June 19th, 2020 by Sarah Miles

Air coolers are fairly low maintenance cooling systems, especially compared to air conditioning units. However, just as any appliance will always perform best if it’s looked after well (especially those that use water), air coolers will benefit from some regular cleaning.

Don’t worry though, it’s nothing too taxing! The areas of your air cooler to focus on are those that predominantly come into contact with water, namely the water tank and the evaporative pad.

It’s useful here just to explain how air coolers work: they operate in a similar way to a fan (using the air from the room) with the addition of water to augment the cooling process. An absorbent pad soaks up water from a tank. The fan then takes air from the room and passes it over the pad, which cools it. Because water can degrade quite quickly, these parts do need to be kept clean.

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Turn the machine off before removing parts.

Cleaning the water tank

To clean the water tank, simply remove it, just as you would to fill it, empty it of any water inside and give it a clean with a neutral detergent and clean water. Wipe over with a clean cloth, refill with clean water (assuming you plan to use the air cooler again) and insert back into the unit. It’s a good idea to do this every day if the weather is particularly warm and you’re using it a lot.

Clean the evaporative pad

First, remove the pad from the unit. Models will vary so refer to manufacturers’ guidelines, but some, like MYLEK air coolers, are easy to use because you just have to unscrew the back. You can then remove the pad. Clean it with a brush using clean water and washing up liquid and rinse thoroughly. If you plan to use the air cooler that day you don’t even need to let it dry first, simply put it back into the unit and screw the back on. You can then use it straight away.

Keeping these parts of your air cooler clean will allow it to keep the air quality fresh and also aid the longevity and performance of the unit.