Packaged terminal HVAC units are the first choice for hospitality, senior living, and other facilities where many similarly-sized rooms must be heated and cooled to different levels. These units are inexpensive, easy to install without major renovations, and can be replaced one by one if an issue arises. However, commercial property owners can experience outsized heating bills if their HVAC system does not align with their needs. Two of the most common choices—packaged terminal air conditioner (PTAC) and packaged terminal heat pump (PTHP) units—differ significantly, and your choice could impact your maintenance and utility costs for years to come.
Two out of the three systems in packaged terminal units are the same: the air conditioner and the resistance strip used for heating. Further, installation dimensions are often alike, with most fitting into the same gap in curtain walls. And since cooling is performed by the same system, there is relatively little difference in efficiency when it comes to maintaining comfortable spaces for occupants when the outside temperature is above 72 degrees. Additionally, for both types of units, resistive heat is often used at or below 35 degrees.
So what distinguishes packaged terminal air conditioners from units with heat pumps, and how can you choose between them?
When a packaged terminal unit with a heat pump operates between 35 and 72 degrees, it uses a different, more energy-efficient system than standard PTAC units. The heat pump is effectively the same as an air conditioner run in reverse: the refrigerant pulls in heat from the outside, and a fan then blows air over the heat element to warm the room.
This process uses much less electricity than the traditional resistive heat strips used in PTACs, which will save you money on utility bills. However, it comes with a caveat: PTHPs are slightly less effective in cold climates. However, recent advances mean that heat pump technology will work in frigid temperatures, and most heat pump units are equipped with back-up heat sources.
If you’re focused solely on upfront costs, PTHPs are a bit more expensive. However, their energy-efficient technology will cut your power bills significantly within a year. In fact, PTHPs cut electricity bills even more quickly north and west of the I-20 corridor that crosses the southeast and southwest United States.
With that in mind, make sure you take this payback period into consideration as you plan to update your units. It’s also worth noting that the lifespan of most PTACs is approximately seven years, while PTHPs can last for ten or more years.
As with many other HVAC-specific issues, deciding between packaged terminal air conditioner and heat pump units depends on your space and budget. A qualified professional can help you consider your circumstances and choose the best unit for your building.
Although heat pumps work best in more moderate climates, their back-up heat sources mean that they function well even in frigid winters.
Windy City Representatives is a leading provider of terminal air conditioner and heat pump units from trusted manufacturers. Contact us today to discuss the right units for your building.
Although radiant distribution technology for heating and cooling has existed for more than a century, many people still don't understand how and when it should be used. Misconceptions around its effectiveness, how it works in different climates, and benefits are all reasons for this confusion.
However, appropriately designed, a radiant heating system can be used in nearly all climates as an efficient commercial HVAC system. You’ll find radiant cooling systems as far north as Canada. The differences between radiant heating and conventional HVAC systems are many, so choosing between the two requires careful consideration of project requirements.
All HVAC systems are designed to change temperatures in various rooms. The most common systems use a forced-air system: for heating purposes, the air is blown (over a furnace, through a hot water coil, or over the evaporator coil of a heat pump), then supplied throughout a building through a system of ducts and supply diffusers.
While a radiant heating system can use a similar boiler, it can also use a geothermal system or heat pump to warm up water or another fluid. Small pipes, often three-quarters of an inch, move the fluid through floors, wall panels, or ceilings depending on the system installed. The water then raises the temperature of those elements, which provides radiant heat (technically, there may also be an element of convection) to occupants in the line of sight of the element.
A radiant cooling system uses similar piping systems, but the water is cooled and then delivered through the same types of piping found in radiant heating systems.
In either case, the system’s installation is the final difference: most radiant systems are installed in either floors or ceilings. Floor-based radiant systems can be formed by installing tubes running through a concrete floor slab or a smaller sub-floor. The slab is essentially heated or cooled to provide the radiant effect. Ceiling panels are “activated” by running hot water or chilled water piping attached to the back of the panel. The panel then becomes the radiating element. Below are examples of a radiant system installed in office spaces.
In commercial HVAC applications, the biggest differentiator between these systems is whether the mediums for heat transfer will be air or liquid. Radiant distribution systems will either use warm water or cool water passed through piping in floors, baseboards, or ceilings. The effect on occupants is perceived as more gentle because there is no actual warm or cold air blowing over them.
There are also physical differences. Water has a higher energy capacity than air, so the system does not need as much physician space to transfer the same amount of cooling or heating capacity. In addition, the physical piping required to produce the same heat transfer is much smaller than the ducting required to create a similar effect. Two 1” pipes deliver through a building approximately the same heating capacity as a 2’ x 2’ duct.
A major constraint in any commercial HVAC design is cost, and radiant distribution systems for heating and cooling require special consideration compared to forced-air systems. While radiant heating is generally useful throughout the US and Canada without many issues, radiant cooling comes with special consideration associated with indoor humidity levels. More specifically, humidity and dew point levels must be addressed with radiant cooling systems outside of arid regions like the southwest United States. If space air, or ventilation air introduced into the space, does not have a dew point above the radiant panel surface temperature, the panel may form condensation that can cause water damage.
In addition, HVAC design engineers simply have not seen as many projects in which radiant systems are desired. Radiant cooling systems are even less commonly specified. As a result, the propensity to see radiant designs is diminished.
Are radiant distribution systems the right fit for your heating and cooling needs? At Windy City Representatives, we can help you find the ideal fit. Contact us today to start your search. We look forward to matching you with the right fit for your budget and HVAC performance envelope. Windy City Representatives partners with premier providers of radiant cooling and heating systems, especially Barcol-Air.
There are a number of considerations when it comes to ventilating and air conditioning needs for hospitals. Different sections must not just meet building codes, but also government requirements. And at a time when COVID-19 has put a strain on staffing and infrastructure alike, it has become more crucial than ever to ensure that upgrades and new construction are able to meet Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) requirements for operating room HVAC systems.
Unlike heavily trafficked areas such as lobbies, waiting rooms, and cafeterias, the temperature and relative humidity in operating rooms must be carefully controlled.
The CMS, along with other HVAC standards providers, have noted that there is an acceptable range of humidity and temperature that limit microbial growth and reduce infections and maintain occupant comfort.
The key guidelines for operating room HVAC revolve around several key concerns:
As such, the key measurement is relative humidity. The CMS requirements for hospital operating room HVAC require relative humidity levels of at least 20 percent, with a recommendation of an upper relative humidity of 60 percent. More importantly, the CMS encourages hospitals to incorporate the recommendations of other standards organizations, including the Association of Operating Room Nurses (AORN) and the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE).
Due to the combination of AORN recommendations and ASHRAE Standard 170 (applicable to all new construction projects, retrofits, and upgrades), a more precise recommendation for operating room HVAC performance includes:
ASHRAE’s Standard 170 has emphasized the value of ceiling-mounted air delivery units. In the 2017 update, they recommend a large diffuser array that is at least one foot larger than the operating table. In addition, the general recommendation is to include at least two exhaust grilles on the walls near the floor. Finally, ASHRAE recommends the use of air diffusers that have an average discharge velocity of 30 feet per minute.
This clearly demonstrates the importance of ceiling-mounted laminar flow diffuser arrays for medical HVAC requirements in operating rooms. However, there has been recent research into the airflow pathways in the sterile and non-sterile zones of these rooms. There are some indications that the current best practices may lead to issues regarding the transfer of contaminants into the sterile zone.
A recent study indicates that a higher number of air changes per hour (ACH) by an operating room HVAC system decreases the likelihood of contaminants entering the sterile zone. ACHs should be higher within operating rooms dealing with complex procedures like treating burn patients, doing skin grafts, and performing transplants.
Unfortunately, hospitals are often working in constrained financial environments. As such, trying to design a system that can reduce the growth of bacteria and other contaminants while staying within budget remains an ongoing issue for design engineers and HVAC contractors. Still, being mindful of current research in computational fluid dynamics and related fields regarding airflow can help HVAC engineers stay ahead of future requirements and recommendations.
Ultimately, having access to a variety of systems to design the right hospital HVAC systems for installation is crucial to meeting CMS requirements, staying under budget, and remaining on schedule. Windy City Representatives is a leading distributor of air handlers and other units that can be used to meet these guidelines from trusted manufacturers like Reznor Heaters, AAON, and more.
To learn more about what systems make the most sense for your project, contact us today. We look forward to matching you with the right fit for your budget and operating room HVAC performance envelope.
Keeping IT equipment cool can be an expensive, energy-heavy endeavor. When it comes to data center cooling systems, one of the main challenges is to optimize power consumption while minimizing the risks of overheating the servers. Standard air conditioning systems can account for up to 40 percent of a data center’s overall power consumption. The ASHRAE Technical Committee recommends keeping server inlet temperatures between 65–80 °F, with 20–80 percent relative humidity. As a designer, you will need to factor in space cooling, heat rejection, and fluid conditioning while selecting the right data center cooling system(s) for your needs.
Understandably, choosing or replacing a data center cooling system can be time-consuming. At Windy City Representatives, our engineers can help you make the most efficient use of design hours by guiding you through:
See below for a sample of our available data center cooling system options.
Most existing data center cooling systems deploy conventional air-cooling technologies. With Windy City Representatives, you can select from a wide range of data center cooling options. We offer energy-efficient, traditional, and newer technologies, including:
Here’s how each option works:
The most common method for data center cooling, raised floor systems are ideal for rooms with a low density of IT equipment.
Layout: A computer room air conditioner (AC) or air handler (AH) delivers cooled air to the servers through the raised platforms’ perforated tiles. After cooling the servers, the air returns to the AC or AH for cooling.
At Windy City Representatives, we offer custom air handling units from AAON, TMI, XNRGY, and Miller-Picking, as well as humidification options from Armstrong Humidifiers.
Data center server racks are frequently arranged in alternating rows of “cold aisles” and “hot aisles” to keep chilled intake and hot exhaust air from mixing.
Layout: Hot server exhaust is isolated and sent to computer room AC units. To quickly deliver the chilled air to the IT equipment, in-row cooling units are often placed within a row of racks. When implemented in cold air containment, in-row cooling creates a closed-loop arrangement to focus chilled air on the equipment.
Windy City Representatives offers state-of-the-art computer room units from Compu-Aire.
Many mid-to-large-sized data centers rely on a chilled water system to cool their IT equipment.
Layout: Chilled water passes through coils and into a chiller connected to computer room air handlers. Once the water returns to the chiller, it mixes with condenser water flowing through a cooling tower. This type of system, however, requires data centers to install a chiller plant on their premises.
Windy City Representatives offers cooling towers from Tower Engineering Inc.
Some data centers leverage the cool outside air to lower air temperatures around servers. It is a cost-effective way to rely less on mechanical refrigeration and offers impressive energy savings, especially in cold, dry climates.
Layout: The outdoor air is filtered, humidified, and directed into the data center to regulate the IT equipment’s cool temperature. Another approach is to use water-side economizers to cool room air or use rear-door heat exchangers to directly liquid-cool IT equipment cabinets.
Windy City Representatives carries chillers with free cooling capabilities from AAON, Geoclima, Systecon, and Quantech.
Adiabatic systems, which rely on evaporation’s cooling properties, require less water than their chilled water counterparts. This cooling system selectively removes heat from the environment. Next, the outdoor air passes through a wet filter, which chills it. This cooled air, in turn, significantly reduces the energy the system requires to mechanically cool.
Check out Windy City Representatives’ innovative data center cooling solutions from Excool.
As you craft and build your data center cooling system, let Windy City Representatives guide you. We are a Chicago-based full-service manufacturer’s rep firm offering some of the most cost-effective and energy-efficient cooling equipment and design solutions to fit your needs and budget. With our in-house team of experienced, skilled professionals, you can be assured of service and support over the life of your project.
How should you select an energy-efficient data center cooling system that fits your budget? We can help you find the right unit for your project. To get a quote, call us at (630) 590-6933 or email us at info@windycityreps.com.
The average US hotel spends up to $2,196 per room in energy costs each year. A sizable bit of that bill goes to keeping HVAC systems running. Because hotel occupancy rates can be difficult to forecast, HVAC services must run even in empty rooms, and that alone adds up quickly.
Luckily, recent advances in HVAC technology make cutting energy use much easier for hospitality property owners. One of these is the packaged terminal heat pump, a cost-effective, energy-efficient, and easy-to-install solution. Let’s talk about this system and how it can help lower your property’s energy bills.
Until recently, the majority of rooms in a hotel or assisted living facility used packaged terminal air conditioner (PTAC) units. The single cabinet is designed to fit in a slot with outdoor access but does not require any ducting in the interior. With an air conditioning unit, the refrigerant is warmed by the inside air, sent outside to be cooled down, and the cooler air is moved around inside.
This works for cooling areas, but properties delivering hospitality services run into a problem at or below 60 °F.
A standard PTAC unit provides heat by moving air over a heated element. In comparison, a heat pump simply reverses the process for cooling: the refrigerant absorbs heat from the outside (down to a very low temperature) and transfers it inside.
The key issue when it comes to using packaged terminal units is understanding their efficiency levels. Both an air conditioner and a heat pump operate with the same amount of efficiency when providing cooling to a unit. The key difference is during heating. A single unit of electricity used to power a heat strip is only able to provide one unit of heat. In addition, the system must still power the fan that moves the air.
In comparison, the heat pump is not heating the air, but moving the refrigerant from the evaporator to the condenser and back. This provides a maximum efficiency of up to three times that of a traditional PTAC unit with a heating element. As the temperature drops, the efficiency of the heat pump drops, but not drastically.
Even in snowy and cold states, heat pumps can still be more efficient than baseboard heaters at temperatures down to 0 °F. The cost savings simply aren’t as dramatic, dropping to 200 percent efficiency at that temperature and lower depending on the particular unit’s capacity.
'A mini-split unit moves the condenser from the room to either the roof or the ground outside of a hotel or assisted living facility. Doing so offers several benefits: the noise of the compressor is further away from occupants and ducting can be used to deliver air through the ceiling, tops of walls, or even existing ducting. Since condensers are outside of the room, more space is available for occupants and the air can be delivered via wall-mounted units or ceiling cassettes.
The same flexibility for an HVAC retrofit or upgrade can be problematic for a property manager who is simply looking for a quick upgrade. Packaged terminal heat pumps can be installed by a handyman or maintenance person without specialized tooling and only require an available AC outlet. In addition, many manufacturers offer remote connectivity to allow for centrally set minimum and maximum temperatures to optimize efficiency.
Packaged terminal heat pumps offer significantly higher heating-efficiency than standard PTACs and are one of the most cost-effective options for retrofits. Indeed, they’re an ideal choice for any savvy property manager.
A vertical packaged terminal heat pump can be installed on the exterior of a building and concealed in the space to; enhance aesthetics, reduce sound and allow for ducted air distribution with outside air ventilation. These units can also be designed to accommodate cold weather climates (down to -10 °F) by incorporating heat pump operation and then auto-changeover to electric resistive heating or gas heat. Brands like Napoleon offer this type of solution. See rendering photo below.
Contact Windy City Representatives for HVAC Design and Commissioning Windy City Representatives can assist you in everything related to packaged terminal heat pumps. We are a full-service manufacturer’s rep firm offering competitive pricing as well as end-to-end service and support on state-of-art commercial HVAC products. To request a quote, call us at (630) 590-6933 or email us at info@windycityreps.com.
If you notice your building’s energy bills and repair costs soaring, it might be time for an update. As a commercial planner or developer, you’ll probably start considering a heat pump retrofit. But before you do, it’s important to understand how heat pumps work and decide which one would suit your needs. Before you decide to replace your boilers or furnaces with heat pumps, ask:
Heat pumps are a significant expense; before you invest in one, consult with an expert at Windy City Representatives. We can help you determine the viability of a heat pump retrofit in your commercial HVAC systems. Our expertise in the commercial HVAC industry offers you:
Interested in knowing more about heat pump retrofits? Here’s a quick rundown of factors you should consider before you invest—and how our heat pump retrofit solutions can lower your energy losses while still offering top-tier performance and comfort.
The integrated energy efficiency ratio (IEER), coefficient of performance (COP), and simultaneous cooling and heating efficiency determine the energy efficiency of a heat pump retrofit that translates to increased cost savings.
Retrofitting the right-sized heat pump with extended operating ranges can meet the demands of your project while consuming minimal energy.
Heat pump installation costs vary based on the size, type, and model of heat pump. Although the equipment may be more expensive, newer heat pumps could save you time and money in installation costs.
Retrofit features such as temperature-sensing, automatic adjusting airflow, and remote monitoring and control provide precise comfort to building occupants.
On a design winter day or a summer design day, will a heat pump be able to keep your occupants warm in the winter and cool in the summer? Sometimes your heating demand is too much for air-source heat pumps and you need to look at a water-source system. A water source system allows for a heat source to inject heat into the system.
With Windy City Representatives, you don’t just get a quality heat pump. We help you choose from the latest, most effective technology, including:
There are two general types of air-source heat pumps. Mini-split heat pumps, or duct-free split systems, are typically used in smaller-scale projects. Variable refrigerant flow (VRF) systems are ideal for commercial buildings. Both are ideal for retrofitting, as they do not require extensive renovation to ductwork—a particularly attractive option in larger buildings.
Though air-source heat pumps are efficient and effective in warmer climates, recent advances have produced models which operate well even in subzero temperatures. In addition, the reverse cycle chiller—a special type of air-source heat pump—can be paired with a wide range of heating and cooling distribution systems to lower winter electric bills.
Here’s a little more about each kind of system.
The mini-split heat pump, or duct-free split system, offers homeowners many advantages. They’re simple to install, energy efficient, quiet, and allow you to control temperatures in individual rooms.
We recommend: Duct-free Mini Split System from YORK®
With flexible installation and design solutions, variable refrigerant flow (VRF) systems are an ideal retrofit choice for larger facilities. Not only do they minimize renovation costs, they’re energy efficient, with IEER ratings up to 26.5 and COP ratings up to 4.25. They also operate in temperatures down to -13 degrees fahrenheit.
We recommend: VRF Gen II Heat Pump from YORK®
Though the technology needed for water-source heat pumps is readily available, retrofitting with a water-source heat pump requires new room terminal units and new condenser water piping. advanced water-source heat pumps offer features including:
We recommend: AAON® and YORK® water-source heat pumps
At Windy City Representatives, we are dedicated to providing you and your clients with competitively priced heat pumps from leading manufacturers, with service and support throughout the equipment’s lifetime. Keep your heating solutions practical, affordable, and simple. After all, retrofitting with the best equipment and minimal hassles of maintenance is a win-win solution for both you and your client.
Windy City Representatives can assist you in everything related to heat pump retrofitting. We are a full-service manufacturer’s rep firm offering competitive pricing as well as end-to-end service and support on state-of-art commercial HVAC products. To request a quote, call us at (630) 590-6933 or email us at info@windycityreps.com.
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