Air Group Australia

Air Group Australia (possibly WA's last appliance manufacturer) is launching a disruptive new technology: Coolerado humidity-neutral fresh air conditioning, the first ever to be available to consumers.

This breakthrough:

• Does not add moisture, does not dry the air
• Fresh air (not recycled)
• 90% less energy use (anyone can afford to run it)
• Costs less than a comparable refrigerated system
• WA manufacturer, technology innovation, exports
• Great for the environment (reduces power demand)

Coolerado is a hybrid, indirect evaporative system that does not affect humidity, based on patented Maisotsenko Cycle principle and available for sale in Perth now.

Watch it all in video (7 minutes)

Condition the air, not the humidity

Refrigerated air conditioning dries air out, aggravating many respiratory conditions. Evaporative air conditioning increases air moisture, which many people find uncomfortable. Maisotsenko Cycle air conditioning reduces air temperature but does not change the absolute humidity (moisture content) of the air. It is the only true air conditioning that does not deliver unwanted additional changes to humidity.

Fresh air is the only healthy air

Refrigerated air conditioning works by recycling the same air over and over, progressively reducing its temperature. Rooms have to be a sealed system. The air is stale and can carry from one desk to another. Maisotsenko Cycle air conditioning constantly delivers fresh, cool air - no recycling. There is no need to close windows and doors or restrict people movements to trap air, better suiting the WA indoor-outdoor lifestyle. And because it does not add or subtract moisture, Maisotsenko Cycle air conditioning can deliver a chilly cold, in some cases achieving temperatures colder than the theoretical enthalpy limit for a given ambient humidity

Up To 80% to 90% power savings

Maisotsenko Cycle does not use a compressor, it uses fan-driven evaporation to remove heat energy, transferring the temperature drop via a patented Heat and Mass Exchange (HMX) unit to the room air. The room air is never in contact with the evaporation process or with water, so (unlike with evaporative air conditioning) its natural moisture content is not changed.

Without a compressor, Maisotsenko uses up to 80% less electricity to run. It's cost effective for householders to run all day, gradually cooling the entire thermal mass of their home, creating a more stable, comfortable temperature that requires less cooling energy to maintain. This is the home air conditioning that even pensioners can afford to run.

State budgets to save billions

Peak demand for electricity to run domestic air conditioners is a critical problem that is pressuring the WA government to build more, capital intensive power stations and infrastructure just to service the few hours a year of peak demand. Australian state power generators estimate absolute peak power costs 100 to 150 times more to generate per unit than at other times. This power is sold at a massive loss,
which ultimately the state is funding.

Over a decade, across Australia, the economic benefit of converting all home air conditioning to Maisotsenko Cycle units will measure in the billions, including capital costs avoided and operating losses reversed. A proposed carbon price will amplify the savings.

One-step carbon targets

This is a practical, realistic way to meet carbon reduction targets: an 80% cut in peak power demand will impact directly on the amount of coal we have to burn to meet demand. Initial carbon targets might be met through this one innovation, if widely adopted.

Greener than green: never pay for air conditioning again

A Maisotsenko Cycle unit has such low power consumption, a whole of home unit can be run directly from solar panels with zero ongoing environmental impact or energy cost. During the day it can run direct from panels, achieving sufficient cooling of a building mass to last through the night in most cases. With a feed in tariff system using the grid like a virtual battery, owners will be able to run a standard system 24/7 with zero net power use. This is a real way for individuals to make a personal difference to global warming - while keeping their cool.

WA manufacturer turns last-stand into US invasion

Air Group Australia (a 30-year old family business) is probably the last appliance manufacturer in WA, making Cool Breeze evaporative air conditioners, Solectair solar heaters and QuietFlow Quietflo air conditioning ducting from its factory in Welshpool. Rather than being the sad end of an era, Air Group has turned the tables, concluding a technology partnership with the US-based inventors of the Maisotsenko Cycle that will see WA selling key components back to the US company for world wide sale.

"We're a manufacturer," explains Air Group MD Devin McLevie. "We make real things. The reason we're still in business, and growing, is because of our expertise in reducing manufacturing costs."

"In the US Coolerado, who make Maisotsenko Cycle air conditioners, sell them for more than double the cost of refrigerated system. So not many people can afford it.

"We've shown them how to manufacture the same quality for less and we're selling components and that expertise back to them. Every US made Coolerado will have Australian-supplied components and it will cost much less," Mr McLevie said. Priced 20% below old technology refrigerated air In Australia, Coolerado branded Maisotsenko Cycle whole-of-home ducted air conditioning will sell for about 20% less than a comparable refrigerated air conditioning.

"Save 20% when you buy, save up to 80% every time you turn it on and get the only true, fresh air conditioning there is - that shouldn't be a tough decision for people to make," Mr McLevie said.

"This is breakthrough, disruptive technology that has been made possible by a small WA business that was ready to have a go."

On sale January 2011

Best of all, Coolerado Maisotsenko Cycle is not a promise of some wonderful future: the first units will go on sale mid-January 2011 for immediate installation.

Water use

The Maisotsenko Cycle system does use some water (typically 16 litres per hour), but as the evaporation process is contained and does not contact the distributed air, it is less than most evaporative systems and of far less environmental consequences than the electricity saved.
Electricity in WA (mostly generated from coal) in fact contains a quite high level of "embedded" water use for cooling power stations, so the gap between the true water consumption of refrigerated units and Maisotsenko Cycle units requiring 80% to 90% less electricity is less than might appear.

Water from a Maisotsenko system is also very suitable for recycling, even in toilet cisterns, because it has no contact with particulate contaminants or household waste. Saturated air expelled from a Coolerado unit can also be used to cool solar panels to increase their efficiency.

Demonstration

We have a simple but dramatic desktop demonstration using a hair dryer that shows how a Maisotsenko Cycle unit can drop temperatures from 50ºC+ to 20ºC in one pass.

Video

Overview of Coolerado and the Maisotenko Cycle in a solar powered application.