Evaporative vs refrigerated cooling

In Australia’s ever-fickle weather, choosing a cooling system for your home can be daunting. No one wants to feel stuffed and sweltering inside their house in the extreme summer heat, so your choice of cooling is better settled sooner than later. 

Two contenders come top-of-mind: evaporative and refrigerated cooling systems. They’re both very powerful, so it comes down to what’s right for you and your family. Like most home-buying decisions, there are various factors to consider such as budget, eco-friendliness, climate, usage, and ongoing maintenance.

What’s evaporative cooling? 

Evaporative cooling is a central cooling system installed on the roof of your home and connected to a series of ceiling ducts or vents. The warm air from outside gets cooled as it passes through the moistened pads. Evaporation occurs. The cool air is then dispersed through the ducts in your home. Evaporative cooling works best in dry climates as the cooled air carries moisture and creates a feeling of humidity.

Benefits of evaporative cooling

• Fresh air circulation - Evaporative cooling circulates air which can trap and filter out allergens and harmful dust particles; the air is also never re-circulated as it comes from outside.
  
  
• Energy-efficient and cost-effective - Requiring electricity only for its fan and water pump, evaporative systems can be more than seven times cheaper to run than a refrigerated cooling system.
  
  
• Sustainable and eco-friendly  - Because an evaporative system uses less electricity to cool your home, it can reduce your carbon footprint by a long shot.

Other considerations

• Allergens - Windows need to be open for evaporative cooling to work and allow warm indoor air to escape. While the system itself can trap allergens, it may not be able to filter out everything entering through your windows. As such, it may be tricky to avoid all allergens. 

• Routine maintenance - If the system isn’t cleaned, the filters may get clogged and become less efficient in trapping allergens. If left for too long, it can start to breed bacteria and mould. Experts suggest cleaning the evaporative cooling system annually. 

• Reliance on outdoor weather - Evaporative cooling relies on the outside air, so you won’t have total control over the type of air that enters your home. This is why evaporative cooling is recommended for dry climates as it can exacerbate indoor humidity levels.
  
  

• Reliance on water - As evaporative systems rely on water to reach the filters for cooling, it’s good practice to be on top of your water consumption. Depending on your usage, the costs of your water bill may still turn out cheaper than your electricity bill if you had used a refrigerated air conditioner. 

What’s refrigerated cooling? 

Refrigerated cooling systems take in the warm air inside the room, cool it with refrigerant gases, and return cooler air into the room. Your refrigerator works the same way! The air re-circulates in this system, so windows need to be shut to keep the cool air in.

Benefits of refrigerated cooling 

• Suitable for all climates, all-year-round - Refrigerated cooling doesn’t need any outdoor air, so it can operate any time of the year. 
  
  
• Temperature regulation - You’re in charge of the temperature setting. You may also be able to achieve a cooler temperature with a refrigerated system -- crucial in Australia’s extreme weather conditions!
  

• Ducted zoning or split system - Depending on your needs, you can either choose to implement ducted zoning or a split-system. Through zoning technology, you can control the areas of your home that will receive cooling. This allows you to be smarter with your air conditioner use and save more money on electricity bills. A split system, on the other hand, can be installed in smaller and individual rooms -- perfect if you only use an air conditioner in certain areas of the house!

Other considerations

• More costly to run - Refrigerated systems depend on electricity to operate, so depending on how often you use it, your electricity bills may cost more. Common workarounds to make this system more cost-effective are zoning or solar systems. 

Regular maintenance - The re-circulation of air necessitates that the filters be cleaned out regularly. Experts recommend to clean or replace the dust filter screens in the indoor unit of a split-system bi-annually (or to do it more often if you live in a dusty environment).

Quick Recap

	Evaporative	Refrigerated
Climate	Hot and dry	All climates
Budget	Up to 7x cheaper than refrigerated systems	Can be more costly due to heavy reliance on electricity
Temperature Regulation	Relies on outside temperature	Full control of temperature setting
Maintenance	Annual	Bi-annual, or as needed
Eco-friendliness	More eco-friendly	Less eco-friendly due to heavy reliance on electricity

Factor in all these considerations before choosing between evaporative and refrigerated systems. Make a decision that can make you and your family comfortable in your home for many summers to come.