Mar 22, 2010 03:18 PM
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The climate in NCR baffles me. Hardly a month ago I was shivering even under a blanket. Now it is hot, and my colleagues are saying that the summer is yet to start. Aw! So it is going to be hotter.
As the mercury started rising, I began preparing myself for the summer. I checked up what I need and came to conclusion that a desert cooler is a must to keep the temperatures down. So I checked all about swamp coolers, and about what is available in the market. After much googling, I realized that all the branded coolers have only one thing, the brand name and the airflow is not enough. Thus I came to the conclusion that the cooler will have to be an assembled one. My bedroom is a small 180 sqft one, and after much study, I decided on an assembled cooler with a fan of 500 mm sweep connected to a 180 watt, 3 speed motor. The fan and motor are from Khaitan and carry a one year warranty. The product is listed under cooler kits on the Khaitan website.
The fan and motor play the most important part in the performance of the cooler. The pump in this cooler is a cute little 18 watt wonder, having a plastic enclosure and fits in your palm. Even this puny pump has a year long warranty. The pump is just lying submerged in the water tank. The tank size is good at 65 litres, and it lasts for the full night and more. As the fan is quite powerful, there is good airflow, and more the airflow, the more water it is going to use.
The secret of any air cooler is that it should be fitted outside the room, to allow it to have fresh air to be drawn in. There should be a door or window kept sligtly open at the end opposite, or atleast far away from the cooler to allow air to flow out. Unlike an air conditioned room, which is kept totally closed, the room fitted with air cooler should have this opening to allow moist air to flow out. Otherwise, the room will become humid in no time, and one will start sweating.
The cooler is a bit big at 28” x 26” x 26”. It does occupy some space, but as I have fitted it outside the room, on the window, it does not eat into my room space. As it is with a metal body, you can’t call it light. I got a stand made to suit the cooler so that it fits just at the window properly. The cooler shop guy got a fabricator to my place to take the measurement at 6 p.m and I had the cooler installed by 8 p.m, with a freshly fabricated stand.
The performance is quite good, as it cools the room in less than 10 minutes. I have put it in service only yesterday, and had a good nights sleep yesterday.
