An investment in a new or upgraded industrial ventilation system can have a significant benefit on the performance and comfort of people, product and processes in your facility. But what guarantee do you have that the ventilation system will actually perform as it was designed? In this week’s blog, I’ll and talk about the difference between an equipment performance guarantee and a ventilation system performance guarantee and which one you should rely on.
Equipment Performance Guarantee
Performance ratings for ventilation equipment are provided by the Air Movement and Control Association International (AMCA). AMCA has provided common standards for the performance testing of ventilation equipment since 1917. Manufacturers of ventilation equipment can use the AMCA testing standards two ways to provide equipment performance data:
- Tested According to AMCA Standards – This is the first level of assurance for ventilation equipment performance data that a manufacturer can provide. What this means is that the ventilation equipment manufacturer has used the rigorous AMCA testing standards to measure the performance of their ventilation equipment in their only testing facilities.
- AMCA Certified – This is the second level of assurance that a manufacturer can provide. To have their equipment AMCA certified, a manufacturer must first be an AMCA member and then pay AMCA an additional fee to test their equipment and provide the AMCA certification of performance data.
While both methods of performance testing should provide a level of comfort as to the reliability of the performance data, neither is an equipment performance guarantee. To determine if a manufacturer guaranties the performance of their equipment, you must carefully read their terms and conditions. If a manufacturer does not guarantee the merchantability of their products, that means that you can’t rely on their performance data even if it is AMCA certified.
System Performance Guarantee
Even the simplest industrial ventilation system requires more than one piece of equipment. Actual field performance of any single piece of ventilation equipment is determined by its interaction with other ventilation system components. A manufacturer’s equipment guaranty does not apply to how their equipment is used in conjunction with other ventilation equipment.
This is where the skills and expertise of a ventilation design expert are relied upon. The ventilation design expert will use the manufacturer’s guaranteed equipment performance to design a ventilation system that provides the desired results for the application. If the ventilation design expert does not provide a ventilation system performance guarantee, equipment guaranties can’t be relied on to ensure the performance of a ventilation system. Only a ventilation system performance guarantee will provide assurance that a ventilation system will perform as designed.
Which Guarantee is Better?
In the computer science industry, they use the phrase “garbage in equals garbage out.” This the concept that bad data going into even the best computer program yields bad results. The same holds true for industrial ventilation system design. A manufacturer’s equipment performance guarantee provides assurance of good input data. A ventilation design expert’s system performance guarantee provides assurance that they have used the best design process to yield good results. Both guaranties should be relied on to provide the best ventilation system solution.
Conclusion
Eldridge is unique in that we are both a manufacturer of ventilation equipment and a ventilation design expert. As a manufacturer, we stand behind the performance of Eldridge Fan products with a full equipment performance guarantee. The Eldridge Fan performance data has the reliability of having been developed using rigorous AMCA testing standards to measure performance.
As a ventilation design expert, our 75 years of experience has given us the skills to apply the best ventilation system design process to any application. Our seven design patents attest to our ability to take on even the most challenging industrial ventilation problems and find a unique solution. Whether simple or challenging, we stand behind every ventilation system design with the guarantee that it will perform to the full satisfaction of the customer.
When you want to rely on only one company for an equipment performance guaranty and a ventilation system performance guarantee, contact Eldridge and we will create a successful environment for your facility.