It is getting close to Fall / Why adding Humidification to a room and/or a Building is Required ... or Not

 

Humidification or No Humidification, that is the question

ESD, these three simple letters of our alphabet are the sole reason for adding moisture, via a Humidifier are even in our lexicon.

Electro Static Discharge, this occurs when an electrical charge (Static Electricity) leaves one mass and Zapps another mass.  Typically it is when you walk across the room in the winter, then you grab the door knob and Bam!, you get that little zap.  Well, in a computing environment, that little Zap! can be deadly to the computing process.  The Zap can contain up to 10,000 volts or more, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Static_electricity.

Routinely humidifiers are part of the original design of a data processing facility, computer room, UPS room, etc... It makes sense.  Add moisture to a dry environment to keep the ESD at bay. Well, that works great but historically it can cost a lot of #OPEX dollars to keep the moisture at the desired 40% +/- 5%.  This cost was mainly due to the method that moisture was being induced into the air.  Either large open pans of water with a series of Infra-red bulbs hoovering over them or a cylinder/canister full of water with electrodes immersed in water were energized, then the steam was pulled into the air stream by the #CRAC or #CRAH unit for distribution, works great ... costs a lot to operate.

Many people simply choose not to operate their humidifiers because of the cost, this isn't a good option, just one that has been accepted due to costs.  The data center was designed for humidifiers, if you operate without on, allowing your rooms RH to fall, are you outside of the SLA's that you sold to your customers? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service-level_agreement

The solution to this:  Ultra Sonic Humidification.  This technique of inducing moisture into any given environment is 93% cheaper to operate than the two methods I described above, the cylinder and the Infra-red pan.  So for every pound of moisture you add to the air, with Ultra Sonic, if it cost SEVEN CENTS vs. the $.93 for the two old methods.  Simply amazing technology.  There is certainly an exact science to this system, but essentially, it adds water to the air stream by breaking the surface tension of water with a high frequency, much like a tweeter in a high quality stereo or music system versus HEATING water to create the steam vapor.  Why would we want to heat water in a DATA CENTER when the number one mission is to REMOVE HEAT FROM THE DATA CENTER?

Can the same be said for a commercial or medical office building, ABSOLUTELY, in fact, the medical business loves Ultra Sonic.  It allows MRI. CT, PET, CAT scan rooms to be maintained at the proper humidity levels.  This allows for optimum patient comfort, as well as excellent magnet operation.  In the office environment, nothing increases office productivity like HUMAN COMFORT.  Happy people work and don't have to worry about their environment, this is simply one way of helping people smile.

Much more information is available on this methodology, Stulz is the #1 maker and science leader of the technology, see: http://tr.im/4by7b to get a brochure on the subject. Go here for more information in general: http://tr.im/4by7d 

If we can help with your education on Humidification, please let us know, we would love to explain as much as you would like to learn.  Contact info@airtight.co if you want more, mention Humidification in the subject line.

Enjoy your Fall,

An open letter of thanks to Ryan Gunto:

 

An Open Letter of Thanks to Ryan Gunto:

 I have watched this RTU replacement job develop over the last couple of months.  The precise nature of your pre-planning and the Execution of Excellence that I saw (a little bit of, due to schedule) today, along-side of the customer being thrilled, is/was incredible.

 

 

 

This morning while getting up and having coffee, I was thinking about the job today. I

took just a little mental vacation/trip with my Dad (John Crumpton (1937-1994)) and the comfort of knowing he would have thought that this day was cool, let alone what we do as AirTight (http://www.airtight.co/about-airtight/) in general, day in and day out.

 

 

Then, knowing your Dad, only as briefly as I did, I knew that Andy Gunto (1952 - 2008) would have been Most Proud of You, his boy and what you do every day.

Great Job. Thank you.

Thank you all who participated:  From the physical part, to the GoPro Cameramen, to all that coordinated and made this a success …

 

You all should be proud.

 

G & Company

Air Filters for Dummies: The Guide to Changing Your Air Filter

Air Filters for Dummies

Have you ever wondered when, why and if to change your air filter(s) at home or in the office?  Sometimes your thermostat tells you ... How does it know when?  Sometimes you happen to think about it when you see those ugly blue filters in the grocery store.  And then, you really think about it when the A/C stops working and the technician shows up and the culprit is ... You guessed it, Dirty Air Filters.

Back to basics:

Air filters are designed to catch fairly large, it is all relative, particulate out of the air stream.  Most filters are great at catching dust, per hair, etc...  The "ugly blue" air filters are really great for catching pigeons, children and other items of that size, not so good at removing the proper sized particulate from the air stream though.

To really help with dust control, pet dander, and pollen, we suggest using a pleated air filter, it has more surface area, due to the folded pleats designed into it and does a much better job than old blue.


Why are air filters really designed into an HVAC system?:

Air filters are designed into the total HVAC system for only one reason:  It isn't to control the dust on the end-table ... The main purpose of these filters is to prevent the dust and debris from collecting on the face of the coil (heat exchanger) of the air conditioning portion of the system.  The refrigerant (trade name Freon) in the system requires that heat be transferred from the air stream into the refrigerant circuit, it can only do this efficiently when the entire coil surface is clean and available for this exchange.  The natural by-product of air conditioning (cooling) is dehumidification, hence when dehumidifying, the evaporator (indoor coil) is wet with condensation, this would really gum-up with dust and grime if the filter was not there to PROTECT the coil surface.  That is the entire purpose for the filter, all of the other benefits we enjoy are just icing on the cake.


The BIG question ... How often to Replace the Filter(s):

As i said above, sometimes your thermostat will tell you to do it ... It is simply guessing.  It uses a hypothesis to say to do it based upon hours of operation, not "dirtiness" or pressure drop or anything scientific.  This is really a convenience feature that is there to simply serve as a reminder to do it.  We suggest changing the air filters in your home and office environment quarterly, four times per year.  Most residential systems only have one or a few filters, many office buildings have a much larger count and therefore will need to be considered in the budgeting process.  Your HVAC service contractor can help with the value to add in for that replacement program. 

The other thing to consider:

Ina commercial office building, there are systems that allow you to induce outside air into the space as the primary cooling source.  This is called an air-side economizer, there are water-side economizers as well, but that is for a different day, these will require a little more monitoring of the air filter condition due to the high percentage of ambient air that is being puled through the filters.  The economizers are a great money saving tool and even though the filter replacement cost will increase with use, your overall power consumption will be reduced so far, there will be a "No Brainer" conversation to be had.  For more on Economizer Use Read about it in a past Newsletter @:  www.airtight.co/newsletters/AirTight_Newsletter-April_2012.pdf