Make-Up Air – Comfort in Cooling
Ryan TrzebiatowskiA Q&A with Ryan Trzebiatowski, Make Up Air Segment Manager, Accurex, and Tyler Schilling, Product Manager, Accurex
Q: What is make-up air?
A: Very simply, when you exhaust air from a space, you have to make-up the difference by supplying replacement air.
Q: When you’re looking at a make-up air unit, what are the biggest considerations?
A: You should have a clear understanding of your comfort goals and airflow requirements. What is your environment like? Do you need or desire heating, cooling, both, or none at all? Due to the different ways to approach tempering, the first question is, “What do you need based on geographical, environmental and comfort goals?”
Tyler SchillingQ: Why does cooling matter when it comes to make-up air?
A: Number one, International Mechanical Code requires that your make-up air temperature is within ten degrees of the conditioned space.
Second is human comfort; the ability to provide a more comfortable and productive work environment. Be sure to opt for a unit that doesn’t limit cooling
operation to only when it’s excessively hot. If a car didn’t allow the AC to turn on until it was 85 degrees outside, you probably wouldn’t purchase it. The same logic applies for make-up air units. Accurex units enable you to provide cooling based on what makes the most sense for your business and employees.
Q: Why is it important to select a unit with a draw through airflow arrangement?
A: A draw through design is where the fan sits after the coil and pulls the air evenly across it. In a blow through design, the fan sits before the coil and pushes the air across it.
Blow through has two disadvantages, leading to inefficiencies and higher operating costs. First, air is forced through the center of the coil which means only a portion of the coil is utilized. Second, there is a high probability of freezing coils leading to undesirable cycling in and out of cooling. This is because the outer portion of the coil sees limited airflow so that portion would become very cold while the center that sees the majority of the airflow becomes warm.
Conversely, a draw though arrangement provides uniform airflow across the coil for maximum utilization, greater efficiency and continuous cooling when needed.
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Accurex make-up air unit with direct gas heat and packaged cooling.
Q: What are some factors to consider during installation?
A: Two major considerations are lifting and setting the unit and power requirements. Accurex units come with single point power, meaning that one electrical connection provides power to the whole unit, potentially saving up to $3,000 versus a unit requiring multiple power connections.
Q. What are the main advantages of the Accurex system?
A: Efficiency due to industry-leading turndown capabilities, ease of installation with single point power and optimized cooling system design.
Customers can have confidence that all the features and components are operating at their highest capacity to effectively – and efficiently – provide a comfortable space.