With fall weather finally here, it can mean only one thing: it is time to start budgeting for 2021. Okay, maybe budgeting isn’t the first thing that you think about with the start of fall, but it is an important one. Now is the time to build a capital budget that includes all of the projects that you have been thinking about doing, but lacked the funding. If better ventilation for your facility to provide a cooler and more productive environment for your employees wasn’t one of those projects, let me give you a few suggestions:
- Add more fans to increase the air flow in your facility. To make the inside temperature the same as the outside temperature, the air change rate needs to be at least 6 times per hour.
- If you already have sufficient air flow inside your facility, add spot cooling fans to provide additional cooling. Properly placed, spot cooling fans can provide a perceived temperature decrease of up to 8 degrees F when blowing on personnel.
- To really make a difference to the inside temperature, add indirect evaporative coolers. These can provide a 15-20 degree F temperature decrease without any increase in humidity.
Cost
Determining the cost of your ventilation system project is the first step in preparing your budget request. If you already have an idea of the equipment required for your upgrade, let Eldridge provide you with a turn-key quote for the equipment cost and installation. If all you know is that your facility is too hot, let an Eldridge ventilation system expert perform a full ventilation assessment and provide you with options to make your facility cooler for 2021.
Justification
Need cost justification to get your request for a ventilation system upgrade approved? Eldridge can also help with studies and data on the costs associated with excessively hot work environments. Excessive heat in a facility has a dramatic impact on people working inside. Common effects seen are a reduction in productivity, increased turnover, higher absenteeism and heat stress illnesses, which may result in worker compensation claims. We can show you how to quantify the cost to your company for these excessive heat impacts. These facts and figures will allow you to demonstrate how your budget request for a ventilation system project will provide a beneficial and very short payback period.
Getting Started
Eldridge has designed countless ventilation systems in our 74 years of experience. In that time, we have seen many changes and advances in the way that ventilation systems can provide a cooler work environment. Contact Eldridge to have one of our ventilation system experts come out and help you with budgeting for 2021 to have a cooler and more productive facility for your employees.