A hot tip on evaporative cooling

THE sun is here, it’s heating up and pet owners are checking the weather daily.

Now seems like a great time for us at Property Owners to put out a helpful PSA about something that causes damage to homes every summer, all across the country – evaporative cooling.

Don’t get us wrong: when used correctly, evaporative cooling is an efficient, cost-effective and eco-friendly cooling solution, but so many people are using it incorrectly.

If you want to fast track your property to a state of decay – complete with bad smells, mould and peeling paint – then by all means, you do you. But if you have evaporative cooling and would like to
maintain a nice home, read on.

Unlike regular cooling, which dries out the air in your house, evaporative cooling actually puts more moisture into the air, which makes for a fresher and healthier environment in your home. But the mistake that many people make is to close the windows.

We get it, it seems counter-intuitive, and with traditional aircon, closing the windows is definitely the way to go to keep all of that manufactured cool air in your home.

Evaporative cooling works differently: it takes warm air from outside, cools it down using water and then pushes the fresh air through your home and back out of the windows, keeping a cycle of cool air entering and hot air exiting the house. Without the open window, the moisture that is brought into the home has nowhere to exit, so it clings to the walls and starts to rot your home: yuck!

Each system requires a different amount of open window space, depending on the cooling capacity of your system (refer to your system manual to find the right balance, for a cool and healthy home).

Over the years, we have seen the damage caused to homes by people who misunderstood how to properly use evaporative cooling. So if your investment property has this type of cooling, it is hugely important that you (or your property manager) communicate to the tenant how to effectively use the system to avoid large maintenance bills down the track.

If you’re looking for a managing agent that’s looking out for you and your property, email [email protected] or phone 5223 1657.