 Stay cool, save cash
April 1st 2008
Want to cool 400m2 of mezzanine for the same kind of power it takes to boil a kettle plus an interest-free loan to buy and install the technology so that it effectively costs nothing? Then it might be worth looking into evaporative cooling. Brendan Coyne reports
The Bedouins were clever people. Find
an oasis, dip a blanket in the spring
and drape it across the front of the
tent to enjoy a spot of belly dancing without
getting hot and bothered: the desert air
cooling as it passes the blanket.
Millennia later the tents are now big
sheds, with savings to match. According to
EcoCooling, compared to refrigeration
equivalents, an evaporative cooling unit
(the modern day wet blanket) costs only a
quarter of the capital and mere tenth of the
running costs: pretty persuasive. Throw in
an interest free loan, so that, according to
technical sales director, Alan Beresford, it's
"genuinely cash neutral"
(that is, for SMEs of up to
250 employees and a £30m
turnover), those looking to
cool without being burnt
have the necessary
ammunition to convince the
overlords to sign the cheque.
At least that's the theory.
The problem, says Beresford,
is that while the logistics
sector encompasses many
lean and mean
organisations, in-house
building services engineers
are less common, and fear
of the unknown can prove a
stumbling block. But that
hasn't put off some big firms:
Clarks uses 12 EcoCooling units at its Street
warehouse to cool mezzanine floors and
keep staff productive; Stylo Barratt has
installed 15 units at its central DC; TESCO
uses the system to spot cool the battery
charging area at its Purfleet regional
distribution centre.
With mezzanines often the most costeffective
method of maximising available
space, Beresford says evaporative cooling
lends itself readily to the heat problems they
create. Retrofittable, the system and
installation cost per unit is within four
figures – far less than its traditional
counterpart, says Beresford. He also claims
EcoCooling has more installers and knowhow
than its competitors, with 35 installers
compared to the nearest competition,
which, he says, has two. "My installers
could turn around a 100 unit job in three to
four weeks," claims Beresford. "Their broad
knowledge base means we can help
customers through the installation and
compliance process. And alongside speed,
the system's modular nature means it is
simpler and lower cost."
Beresford says the system also lends
itself to pharmaceutical warehouses, which
to comply with MHRA guidelines must keep
products below 25°C. Even on the hottest
British summer's day, Beresford says the air
coming off the cooler is never more than
22°C: "When the air in this country gets
hot, its relative humidity is low, so the
latent heat of evaporation sucks energy out
of the air and cools it down." In essence, he
says it's like a good ventilation system
working on an April day.
Given the above, is it too stupid to ask
who should consider investigating the
technology? "Operations directors looking
to keep staff comfortable and productive;
operators with sensitive product; and those
looking to create space with a mezzanine
should consider evap cooling," says
Beresford. "Also anyone looking to replace
an existing piece of fridge equipment
wishing to reduce both costs and carbon
footprint."
How evaporative cooling works
Evaporative heat exchanging takes
advantage of the principles of latent heat of
evaporation where tremendous heat is
exchanged when water evaporates. It
makes use of the free latent energy in the
atmosphere. Compared to air-conditioning
which uses mechanical refrigeration,
evaporative heat exchanging operating cost
are 90 per cent less than air-conditioning.
EcoCooling Evaporative cooling allows
cool fresh air to circulate throughout a
building forcing the stale hot air to be
displaced out. Unlike air-conditioning which
operates with re-circulated air, evaporative
coolers operate on the principle of air
change and work as part of balanced
ventilation system. Most of the time
outside air can be used to cool buildings;
only on the hottest days does the cooling
system kick in to cool the air before it is
brought into the building.
Temperature drops of 15°C can be
regularly achieved with the air off
temperature always below 23°C in the UK .
EcoCooling systems can provide and
maintain a natural environment purging
odours and hot stale air and ventilating
with cool fresh filtered air by means of a
sophisticated control process which can be
linked if required to existing BMS systems
Safety: according to the company there is
no risk of Legionnaires' disease because the
water operates at low temperature and
doesn't create drops of aerosols: "Tens of
millions of units have been installed
worldwide with zero Legionnaires' cases
recorded," says Beresford. "We are now
installing unmodified standard coolers in
UK hospital trusts – and UK hospitals have
the toughest regulations in the world." More articles from EcoCooling (UK) Ltd: | 
