Buzz
When purchasing an air cooler, you often receive complimentary dry ice, or if not included, sales staff usually advise purchasing it. So, what is dry ice, how to use it for air coolers, and what precautions should you take? Let's explore.
1. Dry Ice for Air Coolers - Essential Information
Dry Ice for Air Coolers is Not Pure Dry Ice
Dry ice for air coolers is a gel form, not the pure dry ice used for food preservation. This gel is a mixture of dry ice and water, creating an adhesive substance known as dry ice gel. When you get dry ice for your air cooler, you need to open the lid and add water before use. Dry ice gel has a lower temperature than water-made ice, ranging from -5 to -10°C, and provides longer-lasting cooling effects.
The Role of Dry Ice in Air Coolers
Air coolers have the advantage of water cooling, but on extremely hot days, this may not be sufficient. A great solution is using dry ice bags for air coolers. Dry ice in air coolers helps reduce air temperature by 2–3°C due to its deep and long-lasting cooling capabilities.
How to Use Dry Ice for Air Coolers?
Refer to your air cooler's manual. Some have a compartment for dry ice, while others require placing the dry ice bag directly into the water reservoir. When the dry ice loses its chill, put it in the freezer for a few hours to reuse it.
Note: Some air coolers lack a dry ice compartment and space in the water container. In such cases, remove the back cover, insert dry ice, close the lid, and use it as usual. It's effective but a bit cumbersome on scorching summer days.
Precautions When Using Dry Ice
Dry ice, made from CO2, is non-toxic but, due to its very low temperature, avoid direct contact to prevent cold burns. Keep it away from children and do not consume it. Do not store dry ice in a sealed container, as it releases CO2 during sublimation, posing a risk of a dangerous explosion.
However, dry ice for air coolers is relatively safe, with a temperature not as low as pure dry ice and securely stored in a plastic container. Nevertheless, tightly seal the container, keep it away from children, and minimize the risk of dropping or breaking the dry ice bag.
Pricing of Dry Ice for Air Coolers
This is probably a concern for many of you, right? The cost of pure dry ice is actually quite affordable, around 40,000 VND/kg. As for the gel dry ice used for air coolers, it has an average price of about 65,000 VND/pack. If you have a large air cooler, you only need to buy about 2 packs of gel dry ice to stay cool. However, if your home air cooler is small, just one pack of gel dry ice is enough.
With this information about dry ice for air coolers, I hope you won't have to worry too much about high electricity bills due to air conditioner usage this summer.
