With the arrival of summer and high temperatures it is inevitable to seek “tricks” To have some refreshment at home, avoiding resorting to the air conditioner. Some of these tricks concern the most trusted friend of the summer period, the fan. For example, there is the “ice makeup” to be put in front of the fan, and its more version soft: place a wet cloth Near the fan heated. Just immerse a towel in cold water and spread it in front of the fan, or place it on the grill that protects the fan. Let’s say immediately that water and electrical material do not agree at allso it is a trick risky that it is better to avoid putting into practice if not in conditions of full and total safety. But beyond this recommendation, does the method work?
As always in these cases, the answer is: Depends. There are many physical factors on which the effect of this method depends, so if you prove you may benefit from it or perhaps not feel any difference or indeed even perceive warmer, depending on variables such as the external temperature, the humidity of the air, the size of the room, the amount of water used, as the environment is ventilated and so on. What we can say is that In principle, the idea works because it is based on the physical phenomenon ofevaporation: the air moved by the fan, crossing the wet cloth, promotes the evaporation of the water of which it is full (i.e. the transition from the liquid state to the state of steam), a physical process that absorbs energy from the surrounding environment. Of course, the more the water that evaporates the more the heat absorbed by the surrounding air.
This is exactly the same principle on which the functioning of the evaporative coolingof which our small apparatus (fan + wet cloth) constitutes a rudimentary version.
However, the speech does not end there. If it is true that the evaporation of a sufficient amount of water can actually cool the room and bring some relief, however there is also the other side of the medal: theIncrease in humidity. The more water evaporates, the more the air is loaded with water vapor: in other words, humidity. And as we know, the more damp the air increases the so -called perceived temperature. You know the cliche of “is not the heat, is it humidity”? Here, it means exactly this: with the same temperature we endure the dry heat much better than the humid or sultry heat.
So our wet cloth behind the fan on one side absorbs environmental heat, on the other it makes humidity rise. For this reason it makes sense to apply this trick in large environments And wellin which humidity can disperse more easily, while it is not recommended in small rooms in which the air circulates with difficulty. In addition, the trick will have little effect when The air is already very humid: this is because the humid air is less “predisposed” to welcome other steam and this will disadvantage the evaporation of the water in the bathroom, going to limit the refreshing effect.
