Is your Warehouse always too Cold or too Warm? How to Ensure Better Climate Control

Climate control is crucial for any business, and commercial HVAC contractors in NJ know this can be doubly-challenging for warehouses, whose large structures can consume a lot of heating and air conditioning, especially in temperature extremes. Even with the help of HVAC equipment, warehouse buildings have difficulty maintaining constant temperatures, their structure, layout, lighting, and drafty, poorly-insulated construction creating a myriad of mini climate zones. How can you ensure better warehouse temperature control, safe occupants, and inventory, while keeping your energy costs under control?

Warehouse Climate Control Tips More than uncomfortable, neglected climate control needs can drain productivity, and result in dangerous worker injuries like heat stroke or frostbite. In addition, many products, such as foods and pharmaceuticals, require precise temperature control for proper storage. Such issues resulting from poor climate control can damage your inventory and reputation, detracting from your image and bottom line. Luckily, it’s possible to keep your warehouse temperatures more even with the help of an experienced commercial HVAC company, despite extreme shifts in temperature...

• Start by Reducing Leakage Easy and inexpensive, sealing air leaks a key facet of controlling indoor temperatures, as a common source of energy loss in warehouse is air infiltration through gaps. Look to opportunities among these top warehouse air leak offenders:

1. Loading dock doors, which can be helped by the addition of vinyl strip curtains.
2. Cold storage doors, which should be equipped for rapid opening/closing.
3. Damaged insulation, in walls, and worn weather stripping around windows/doors, which are easily and inexpensively replaced.

• Integrate Zoned Storage & HVAC Expert commercial air conditioning contractors can help you assess your current temperature control measures, including the setup of your warehouse and HVAC settings for product and occupant needs, to help you properly assess and zone your space. In most cases, it is unnecessary to have your HVAC system running full-blast in all areas at all times, particularly in automated/unoccupied spaces.
• Add Occupancy Sensors Detecting when workers are around, occupancy sensors can help you balance employee comfort and energy costs, including lighting needs, which effect temperature control.
• Be Mindful of Exhaust Fan Use While exhaust fans can be integral to controlling temperature and indoor air quality, they should be shut down when warehouse space is unoccupied for significant periods of time to prevent the loss of conditioned air. Utilizing exhaust air heat recovery in the winter can also help you mitigate temperature and costs.
• Give Your Rooftop Unit the TLC it Depends On Rooftop units see more climate extremes and abuse than other systems, so it’s imperative to have your rooftop system regularly maintained by a professional commercial air conditioner service company to ensure proper performance and function.
• Consider a Cool Roof Time for a new roof? Give your warehouse inventory and rooftop unit a more hospitable home with a cool roof installation. Designed to reflect the sun’s energy and reduce heat, this is a great way to aid warehouse climate control.

Looking for an HVAC service Philadelphia to help you meet your warehouse temperature control challenges? With experience across an array of industries, and access to the latest climate control technology, H&H Commercial Services has you covered. Contact us today.

This post originally appeared on: https://hhcommercialonline.com/warehouse-cold-warm-ensure-better-climate-control/

Does your Office suffer from Thermostat Wars?

Seemingly inevitable, workplace thermostat wars are common, and summer is prime time for the battle. Three of five employees tamper with thermostat settings without consulting colleagues, leaving many frustrated business owners to turn to their local commercial air conditioner service company for advice on ways to navigate this landmine-ridden battle.

Why Can’t We All Just Get Along? 

Multiple issues complicate the climate control war. Current indoor climate regulations, based on outdated empirical data from the 1960s, deduce temperature settings based on the comfort level of a 40-year-old male weighing 154-pounds. This leaves women in the cold, literally, as their smaller statures slower metabolisms make their resting heat production much lower – possibly as much as 35%. Today’s ‘average’ worker is far more varied in size and age. And active versus sedentary lifestyles, life stages, health issues, building layout, and difficulties mitigating indoor/outdoor temperatures in wardrobe add yet more fuel to the fire.

More than an Irritant, A Productivity Thief 

Expressing comfort frustrations through covert thermostat tactics isn’t peaceable or earth-friendly. Killing morale, productivity, and your energy budget, a Cornell University study uncovered uncomfortable office temperatures resulted in 44% more typist-errors in room temperatures below 68°F. Bodily warmth, associated with productivity and feelings of trust and empathy, fosters an ideal work environment. A climate comfortable for all employees could save an average of $2 per-worker/per-hour, up to 12% of wage expenses.

So What’s the Best Thermostat Setting? 

While OSHA recommends a 68-76°F range, to make the most of labor, your highest expense, the ideal office temperature according to studies is 71.6°F, but this isn’t a hard-and-fast rule. People will sacrifice comfort for energy savings and environmental benefit. This is why the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers and commercial HVAC contractors in NJ recommend getting employees involved in the discussion to give them a sense of control in the battle, and keeping settings around 68°F for heating, and 78°F for cooling, to achieve comfort consensus within a few degrees of this range, and then securing your thermostat so it can’t be tampered with.

Other Ways to Prevent a ‘Cold War’ Office Environment

• Make Sure Current Office Setup is Not At-Fault Building and HVAC system design can both affect occupant comfort. Server rooms, perimeter offices, and overcrowded areas need more cooling. Repairs issues such as leaky/clogged ducts, broken fans, faulty controls, and neglected maintenance can also effect comfort. Having your system inspected by a trusted HVAC service Philadelphia is essential.
• Upgrade to a Zoned System Installing thermostats in chronically overheated/cold offices such as windowed or basement locales.
• ‘Smarten-up’ Your System With a new smart thermostat integrated with apps like CrowdComfort and Comfy, empowering employees to send comfort concerns via smartphone, and delivering the information you need to better manage temperature issues.
• Renegotiate Real Estate Clustering workers who prefer a warm/cold environment together.
• Be More Flexible Consider instituting more flexible work hours or telecommuting opportunities, which are shown to reduce distractions (such as an uncomfortable climate) and boost productivity.

Thermostat wars? Get professional commercial air conditioning contractors on your side. Put an end to the battle with the help of H&H Commercial Services today.

This post originally appeared on: https://hhcommercialonline.com/office-suffer-thermostat-wars/

10 Tips for Industrial Chiller Maintenance and Efficiency

Industrial chillers are typically a plant’s largest energy expense. However dirty tubes, leaky refrigerant, and poor industrial chiller maintenance and care can quickly add another 8-10% to these already astronomical costs. How can you safeguard industrial chiller performance and your bottom line?

10 Tips for Industrial Chiller Maintenance & Efficiency

1. Log-it.
   Keep a daily log, including operating conditions, temperature, pressure, fluid levels, and flow rates. This will allow you to follow trends and identify issues before emergency commercial heating and air conditioning repair services are necessary. Pair with remote monitoring technology for up-close monitoring.
2. Clean it.
   Clean tubes facilitate the most efficient heat transfer. Contaminants such as scale and mineral buildup, mud, and algae effect how how chiller systems work, thwarting heat transfer and robbing performance and efficiency. Look for higher approach temperatures as a sign decreasing deficiency, cleaning tubes annually, at a minimum.
3. Treat it.
   The best commercial HVAC mechanical contractors in Philadelphia know, incorporating water treatment measures to eliminate scale, corrosion, and biological growth reduces maintenance and upholds efficiency.
4. Chill out.
   Lowering the temperature of water entering the chamber vastly improves chiller efficiency.
5. Go with the flow.
   A chilled water flow rate of 3-12 feet-per-second is best for prime operation. Too little and you run the risk of laminar flow, too much and vibration, noise, and tube erosion will result.
6. Charge it.
   A proper refrigerant charge from an HVAC service in Philadelphia is essential to chiller operation, as cooling is dependent upon the refrigerant moving through the compressor. Leaks decrease efficiency, forcing your system to work harder and producing less cooling power. Refrigerant leaks also introduce air and moisture into the system that further gum-up operation.
7. Purge it.
   Non-condensables such as air and water in the system reduce chiller performance as much as 4% at 60% load, and as much as 7% at 100% load. Purging minimizes these effects.
8. Analyze.
   Sending a sample of lubrication oil off to the lab for spectrometric chemical analysis once a year can help you determine problems in the system, and when it’s time to change the oil in the hermetically sealed unit.
9. Monitor operation.
   The operation of your chiller should be regularly checked to ensure proper, efficient operation, including the inspection of:
• Starters and motors.
• Safety/sensor calibrations of microprocessors to manufacturer recommendations.
• Wiring, connections and switchgear for hot spots/worn contacts.
• Electrical motor windings for insulation resistance to ground.
• Shaft seals and open drive motors for refrigerant leaks.
• Air vents and cooling capacity.
10. Be flexible.
    Opting for variable speed drive chiller motors for significantly improved efficiency and less energy waste. This also improves operation for chillers operating on backup generators, offering a softer start and lower in-rush of current.

Monthly energy bill a budget buster? Get to the source of the problem with the help of the expert services of H&H Commercial HVAC. Contact us to schedule your chiller maintenance and inspection today.

This post originally appeared on: https://hhcommercialonline.com/10-tips-industrial-chiller-maintenance-efficiency/

Building an Indoor Pool? 6 Things you need to know!

Indoor pools are becoming an increasingly popular trend for their year-round convenience, offering water enthusiasts ideal swimming conditions no matter the weather. Created for enjoyment, an unfortunate number of indoor pool projects ultimately lead to complications, however – many from simple ignorance. Here’s how you can ensure a perfect poolside experience…

6 Things You Should Know Before Building an Indoor Pool

1. Be Careful About Cutting Corners in Construction. 
   Adding an indoor pool is a large investment, and it is integral to hire an experienced contractor to protect its value and lifespan. Here is not the place to cut corners. Look to architects and commercial HVAC mechanical contractors with a great deal of indoor pool room design experience for seamless, safe integration. Here it’s the seemingly little things skilled professionals know – like sloping the deck toward the pool to keep water from walls and the right materials to guard against moisture damage – that make a big difference and can save you a mountain of heartache later.
2. Avoid Impossible Situations.
   Don’t skimp on the size of your equipment room in the efforts of saving square footage. Such shortsighted decisions could create impossible working conditions later when equipment requires repair or replacement.
3. Don’t Overlook Dehumidification Needs.
   Appropriate heating and ventilation are essential to maintaining optimal humidity levels poolside. Unlike outdoor pools, indoor pools need a complete and carefully constructed dehumidification system, such as a Desert Aire, Semco, PoolPak and Dectron pool dehumidifier, to protect the indoor pool structure and environment against mildew, mold and rot. These natural consequences of evaporation and condensation can be held in-check with proper humidity levels in the 50-60% range, as well as by avoiding the forcing of air across the pool surface (which speeds evaporation), and maintaining even air distribution over outside walls to prevent condensation.  
4. Add Protection with Pool Covers and Proper Drainage
   A small investment in an pool cover can help reduce evaporation and humidity by as much as 50%, lowering the cost of running commercial dehumidification systems. And in addition to proper sloping, low-profile strip drains can guard against standing water and structural damage.
5. Make Sure Ventilation is Sufficient for Air Quality & Safety
   Any pool treated with chlorine will emit odors, but these will be more pronounced indoor pools. Be sure to talk to your pool HVAC and dehumidification contractor about solutions that can safeguard against chemical smells, such as ozonators and purifiers.
6. Look at the Long-Term.
   Keep in mind when selecting personnel and products to guide you on your pool quest, a small investment now - be it in climate control, pool cover, drainage, or a trusted commercial HVAC service company – could save you a significant amount in monthly energy costs and potential repair bills later.

Ready to Take the Plunge on Your Indoor Pool Endeavor?

Get the knowledgeable help you need from the best commercial HVAC company New Jersey. H&H Commercial Services has your residential and commercial indoor pool dehumidification needs covered, with over three decades of experience. Contact H&H Commercial Services to learn more about how we can help you meet your indoor pool climate control needs today.

This post originally appeared on: https://hhcommercialonline.com/building-indoor-pool-things-need-know/