originally Posted by ariesonu

There is no such thing as good air cooler. Desert cooler can be TOO big for your use & requires a window fitting like AC.
As per your room size, the best bet is TOWER shaped cooler which you should place near an open window at night.
Regards.

Fitting something permanent is something I want to avoid as it will have a bad effect on the elevation of the house. I will be going to the market to see what all options I have. Most likely a tower cooler as you suggested.

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

Don't bother with the tower-style indoor coolers available these days, from brands like Symphony.

Their entire model range uses a ridiculously low-powered water pump, which also struggles to handle salty borewell water and clogs often. I bought one a couple years ago and the motor packed up before getting through a single summer.

Yeah, I have one such cooler in Pune. Until few years ago, there was no need of an AC in Pune, so that was enough. But for past 3-4 years temp are soaring high and that cooler is just not enough.