Evaporative Cooler Manufacturers

Kimray Inc. in Oklahoma City turns to technology to cut costs

But there's more to it than that.

“The installation of the thermal equalization units is a step toward providing a more comfortable working space for our 725 employees, being more environmentally responsible and minimizing our heating and cooling costs,” Kimray CEO David Hill said. “We expect the units to reduce our energy usage by 30 percent.”

Kimray expects to save about $117,000 a year in heating and cooling costs, allowing the company to pay off the new equipment in a little less than two years.

Hugh Sauer , Kimray's facility maintenance supervisor, said installation of thermal equalizers — free-hanging fans that force air to flow in columns rather than swirling it around — will make it easier to control the temperature in some of the company's cavernous metal buildings.

He said the ceiling in Kimray's 95,000-square-foot assembly building is 22 feet high, so it's difficult to keep it cool in summer or warm in winter.

Thermal equalizers mounted just below the ceiling push cool air from the building's evaporative coolers toward the floor, while exhaust fans remove hot air that rises toward the roof.

In winter, the nine-pound units can mix the heat that rises into the air.

“It's not perfect,” Sauer said, “but it's a lot closer than it was before. We have less of a temperature difference to change.”

The thermal equalizers will make Kimray's heating and cooling systems operate more efficiently, without drawing too much electricity.

Sauer said each unit needs only 35 watts of electricity, less than most standard lightbulbs. The units can plug into a regular electrical outlet.

Kimray started installing the units in December. They will be in almost all Kimray buildings.

Sauer said the thermal equalizer project began after CEO Hill talked to a boyhood friend who works for RM Energy Inc. , a Colorado -based company that specializes in energy conservation.

He said Hill was intrigued by the company's work, so Kimray tried one of its thermal equalizers last fall.

The test was successful, so Kimray officials turned to consultants from RM Energy to help figure out the best way to cut energy costs.

Sauer said the project will make Kimray eligible for tax reductions and LEED (leadership in energy and environmental design) credits.

Green Building in Denver: Praise for Swamp Coolers (in Denver)

We've got a bit of a heat wave going in Denver right now, so I felt compelled to brag a little about my $400 air conditioning system.  If you look at this photo closely, you can see that the temperature of the top floor of my house was 59F this morning, after running the A/C all night.  Doesn't this seem wasteful?  After all, the EPA recommends a 76F setting for your air conditioner. Well, no, it isn't.  My A/C is actually an evaporative cooler which is really just a ventilation fan that passes the ventilation air (3500cfm in this case) through a water-soaked pad.  It costs me only $0.80/day (7 kwh/day) to get my house this cold during 90F weather.  What many folks don't understand, however, is that when it's hot (over 86F), you shouldn't run the thing during the daytime.  It should be off from about 9am to about 8pm, with the windows in the house shut tight.  Apparently the swamp cooler manufacturers don't understand this either, or they'd be selling controls with timers at Home Depot.

we use an attic fan at night, because the night air is almost always already cooler than the house, so we don't need a swamp cooler at that time; however our old house is not (until we spend several thousand dollars) well enough insulated to stay cool through the day; so we have a window-mounted swamp cooler on the east side of the house; it is used on hot afternoons (when the sun is not beating on the pads) and keeps the house in the low 80s until it cools down outside 86F is the magic number for many houses because if the house is 72F and it's 86F outside, turning on the cooler will actually heat up the house much faster than it will if you just keep everything shut up tight. You may find that it feels good to have fast moving air sweeping through the house (which it does), but if you're not home, that effect is useless, so keep the cooler off. Your ceiling fans are better for creating that effect because the windows are closed. He received a BS in Engineering Physics from the Colorado School of Mines in 1977. During the country's first Solar Era, he received an MS in Mechanical Engineering and Solar Technology from CSU (1979) After involvement in hundreds of solar thermal systems in the early 80's, he received several product design patents. The focus of this blog is low and zero energy home design and construction for Denver.

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