Evaporative cooling vs reverse cycle. Thoughts?

[b2tf]

After some opinions on who has what and what your preference is between the two systems. Our house has a full evaporative setup at the moment but the unit itself is quite old (20+ yrs) and needs quite a lot of work to bring it up to scratch in which case I think we are probably better off replacing it. The concern I have with that is that we are in an area that gets very humid during summer and evaps generally don't do much during humid weather, hence my consideration of a reverse cycle unit.

Have had the local AC places out to quote and they are telling us that the cost to replace the evap vs the cost for a 7.0kw R/C unit in the lounge (where we spend 90% of our time when at home) is very similar, so budget isnt really an issue in the choice. What I am wondering though is are the new evap units any better than what we are used to, or are we better off going R/C instead? Running cost isnt that much of a concern but I have been told that the R/C units are not something you would turn on and forget about, whereas you can let an evap run all day and not have a problem.

Curious as to who has what, would you recommend it etc.

[xisled]

If you have the ducks have you thought about refrigerated cooling. I am in Melbourne and parents spent about 11k for the house on this type of cooler. the unit sits in the backyard and in summer the house is like ice. Even on 36 plug days.

[b2tf]

Originally Posted by xisled

If you have the ducks have you thought about refrigerated cooling. I am in Melbourne and parents spent about 11k for the house on this type of cooler. the unit sits in the backyard and in summer the house is like ice. Even on 36 plug days.

The parents have this sort of system in their place and it is awesome but for $12k it would want to be. We're looking at more like $3k so as much as I would love to the budget wont quite stretch that far.

[jaydee]

We have both, the evap for hot dry days. When it gets humid we close off the living area (Kitchen, TV room) and put on the reverse cycle which is great. Then in the evening when it's cooled a bit we can turn on the evap for sleeping.
So you have to decide which is best for you and your conditions. If as you say you have mostly humid days then the reverse cycle is the go, plus you get heating.

[rag top]

Another vote for both... I did a thread on this a few yrs ago, and ended up with a split system. Wasn't happy with it's performance, and ended up with evaporative. Very happy with that. But how many humid days do you normally get each summer?

[csv8]

Evaporative are no good in high humidity areas...in QLD, reverse cycle are the unit to have,,,

[sgt_doofey]

Just remember, if you go the R/C route, then you'll only be cooling down that one room. What sort of temperatures do you get overnight and will the R/C allow you to sleep at night?
How has the evap coped for you in the past? Do you get many days where it isn't effective?
We have evap, but we're in Adelaide, so nice dry heat. We do have a split system in the kitchen/family room which we use probably once or twice over summer, but it doesn't cool down our bedroom.
Ceiling fans are another good thing to have. We turn the air con off over night and sleep with a ceiling fan on instead.

There is also this thread: http://www.fordforums.com.au/showthread.php?t=11244038

[Turboconvert]

I would have to disagree csv8, reverse cycle does not suit all qld, I live in Dalby and evap is far better to have here (the dry weather is a killer you know). But that is off the OP. Like what has been said, it all comes down to what people have said. If you have mostly humid weather, go to reverse cycle, and if mostly dry heat, stick to evap. If it is roughly a 50/50 mix (and buget permitts) I would imagine getting both would be good. Would also help resale value I supppse.

[duaned]

Reverse Cycle Ducted all the way, but obviously budget doesn't reach that far. We spent $16k (two story house) and went ducted both levels and it's fantastic. I also installed ceiling fans to use while sleeping instead of using the AC.
I would go the biggest Split System you can afford and do a small amount of work to the existing swampy as a backup for those non-humid days.

[outside]

as above ^^^ we had a split in the tv room only, worked its butt off trying to cool just that room, still stinking hot in the bedrooms at night and couldnt sleep at night.

we went and got a ducted system last summer and never looked back, cools the whole house almost instantly, well worth the $8k it cost.
but in saying that the summer this year so far has not been that hot so not sure how the power bill is going to be, but cannt be as much as leaving the poor little split running 24/7

[Ford_The_Win]

Why not just get a couple of those square refrigerated air conditioners that sit in the window sill? They are quite expensive to run but they only cost $200 these days and do a great job at keeping several rooms cool if you get a big one. When the summer is over just take it out of the window sill and put it in the shed.

[JG67k]

It's not just installation cost's to consider , our large evap is about
5c an hour to run , only the most humid of day's do we notice any
real diffrence to refrigerated , we had a wall split system for the first
five year's and it only cooled one room properly , we used to all move
in that room on hot night's , but since the swampy was put in
there's rarely a complaint , and the summer power bill is far less .

[Josh_XC]

Yeah, if you can live with only have 1 or so rooms cool go R/C, especially where you live, my parents bought a new evaporative system two years ago and it is terribile in wagga - the climate is to humid to have eveporative.

[naddis01]

When we built our house last year we went for ducted reverse cycle and a solar system on the roof. So we get a pleasant house all year round without massive bills. We are very happy with our choice. Evaporative wasn't even considered as a hate being in a humid room where it is cool but you still feel clamy. Then on the hot humid days when you really need it they don't work very well.

[EgoFG]

OK, different angle:

If R/C what are the relative cost and benefits for

Normal single phase
Normal 3 phase
single phase "Inverter"

We Know that "Inverters" are more economical than standard single phase, because there is less "Off and on" (electric motor uses most power at startup).
I had heard that the efficiency of three phase was also better than single phase.
One installer said three phase is about on par with "Inverters"

So does anyone know what the comparative efficiencies of these are?

(note I quote the tem "Inverters" because these motors do not use what is usually referred to in Sparky circles as an "Inverter" - I guess it is actually trailing edge trimming that these machines use)

[mik]

we had a 8 kw cooling 9 kw heating reverse cycle fitted about a month ago, have`nt really had much summer so far in melb to give it a good test, but the next 3 or 4 days looks like we`ll be getting a bit of summer heat, as far as set and forget this panasonic brand rev cycle has an auto temp feature, timer, eco navi, or is it patrol? one of those functions where it senses where you are in the room or others even if you move and will adjust the the air stream to your direction(have`nt really had time to try that one yet, the usual air swing, auto comfort, humidity control, probably more functions than i will use, most other brands probably have the auto temp function you would think.
the unit is pretty quiet, inside and out, on low fan speed you can barely hear it, even on high it`s not bad at all.
not sure on cost yet but it`s looking pretty good, the old box unit half the houses in the street lights would go dim when i turned the bugger on and when the thermostat cut in and out ,
the new invertor reverse cycle does`nt seem to be working hard at all even on full cooling, also the new unit does`nt dim the lights on start up or at any time that i have been able to notice, so with a bit luck power bill should be substantially less( but if you want to be cool who really cares),
as we speak i`m getting screams "i`m bloody freezing in the lounge", still finding the tempreture happy medium , on a couple of cool nights tried the heating out, it`s not too bad, does`nt throw out heat like a space heater but it warms up pretty quick.
there`s only one thing i miss from the old window/wall unit, i believe it`s the now outlawed gas the oldies used to run, the old box unit would just churn out freezing air,
i had a thermometer tied to the outlet, 5 degree air on a 40 degree day no problems, on setting 9 (still had one cooler to go but it would freeze up), it was very nice after coming into the house after being in 40 + degrees outside and stand in front of it for a few minutes.
the new ones coolest setting is 15 c which is not bad and it does have a bigger blower, so far pretty happy with the new unit.

[Zorba]

evap also wont cool as well as the reverse cycle.

we had 42 in adelaide yesterday, it it is still cool in our living area.

also, with reverse cycle you have the added benefit of a heater in winter.

[Trevor 57]

Bottom line.

Hot dry climates evaporative it good

Moist humid climates refridgerated is good

[Pub247]

We're in melbourne and have evapourative and over the last few days its doing a very good job ours was about 3.5k ducted installed and its great from going inside to outside you notice a massive difference . It may not be icey cold 19 degrees but its comfortable and thats what counts .

Having lived 15 plus years in QLD i have to say in a humid climate i dont think itd do **** all and a RC air con be the way to go.

[Bucknaked]

We have Evap at home. It works well, but there are a couple times a year where it doesn't do its job. But it's cheap to run, and I like the idea of having some windows open to circulate fresh air through the house.

I would like RC, but does ok.

[290v]

I live in Adelaide Northern subs Air force base near by is reading 40.6c in my house with reverse cycle is 27c and comfortable

[Trevor 57]

A mate just posted a pic of his thermometer on facebook and it is 48 in the sun here, we have evaporative and it is nice a cool inside

[charles_wif_xf]

Reverse cycle refrigerated here, outside temp is showing 39.1, inside its a comfortable 24 deg.

[Trevor 57]

The tip with evaporatives is to get them on early and hard.

[Pub247]

update here according to temp its 39 outside and 28.5 inside with the evaporative going

[AU Mont]

Originally Posted by Pub247

update here according to temp its 39 outside and 28.5 inside with the evaporative going

lol have you tried turning it off to see if theres any difference?

[Pub247]

Originally Posted by AU Mont

lol have you tried turning it off to see if theres any difference?

I've been outside and theres quite a difference

[Psi-Pop]

Running evap here and I love it, used to have a reverse cycle in old house.

In Melbourne where humidity isnt an issue I cant see why you need anything else. Doors are open and Im at a pleasant temp.

[Powdered Toast Man]

Arrgh, lucky sod Pub247, 37 inside my place at the moment!

I'll tell you right now I'd be happy for either air con systems atm.

[ZA-289]

We just got ducted evap fitted and its killer got an ove rsized unit so it cools our large home easily (40deg+ in Adelaide last 2 days) with your budget i would say its the way to go, its cheap to run you can leave it on all week without worrying about power bills, plus you don't need to shut the house up, PLUS it gives us a cool breeze under our verandah from the open windows