Installing fans and proper centrifugal systems can both positively and negatively affect your building or business. There are many aspects to keep in mind — whether you’re installing a fan system in a warehouse, restaurant, or residential building or installing an energy-efficient centrifugal system inside a school, hospital, or municipal building.
Installing Fans:
- Demand Ventilation Controls — DVCs typically reduce operation costs of exhaust systems by anywhere from 30 to 50%. DVCs can also be installed on new hoods or retrofitted to existing hoods.
- Sone Rating — The sone rating is a unit that relates to loudness that equals up to 40 phons. A sone rating dictates how loud your exhaust or duct fans will be. A maximum sone rating of 4.0 is extremely loud while the lowest sone rating for a fan is about 0.5, which is barely even audible.
- Bathroom Fans — It’s important to have the correct dimensions necessary for proper ventilation regarding bathroom operations. By taking the volume of the entire bathroom and dividing that number by five, you will be able to calculate the minimum size needed for a bathroom exhaust fan. Keep in mind that if the bathrooms that you are installing the exhaust systems have ceilings over eight feet high, there may be additional venting necessary in addition to exhaust fans. Duct fans can ventilate bathrooms with larger dimensions.
- MERV Rating — A minimum efficiency reporting value rating of 17 or higher means that it can be used in lieu of exhausting air from inside to the outside. Of course, only if those filters are a part of a ventilation system that is successfully recirculating air.
- Saving Money — Cutting back on central cooling by only a few degrees can lower air conditioning costs by up to 15%. Also, installing electronically commutated motors (ECM) to small, walk-in freezer fans can save up to $200 a year per fan.
Knowing how to save a few bucks by trimming AC costs, where the best places are for installing duct fans, and the proper dimensions for bathroom ventilation can really help your business. A lot goes into these structural decisions. Educate yourself on centrifugal systems, and anything else you might need to know down the line.