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Home Design Guides: Climate control, Cooling

9 cooling tips and tricks

9 cooling tips and tricks

Is your home too hot? Spending too much on air conditioning? Here are 9 simple tips to help you keep your home cooler when the mercury's up.

Calculate heating and cooling costs

How to calculate heating and cooling costs

Heating and cooling can be very expensive, and knowing what you're paying to use your heaters and air conditioners is a good way to rein in your usage. Here's how to calculate your costs.

What is passive design?

What is passive design?

Ever noticed that some houses are cooler or warmer than others without relying heavily on powered cooling or heating devices? This usually comes down to clever design...

6 common aircon problems

6 common aircon problems

Is your aircon dripping water? Not blowing cold air? Perhaps it's making funny noises or blowing out a bad smell? There are a few different things that can go wrong with an airconditioner. Find out how to deal with them.

How to choose an air conditioner

Picking the right air conditioner for your home’s very important. The air conditioner you choose can either be an effective cooling solution, or a costly lesson in what not to do.

Types of air conditioners

Types of air conditioners

There are a surprising number of different types of airconditioners. Choosing the right one will make a big difference to how you cool your home.

Efficient air conditioning

Which cooling systems are most efficient?

If you need to artificially cool your home, it's well worth considering how much that'll cost, and what kinds of options you have. Air conditioners are effective, but they're also very energy hungry...

Heating and cooling management

Heaters and air conditioners can easily account for most of your energy consumption if you allow them to. Find out what you can do to minimise the need for artificial heating and cooling, and to reduce your consumption.

Fan

Different technologies to cool your home

Cooling technologies differ hugely in terms of their initial and running costs, environmental impact, and how effectively they actually cool the air in your home. What's right for your place?

Cassette air conditioner

Types of cooling

Cooling your home doesn’t necessarily mean installing powered air conditioning units.

Ceiling fans

Ceiling fans

Simple but incredibly effective and available in all shapes and sizes. Fans have been in use in some form or another for as long as humans have appreciated a breeze.

Evaporative air conditioners

Evaporative airconditioners or coolers

Evaporative coolers work by blowing air across wet elements to create a chilled breeze. These types of coolers are best suited to less humid climates.

Refrigerative air conditioner

Refrigerative air conditioners

Air conditioners are refrigerative coolers. While these aren't the most efficient coolers available, they are incredibly effective and provide excellent cooling in any climate.

Roof sprinkler

Roof sprinklers

Roof sprinklers spray roof surfaces with water, in an effort to cool the roof and therefore lower the temperature inside the house.

Solar cooling

Solar cooling

Solar cooling uses the sun's heat in one of several ways in order to improve airflow and help to draw heat out of the house.

Automated air conditioner remote

Automated controls and sensors for cooling

In conjunction with other home automation functions, your home can be set up so that cooling and shading are controlled automatically according to your needs.

Split system air conditioners

Split system air conditioners

Split system refrigerative air conditioners are popular because they are relatively quiet and are designed to effectively cool the sorts of areas you might find in homes.

Cassette air conditioner

Cassette air conditioners

Cassette air conditioners are ceiling mounted, and because of their considerable cooling capacity, are normally best suited to large living areas.

Ducted air conditioning

Ducted air conditioners

Ducted air conditioners are designed to cool entire houses. A cooling unit is typically mounted on the roof, and cool air is spread around the home through a network of ducts.

Geothermal heat pump

Geothermal heat pump systems

Geothermal heat pump systems are able to draw heat from the ground to use for cooling your home. Geothermal systems are expensive to install but very cheap to run.

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