- Central Air Conditioner Pre-Cooling System
- Cuts AC Energy costs by up to 30%
- Installs in minutes with no tools
- Eco Friendly: Reduce your carbon footprint
- "one of the most cost-effective and simple ways to save energy"- Ed Begley Jr
2/5/2012: product review updated and rating cut to 1 star today... see end of review.
this product DOES work to increase AC efficiency... there was a Tulane study of it that measured it's heat transfer increase at the condenser at 40% and 70% humidity ... the short story being that there was at least a 70% increase of heat transfer on the coils.
Another reviewer stated that if you have a humidity over 40% this is not effective.... per the Tulane study that is false... this is a water pre mister for standard residential Freon type AC units... it works by wetting the fins on the gas condenser so that the water evaporation increases the condenser transfer to the air... it is not using water as the primary evap mechanism... his statement was correct for water coolant vs gas... just about every house in the USA has gas / Freon so this is a good product for them regardless of location.
So it does increase heat transfer to the air at the condenser by >70%.... this means that if the rest of your AC system is in good shape... air handler temperature should go down (at the exit, not the vents necessarily), the cycle time should go down creating more off time, and the amp draw at the compressor should go down reducing the electric bill in addition to the increase in off time.
This product has two significant flaws....
1 cheap construction.... if you are a capable do it yourself-er... shouldn't be a big deal to maintain
2 susceptible to hard water... not easy to tell how hard is too hard... only way is to try it and monitor for clogs and calcium build up on the fins... if lime away or the like doesn't get the fins clean, take it off... not worth a condenser replacement.
so for a guy who knows what he's doing... it can make a big difference even in a swamp....
AFTER SUMMER FOLLOWUP:
I used this product through Jul, Aug, Sep, and Oct to the 21st with the following result:
1in FPL's South Florida district, over the 3.75 month period, I saved about 28% of my electric bill compared to the pro rata 2 month period of May Jun.... total 3.75 month savings about $410.....
2the jets clogged from hard water and required a cleaning about every 6 weeks
3there was no appreciable build up of hard water deposits on the condenser fins, but it will be an eventual issue
4the base kit was far too small with 3 jets to treat the whole condenser, it will require at least 1 expander kit, but it did a good job anyway
5the flapper valve had 2 defects: it made a loud squeaking sound when running at temperatures below 85..... and it leaked all the time..... this is a major product defect
overall.. .the product works as advertised, but considering the price, the manufacturer should provide a quality flapper valve and make it clear that the misters that come with the kit are only for the smallest installations....... if someone else comes out with a quality product, these guys are going to lose their entire business....
FINAL UPDATE:
Today, the leaking flapper valve KILLED my condenser fan, repair cost will be about $200 doing it myself with no AC on superbowl sunday in south florida with 82F and 90% humidity expected.... The product saved well over $200 in electricity, however the hassle of water penetrating the fan housing (which it mounts directly on top of) is HUGE. Accordingly I'm lowering the product rating to 1 star.... It is a GREAT product theory... but until someone comes out with a quality product and doesn't market cheap garbage like this... save your money and hassle....
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This is such a ridiculously simple concept, I can't believe it's not just everywhere. It was VERY easy to install.
One neat thing is that it doesn't spray water all the time, just when the a/c is on. I don't know what the effect of moist air will be over time I don't want mold but the A/C works just fine in the rain, so I'm not really worried.
After two weeks, looking at my own meter, it doesn't look like my A/C bill is much better, but it's tough to say just yet. I'll post updates later once my bills come in.
August update: it looks like my electric bill is indeed going to be lower, though I think it's by about $50. However, the flap that turns the water on when the A/C is on, and is supposed to turn the water off when the A/C is off, is getting stuck, so it's frequently misting 24 hours a day... causing me all sorts of issues, and running up my water bill to boot. It's a good thing that we're reaching the end of summer because I was about to turn it off anyway.
[Update 7/2/12]
After leaving this thing out over the winter, it froze and busted. So I bought a new one, and noticed that they had made some modifications. First, the instructions say not to leave it out over the winter because freezing will damage the seals on the device. I hadn't noticed that before... but the zip ties would make it pretty tough to get off and put back on, which is part of the reason I had left it out there. For the new device, they took away the zip ties and replaced it with a sticky pad so you can cement it to your A/C. Huh? That's even worse!!! One word: VELCRO. You want me to take it in during the winter, make it easy to remove and stick back on.
They also changed the filters so they're no longer screw on, but instead you have to cut the cable and feed it through. Not a big deal, just meant I couldn't use my old spare filter.
Regardless, the pressure regulator someone suggested in the comments seem to be working. It's spraying water when it should, it's not spraying when it shouldn't.
The only problem is that my electric usage is significantly higher than it was this time last summer, by about 33%. And that's after I cut my bill by replacing fridges, etc. AND put insulation all over the house. (That insulation is doing a great job keeping the cold in and the heat out: my A/C goes off far less frequently than my neighbors'.) I haven't actually seen the reported average temp for June 2012, but while there have been a few VERY hot days, I'm not willing to place money on the idea that the average temp is really all that much higher.
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Great with PURE water but a horrible idea if you have any hard water at all. I assumed the cartridge filter that came with the unit would filter out the calcium & lime from our hard water. It did not! Within two weeks, my condensing unit fins had started to lime up and I could tell the fan was having to work harder to pull the air through the unit. I have tried using CLR, LimeAway, and other similar products to no avail. I have since taken the Cool'N'Save off my air conditioner and I'm about to throw it in the trash. I have a feeling the manufacturer will find a reason to blame me for the problem as I doubt they will buy me a new condensor. Worse case scenario, I may have to replace my complete A/C system because I tried saving "up to 30%" on my cooling bill. Rough estimate for a new A/C is between $2500-3500. Is it worth it to risk that?
NOTE! One thing for the potential user of this to remember is that most outside water spouts do not get softened by a water softener!
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Yes, it's very easy to install. One of the misters was clogged but there was an extra in the box so I just replaced it. I cannot tell you if my electric bill has gone down because usage is up this month and next as they are the hottest months in Texas. It is very humid here and the problem I'm having is that the misters do NOT STOP when the a/c is off so I have water pooling around the a/c and creating a muddy mess near the foundation. I'm hoping the company can tell me how to fix this. The problem is that when the a/c turns off, the paddle does not go ALL the way down so the misters keep misting......all the time. I've had the product for about a month but it's been turned off the past two weeks because of the problem. I read the paper from Tulane U. and the bottom line is that it works better in dry hot climates.
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The system works pretty well, but the flapper switch didn't shut off completely. This was fixed by adding steel washers until it does shut off now.
A suggested improvement would be to include a pump to boost the pressure so the mister would work better.
