A/C substitute – Coolerado Cooler? – HMX
user-36575
| Posted in Energy, Heating & Insulation on
I’m wondering if anyone out there has any experience with a new cooling system named Coolerado Cooler (www.coolerado.com, I think) that utilized a new heat mass exchanger. Under the right conditions, it’s supposed to be 4X more efficient than regular A/C, and it doesn’t use any chemical refrigerate, just water. It also becomes more efficient as the temperature goes up. Sounds like the greatest thing since sliced bread, so I’m wondering why I haven’t heard much about it. There is a large industrial plant out east (Lockport, NY) that has installed a commercial version of this to cool 32,000 ft2.
So, anyone heard anything about residential installations?
Replies
I can see that it might be acceptable in dry climates, but it does no dehumidification at all.
I did notice that there was a map indicating where it would be most applicable, and as I remember it, most of the West (of the USA, which I think of as drier) was classified as "acceptable for all applications", but there were some places, mostly toward the SE portion of USA, that it was somewhat more restricted. I'm from Michigan, and I don't think swamp coolers are used here, but I would think that a NY climate would be similar to Michigan.
I'll read up on swamp coolers, but I'd still be interested if anyone has used this type of system or know someone who has one.
R,
"I can see that it might be acceptable in dry climates, but it does no dehumidification at all."It's a two-stage evaporative cooler where the cold air from the first stage wet pads is used to chill water going to the main heat exchanger. If the incoming air is dropped from 90F to 60F, that cools the water in the pipes which in turn cools the air. No water is actually transferred to the air entering the house because that air never crosses wet pads. The air in the house is dehumidified if its dew point is higher than the water temperature in the heat exchanger. In most of the areas where this unit will be installed, the humidity is around 20% or less in the daytime and no dehumidification is needed.Will it work in Houston TX? No, but it can cool any place the dew point is less than 50F and that is a pretty big area of the western U.S. This concept is not new and I believe there have been several companies duking it out over patent issues. I hope these guys can make a go of it because the technology can save a heck of a lot of electrical power compared to a standard A/C system.
Edited 7/23/2007 9:56 pm ET by TJK
So this is basically a miniature version of a commercial cooling tower. Only with the cooling tower they usually use the chilled water to chill freon, whereas here the air is chilled directly.(Speaking of which, why aren't cooling towers used for residential AC? Would combine the efficiency of this unit with the cooling power of freon.)
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
Yeah, the comparison to a cooling tower is a good one. The advantage of this type of cooler over a regular swamp cooler is on those days when the dew point creeps up above 40F. The regular swamp cooler can discharge 72F air, but the humidity can get as high as 70% and it starts to feel sticky. I live near Grand Junction, CO and there are only about ten days a year when a regular cooler can't produce comfortable air. We don't like it but it's something we can live with since it only costs about $1 a day to cool a 2600 SF house. Other places with higher humidity like Sacramento might see a big improvement from a two stage cooler.A lot of the new construction out here is using refrigerated A/C and local HVAC companies push it over swamp coolers because they can make more money from the installation and service calls. The new A/C systems are drawing so much extra power, our friendly utility is proposing a coal-fired power plant to run them. Now all those people will get to sit inside their perfectly conditioned homes and look out at the haze and pollution caused by the power plant. Ain't progress wonderful?
Not clear how it differs from a standard swamp cooler.
http://www.buildinggreen.com/press/topten2006/images.cfm
Looks like a new twist on a swamp cooler. Alleged to use less water than a traditional swamp cooler. I would expect that it can only work in a dry environment and that it would have some kind of freeze drain down that would need to be followed. I don't know of anyone that has used one in a residential application.
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"You cannot work hard enough to make up for a sloppy estimate."
From the US Dept of Eng report."Performance tests have shown that the efficiency of the Coolerado Cooler is 1.5 to 4 times higher than that of conventional vapor compression cooling systems, while it provides the same amount of cooling. It is suitable for climates having low to average humidity, as is the case in much of the western half of the United States. This technology can also be used to precool air in conventional heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning systems in more humid climates because it can lower incoming air temperatures without adding moisture."
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
Thanks, nice find. I must have been busy typing when you posted.
Just learned about this technology myself. There is a DOE study out on this, I believe. This is a multistage direct/indirect evaporative cooler system that is a high tech version of a swamp cooler. It is supposed to easily rival the SEER of a DX (refrigerant based) standard A/C system. So what's the downside? Not sure ... although the cost is similar to a DX system ... not cheap like the evaporative coolers. There are climate restrictions as hinted to in the responses ... make note of the applicable climates noted in literature. Not sure if there are maintenance issues or not ... anytime you have evaporative systems, you have the potential for maintenance issues.
We were considering it for some commercial applications. Generally, this looks like great technlogy. Keep your eyes peeled for the 'downside', but proceed w/ optimistic caution.
Mark Williams, HR, OR
Thanks for the comments. I haven't taken the time yet to closely read the website and associated articles, but it does seem interesting and I hadn't heard anything about it. It looks like it's going to take a while for the technology to be adopted...I have relatives in AZ, they might need a retrofit in a couple of years, might be a possibility...I'll keep looking for more information and articles.
Coolerado Cooler
Andrew,
I bought a Coolerado 5 ton unit but it is too humid where I live. These units are constrained by the humidity/wet bulb temperature. I am interested in selling this unit. It is almost new. I will give you a good price and a full/honest assesment about its strenghts and defects.
If you are interested please email me at [email protected]
Regards.
you might........
want to put a post in the Reader Classified folder as this thread is over 4 yrs old.
I'm not impressed
you basically turn your whole house into a duct with these things... every CFM you put in the house basically must leak out somewhere else. Compared to a typical recirculation AC system, that's a massive inefficiency.
If you compare to a very high electrical draw cooling system, this CAN still be more efficient... the SEER is very high, distribution draw is very low. However if you are using high efficiency fans on standard AC, or distributed fan coils, or basically anything that isn't just hammerring thousands of CFM though ducts willy-nilly, I find it very unlikely that the additional distribution efficiency of the coolerado will offset the hundreds of CFM of leakage required to get it to work.
it's certainly a complicated comparison to any other technology. I personally don't see many places where it makes much sense. You'd definitely come out ahead with any other ductless system.