The evaporative cooling systems are highly popular as user-friendly, economical, and reasonably budgeted machines. Moreover, they are quite effective in lowering down the temperatures in dry areas and hence are also called swamp coolers. These systems are of various types like the direct evaporative cooling system, the indirect evaporative cooling system, and the two-stage evaporative cooling system. But one thing is common amongst all of them, and that is the use of water which makes the periodic maintenance of these systems a mandate. Here are some interesting things you must learn about cleaning and maintaining your evaporative cooling system in order to enjoy the cool air coming off with a good health.
EXTERNAL CLEANING
Never neglect the exterior of the cooler. The cool air containing moisture creates a coat of deposits containing salts and minerals with the evaporating water droplets everywhere. The exterior of the machine is no exception and gets the layers of dust and deposits. This should be wiped clean often so that your cooler looks fresh and does not attract moulds, mosses, and microbes. A soft wipe using a soft washcloth is good enough for cleaning, and you need not use chemicals on it. Exposure to sunlight often discolours the external body of the cooler, and hence you should avoid this.
THE COOLING PADS NEEDS PERIODIC REPLACEMENT
The cooling pads in the cooler should be ideally replaced at the end of the summer. And in case this was not done, the pads need a check and change before the commencement of the next dry and hot spell. And during this check and replacement, you must look for cracks in the cooling pad frame. The frame must be pulled out washed and cleaned thoroughly after removing the pads, and then new cooling pads should be fitted. When you wash well, the retainer and the frame get cleaned of deposits, dirt and scales, and gets fresh again. When you fit the frame with the new cooling pad, then ensure that there are no gaps in between the frame, retainers, pads, and the evaporative cooler machine.
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WATER TANK CLEANING
The water tank accumulates a lot of deposits from the standing water, and the deposits may form scales too when you are using hard water. Hence, the tank must be cleaned once or twice a year by rinsing well. You may use soap water to rinse it well and flush it a few times.
WATER LEVEL CHECK
When using an evaporative cooler, you must frequently check for the optimum water level in the tank while the unit is running or operational. The tank should be filled to the indicator mark, and yet the water level should be a little below the top of the tank.
WATER TREATMENT WITH TABLETS
Water can be treated for both hardness and freshness using water treatment tablets. And some evaporative cooler manufacturers mention this clearly in their maintenance guide to such treatment methods. Hence, you may use this to freshen up the water from hardness, soluble salts, bacteria and bad odour.
When not in use, do not forget to turn off the system, and unplug the power cable. This ensures safety and longevity too. Also, you must use germ-killing solvents to clean the inner surfaces, fans and blades of the cooler, so that you don’t get cool air containing germs, allergens and microbes. When you are buying a unit, do check its features like exhaust, water consumption, humidity and temperature regulation, make and material etc. There are dedicated evaporative cooling installer services who can suggest you the right kind of cooler for your use.