Owning and maintaining property can be a stressful ordeal for anyone. There are so many things to keep in mind and if any of them are forgotten, it can be very detrimental to the entire building. Proper ventilation is one aspect that needs a lot of attention. No matter what kind of business it is, proper ventilation should not be underestimated. Here are a few things to keep in mind when installing ventilation systems:
- Fan Volume — Keeping an eye on the overall volume of fans and exhaust systems is often cast aside in the building ventilation process, but it’s something to keep in mind. You don’t want fans that are uncomfortably loud, and you don’t want fans that are so weak they barely even make a sound. The sone rating of a fan determines the sound level, which ranges from 0.4 to four.
- Food Industry — Conventional ventilation in restaurants is extremely important, because if not properly installed, the entire business could fail. If fans and exhaust systems aren’t installed properly in certain areas — like walk-in freezers — the damage will be irreversible. Having professionals install electronically commuted motors (ECM) can save about $200 a fan per year for walk-in freezers. Keeping up with cleaning and maintenance is just as important as keeping up with the cleaning and maintenance of the rest of the restaurant. Typically, restaurant exhaust systems are cleaned once every three months, but proper cleanings more often could be beneficial.
- Hygiene Rooms — Large hygiene rooms, as well as any bathroom in a building, needs correct installation as well. Finding the volume of the room and then dividing that number by five will calculate the minimum size exhaust fan you will need for any size hygiene room. If the height of the ceiling is over eight feet, however, additional venting may be required.
- Large Buildings — Properly ventilating large buildings like hospitals obviously needs to be strategically handled. An industrial-size laminar fan is a great way to ventilate a large area with clean air. The centrifugal force will make the air circulate up to 300 times an hour with a laminar fan. Successful ventilation can lower air conditioning costs as well, by lowering central cooling only three degrees.
Spending time planning out a building’s ventilation system should be every property manager’s priority. Don’t have big problems return to haunt you just because you weren’t careful during the ventilation planning process.