On a hot summer day, a fan can make a big difference. Even though fans don’t actually cool the air, they mix hot and cold pockets of air and encourage evaporation, which makes it feel as though they do lower the temperature.
Fans can create more comfortable environments in just about any type of facility, and in doing so lower cooling costs and reduce safety risks. Here are three industries, each with its own unique concerns, where fans can improve working conditions:
1. Brewing
The brewing process requires large pieces of equipment, a lot of energy and very attentive brewmasters. It also generates a lot of steam, increasing the brewery’s temperature and humidity. The climate of a brewery can quickly become uncomfortable for brewmasters, their employees and any customers touring the tanks and kettles.
In these cases, large warehouse fans can reduce humidity and improve the climate of a brew operation. High-volume, low-speed fans stir hot sections of air and even out any temperature gaps. The movement of the fan blades also helps dissipate the humidity and create a cooler-feeling environment.
2. Manufacturing
Fans aren’t always about improving comfort levels. They can also improve safety conditions.
During the spring and fall months, industrial facilities often find themselves facing climate concerns. The change of seasons causes the slab floor to “sweat,” or produce condensation, creating a slippery surface to walk and drive on. Slip-and-fall accidents can easily occur when slabs sweat, and forklift tires have trouble maintaining traction on the slick surface.
It’s not easy to prevent slab sweat, but facility managers can work to reduce the moisture buildup by using fans. Barrel fans promote evaporation, which keeps the floor dry. Additionally, warehouse ceiling fans can stop the sweating before it starts. They push out the warm air that tends to collect near the ceiling back down toward the floor, making condensation less likely to occur.
3. Cold chain
When moving product along the cold chain, few things are as important as climate control. Even a small amount of thawing can compromise food or medication that must be kept cool. One common area of concern is at the loading dock; when temperature-regulated products move between a refrigerated room to a refrigerated truck, there’s a brief moment when warming can occur.
A number of safeguards at the loading dock can reduce the chances of product warming up. Dock seals, shelters and modern dock levelers are all equipped to keep cool air in and push hot air out of the work area. But that cool air needs to be created somehow. Air conditioning systems are essential, but they’re also costly to run. Dock door fans can supplement ventilation and air conditioning efforts by preventing pockets of hot or cold air from forming. By mixing and moving the air around the facility, fans can improve HVAC efficiency and even cut cooling costs and energy consumption.
How to choose the right warehouse fan for your facility
Now that summer is already upon us, it might be easy to identify temperature-related problems in your facility, whether it’s uncomfortable heat and humidity, slippery surfaces that can become dangerous or warmth that threatens the integrity of your inventory. Finding the perfect solution to that problem, however, isn’t always as simple.
That’s where we come in. When you work with Miner, our service professionals can identify the best ways to solve your problems, take care of installation across all your facilities and make your operations more productive in the process. If your building needs a new or additional HSLV warehouse fans, reach out to Miner.
