Cooling Pads are a significant component in an evaporative Air Cooler. The air cooler works on the principle of cooling the outdoor air, which passes through these water-saturated cooling pads, thus making the water evaporate with passing dry air. The cooling pads are instrumental in continuously providing a natural and energy-efficient cooling of the air, albeit, more effective in low humidity areas.
The cooling pads need to be changed and replaced after a certain amount of time. Without the timely change of cooling pads, the efficiency of cooling gets adversely affected. However, the frequency of replacement depends on the quality as well as the type of cooling pads being used.
COOLING PADS – TYPES:
The two variants of cooling pads used for Air Coolers across the world, and across numerous brands are Wood Wool and Honeycomb cooling pads. Both these cooling pads have their distinct advantages as well as disadvantages. The Honeycomb pads offer a great cooling experience in humid climates and especially in the coastal areas; however, the performance of wood wool cooling pads is far greater in dry climates and hot regions of the country.
PROS AND CONS OF HONEYCOMB COOLING PADS
Honeycomb cooling pad has water retention compartments, much similar to beehives, which elevates the water retention capacity, and hence the hot outside air transforms into cool humid air very quickly. These pads offer efficient cooling for a sustainable and longer period. One more advantage of honeycomb cooling pads is their better appearance. Most of the branded coolers these days have honeycomb cooling pads in their air coolers as these pads demand less maintenance and can last longer.
However, the con or deterrent with Honeycomb cooling pads are:
- They are very expensive. They are therefore used mostly by those who can afford high-end air coolers and not preferred by people with a humble budget.
- they emanate offensive odour in the initial stage, which can be an irritant as well.
PROS AND CONS OF WOOD WOOL (ASPEN) COOLING PADS
Wood wool cooling pads are made from splinters of wood, which are cut from the logs, and are arranged in the form of grass. These are also called ASPEN cooling pads. The small splinters of wood in wood wool pads adsorb circulating water and quickly transform the passing hot dry air into cool humid air. The Wood wool or Aspen cooling pad has a great cooling efficiency in dry and extremely hot areas, which are mostly in Central or across North India, and are therefore mostly used in those regions. It may be also noted that the Aspen cooling pads are economical and therefore are within the reach of every person buying an air cooler with a pocket-friendly budget.
Wood Wool cooling pads give a reasonably good cooling effect, if measured independently and coupled with the fact that these are economical and still very widely used in personal home air coolers, hence are still widespread in the market. However, the only con with Aspen pads is that they demand more frequent/yearly replacement for maintaining sustained performance and cooling efficacy.
DURABILITY AND MAINTENANCE
Maintenance of both the air cooler and the cooling pads at regular intervals is directly proportional to the durability and continuous cooling efficiency at the optimum level.
The cooling pads need to be periodically cleaned with water and vinegar in a 1:1 ratio. It is advised to replace the wood wool cooling pads every year, however, honeycomb cooling pads need replacement once in 3 years.
Also, It is prudent too to call in the maintenance people to check on the motor damage, or any damage on the cooling coil and water leakage, if any. The damaged and defective components need to be replaced when needed to ensure the proper and continuous functioning of the air coolers.
SIZE AND THICKNESS OF COOLING PADS
Once you have selected the type of cooling pads, it is very important to understand the size and thickness of pads. For every cooler, there is an optimal balance for the size and thickness of cooling pads in line with the size and type of fan used.
The air coolers with bigger and 3 sided cooling pads will offer better cooling compared to the coolers with a smaller and single-sided cooling pad. Also, the air coolers having cooling pads of higher thickness offer better cooling efficiency compared to the coolers with thin pads.
CONCLUSION:
To buy air coolers online and to choose the best of air coolers in the online market place, either for personal use or the high-end desert coolers, everyone needs to do thorough research on the innumerable models available across multi-brands, features, components, and of course, the permissible budget. While Honeycomb pads for Air Coolers provide the best cooling efficiency but only in the humid climate. Aspen or Wood Wool Cooling pads are preferred in dry and hot areas for their cooling efficacy as also being economical and suitable for low budget reach by consumers.
