Breezair evaporative coolers on Phoenix Arizona top of roof

Evaporative cooling system

All you need to know

Evaporative cooling system for your business

The benefits of evaporative cooling systems are plenty. There’s never been a better time to invest in an evaporative air conditioner, which is simple to maintain and operate and offers superior product performance. With energy prices escalating and European summers typically involving heat waves, evaporative air conditioning offers a significant and increasing edge on traditional air conditioning, when it comes to energy efficiency, healthier air flow, performance.

Evaporative cooling is becoming the most efficient option when cooling large areas, especially industrial and commercial spaces. Air conditioning is often not an option, because the capital and running costs would be prohibitive.

Cooling with water!

They do not use any sort of chemical refrigerants to cool the air: R718 is the only refrigerant used in evaporative cooling systems, that is WATER!

Evaporative air cooling uses between up to 87% less energy than conventional A/C and brings in 100% fresh outside air. That all adds up to very responsible environmental and energy saving characteristics.

However, there are common misconceptions about evaporative cooling. Sometimes building managers prefer not to opt for this technology just because it is too good to be true. Let’s explore the main objections and try to understand a little bit more.

Common misconceptions about Evaporative Coolers:
humid climates like Northern Europe and coastal areas

Evaporative cooling systems are based on water evaporation. This means that cooling performance is impacted by outdoor relative humidity.

Generally speaking, the drier is the outdoor air, the better is the evaporative coolers’ performance. However, since Seeley International evaporative cooling units are very efficient, they can guarantee comfort cooling even in humid climates. In fact there are plenlty of evaporative coolers installations in Northern Europe, one for all Belgium, which is normally considered very humid. All those units are performing extremely well and business owners are very keen to replicate their investment in other premises.

Same happens with coastal areas: Valencia is a city near the sea in Southern Spain and we would think that evaporative cooling cannot work with such climate conditions. The truth is that many facilities managers and business owners have decided to install evaporative cooling in industrial plants, warehouses, workshops etc… It is all about choosing the right model, the right application and the proper extract system.

Temperature and humidity

It is also important to consider that humidity depends on the temperature. Specifically, during the portion of the day when temperatures are higher, relative humidity is lower. It is during these hot times that cooling is much more needed and it corresponds to the period when evaporative coolers work at their best (when relative humidity is lower). This time also correspond to working hours: this is why many companies decide to adopt evaporative cooling systems.

Evaporative coolers do not mist

Another very stubborn misconception is that evaporative coolers create airborne mist: nothing could be further from the truth. We should not confuse evaporative coolers with misting systems, as they involve a different technology.

Evaporative cooling system working principle is based on water evaporation and energy exchange. For this reason Direct Evaporative Coolers marginally increase humidity. But we need to think that temperature has dropped significantly and that human comfort is a combination between humidity and temperature.

Moreover, we need to remember that we are not only drawing air inside the building, but we are also extracting hot, humid, stale air from doors, windows or through mechanical extraction.

The air movement that is created into the building is in fact another point to be considered in terms of indoor comfort.
This is the reason why together with Temperature and Relative Humidity, Ventilation is a very important factor that has to be considered in the design of an indoor climate control system.

However, if humidity is still an issue, you can still opt for an indirect evaporative cooler, that decreases temperatures using water evaporation, but not adding any moisture to the air.

Indirect Evaporative Cooling

Evaporative cooling system, health and wellbeing

Evaporative air conditioners are excellent for health

  • They supply 100% fresh, filtered air into your building that is not recirculated, improving Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) of the space, supporting customer and staff well-being
  • Evaporative coolers also require mechanical extraction (or doors and window open, if we consider a small building) to operate. For this reason, if properly installed, they contribute to air dilution. Evaporative coolers never recirculate indoor air, meeting one of the main requirement from worldwide organizations to avoid viruses and germs circulation.
  • They remove unhealthy pollution from your indoor environment: stale air exits the building via windows, doors or extract system.
  • Evaporative cooling systems provide basic moisture that the human body needs; they can assist in reducing the effects of illnesses such as asthma.
  • They remove static electricity.

If you are curious to know how our products meet worldwide latest guidelines in terms of Indoor Air Quality, have a look at our latest article: BUILDING VENTILATION AND COVID-19 CONTAINMENT GUIDANCES

SPOT COOLING vs General cooling

Often, in large industrial buildings, there are locations inside the plant where heat is concentrated for a variety of reasons. It might be a furnace operation, part of a painting process, concentration of people or a cluster of injection moulding machines.

In all these cases, when you do not need to air condition the whole building, you only need that particular spot to be more comfortable. Spot cooling with an evaporative cooler can dramatically improve the conditions in a set location and the productivity of the plant. In the meantime it costs much less than refrigerated air conditioning. You can contact one of our representatives by clicking here for further information and advice on system design.

If you need to spot cool any of the hot spots in your factory or commercial building, you can opt for any of our Direct Evaporative Cooling solutions, Breezair and Coolair.

Breezair by Seeley International logo

Breezair by Seeley International

Breezair Features

Breezair by Seeley International offers full series of high performing and world leading direct evaporative coolers.

Whether you need cooling for medium or large commercial applications, industrial plants or in general large areas, award winning Breezair brand provides uncompromising safety, reliability, comfort and energy-efficiency.

Breezair is the world’s coolest, quietest and most energy efficient evaporative cooler: Seeley International uses its NATA laboratory to accredited tests results to substantiate superior performance against competitive products and systems.

Coolair by Seeley International logo

Coolair by Seeley International

Coolair Features

Coolair offers a series of cost effective fixed evaporative coolers ideal for industrial and commercial applications. Produced by Australia’s largest and most awarded air conditioning manufacturer, it offers the value for money to cool air at a low running cost, without compromising on quality.

Cost affordable solutions, energy efficiency, while having the same durable and reliable products offered by Seeley International.

Require a site survey, installation or service for evaporative cooling system? Click here to browse our network of distributors

Site survey for my commercial/industrial space

If you would like to learn how to lower temperatures in your commercial or industrial space, fill in the form and one of our representatives will contact you.

Our representatives can calculate how many units you might need, which model, elaborate a quotation and predict running costs.

Contact us

Installation and service near me

Evaporative air conditioning installation is completed by a qualified distributor or contractor. Contacting a reputable distributor is the best way to schedule an air conditioning installation to ensure you receive a comprehensive warranty, after-sales and service and for your peace of mind.

Distributors can assist in accurately estimating the unit capacity and best model suited for your business.

Find a distributor

Spare parts and service to evaporative cooling system near me

Evaporative air conditioner parts can be purchased from an approved distributor or contractor. Evaporative cooling pads are popular replacement parts that are simple to remove and can also be replaced by a qualified contractor. Be sure to stay on top of your maintenance plan to help optimize running efficiency and effectiveness.

Contact the distributor for your area to shop spare parts and perform maintenance. If your country is not in the list, you can contact us.

Contact us Contact our distributor

Frequently Asked Questions

Evaporative Cooling - Industrial Systems FAQs

Industrial evaporative cooling systems only use water to cool the air. Depending on the technology that we consider, water directly or indirectly cools the air. With direct evaporative coolers, hot outside air is drawn through a series of water-soaked cooling pads: the water evaporates and the heat in the air is absorbed, which lowers the temperature of the air. To learn how Direct Evaporative Cooling works click here:  Breezair Evaporative Cooling Europe.

With Seeley International indirect evaporative cooling units, water does not come in contact with the air stream, therefore no humidity is added to the airstream, reaching lower temperatures than direct evaporative cooling units.  To learn how Hyper-efficient Indirect Evaporative coolers work, click here: Climate Wizard Indirect Evaporative Cooling Europe.

Businesses can take advantage of 100% fresh outside air, with improved Indoor Air Quality (IAQ): this positively impacts on workers’ morale, health and productivity. For many industrial businesses, air conditioning is not a viable option, because in warehouses or industrial plants, the capital and running costs are prohibitive.

Evaporative Cooling could be the right solution because businesses can save up to 86% in running costs (in a location like Madrid, Spain1); plus, maintenance and installation are very simple to perform.

1. Based on Seeley International internal calculation.

Evaporative cooling units only use water to cool the air (no chemical refrigerants are involved in the process). They use far less electricity compared to refrigerated systems: that all adds up to very responsible environmental and energy saving solutions.

No matter how hot it gets outside, evaporative coolers use the same amount of power and still deliver 100% continuous fresh, cool air inside. This is in direct contrast to refrigerated systems, which require increasing amounts of power as outside temperatures rise. Evaporative cooler cost-saving capabilities actually increase, when the ambient heat is at its peak. At the same time, their performance also increases as temperatures rise – again, in complete contrast to refrigerated systems.

Plus, evaporative cooling units use 100% outside air, whereas traditional air conditioning systems keep recirculating the same stale air, to achieve cooling efficiency, thus negatively impacting on Indoor Air Quality.

In the commercial/industrial sector, hours of operation and environmental conditions often mean more regular servicing is necessary for the most efficient operation of your air conditioning unit(s). Always refer to your Owner’s Manual for scheduled service intervals. You can always contact us if you have more questions or reach out to your local distributor by clicking here.

Depending on the technology you will be choosing, our local partner (or Seeley International) will calculate the estimated number of coolers needed for your specific situation. For example, if you choose a spot cooling configuration, you might require less units than if you wish to cool the entire space. It also depends on the internal heat load you have in your industry.

We want to make sure your space is correctly sized with the right number of coolers, so do not hesitate to get in touch with us.

Absolutely yes. Running costs of Breezair TBS 580 evaporative coolers are up to 86% less than a standard air conditioning system (performing the same duty) in a location like Madrid. Some of our customers had to stop production because the heat was too high or machines tripping. Adopting an Industrial Evaporative Cooling system can improve productivity for all these situations.