Air coolers are becoming more popular as people see a “hack” to increase their efficiency during hot summer months by using ice inside the unit. Many companies in this area have shared information as to how this hack works, and where it may fail.
One of the big selling points of using an ice hack inside of an air cooler is to create a more “mini air conditioning” unit; however, experts from many of these companies such as Voltas and Crompton have provided guidance indicating that one of the only times an ice hack will work properly is if you use it with the correct type of cooler and how you add the ice to the cooler.
Air cooler hack explained: how ice boosts air cooler cooling
As per reports, some air cooler brands have ice chambers designed specifically to hold ice; therefore, when the ice is in the ice chamber, it acts like an additional “super cool” surface, causing the pads to be colder than they typically are, which means that the final cooling temperatures will be significantly lower than normal.
According to Crompton, when there is ice added to the ice chamber, the pads are cooled to an additional temperature and when they are in contact with the air, then the pads will provide significantly cooler air; therefore, if you use ice in an air cooler that is specifically designed for ice, the cooling effect will be more like an air conditioner than an air cooler alone.
Air cooler working: why air cooler cooling depends on evaporation
It is crucial to grasp the way an air cooler operates to fully understand the hack involved in cooling air. Rather than working on gas like an air conditioning unit, an air cooler utilises the evaporative cooling process to cool down the air.
When an air cooler utilises hot air passing through water-soaked pads within the unit, the process of evaporative cooling occurs. As the water evaporates and cools the air, this process cools the resulting air that is blown back into the user’s room. The addition of ice will enhance this process through the lowering of the water and pad temperature.
Air cooler warning: too much ice can reduce air cooler efficiency
Although the hack seems to be a great idea, companies have cautioned against the trick. Crompton has stated that by adding too much ice, the evaporative cooling process within the air cooler will slow down and, in effect, the cooling of the air will be greatly reduced instead of being improved.
As a result, if the process of evaporating water (cooling) is slowed down, then the quality of the air that the air cooler produces will be diminished. Therefore, using too much ice when cooling air could potentially backfire rather than help.
Air cooler limitation: not every air cooler supports ice usage
In conclusion, Voltas has indicated that whether or not you can use ice will depend on your air cooler’s manufacturer and the design of the product.
Ice is often used in air-cooler units, but some models do not include an ice chamber or are not built to handle the pressure of melting ice, this may affect performance or even cause damage to the air-cooler unit.
There is a smart way to use ice in an air-cooler unit to improve cooling with the ease of a few hacks. However, if you overuse ice or use it with the wrong air-cooler unit, you could create inefficiencies in operation.
Khalid Qasid is a media enthusiast with a strong interest in documentary filmmaking. He holds a Master’s degree in Convergent Journalism from AJK MCRC. He has also written extensively on esports at Sportsdunia. Currently, he covers world and general news at NewsX Digital.
