A New Year Just Blew In

A NEW YEAR JUST BLEW IN

We hope you're reinvigorated and getting started on planning your year, or if you're really good, you’ve already started on projects! The beginning of the year is also a perfect time to evaluate your ventilation needs. You may already have a list of what must be replaced, added, or upgraded, and are already deciding project timelines and goals. This is good! If not, you may need a bit of help figuring out the right amount of fresh air to get moving through your facility so you know what products to get. This is where we can help. It’s vital to your employees’ safety, comfort, and productivity to get the bad air out and the fresh air in.    
 
So, how do you accurately calculate your ventilation needs? It starts by determining the rate at which you need to completely replenish the volume of air in a given room. This is known as an air turnover (or air change) rate and is usually expressed as number of air changes per hour (although it can sometimes be seen as “minutes per air change”). The number of air changes needed ultimately depends on the type of facility or the work being done in a particular area.  For example, a typical warehouse should change air approximately 12 times an hour, though this can vary between 6 and 30.  By contrast, a garage needs to replenish its air 20 times in an hour to protect employees against heat buildup and noxious fumes.
 
Once the air change rate is determined, we can proceed with our calculation. For purposes of this article, we’ll make the math easy (because… hey… who doesn’t love easy math?!). Let’s say you have a 100’ x 100’ building with a 25’ ceiling height.  Based on the work being done, we’ve decided on 12 air changes every hour. Your calculation would look like this:
 
100’ x 100’ x 25’     =      250,000 ft³ 
                                              60/12         =    50,000 CFM
 
Based on our calculation above, you would need to move 50,000 cubic feet of air per minute (CFM) through your facility in order to achieve 12 complete air changes an hour.
 
Being responsible for ventilation in your facility doesn’t have to be difficult. So now that you know your ventilation needs, what’s next? Why not call Patterson?! We have the people, the products, and the knowledge to help you build the ventilation system of your dreams! And be sure to check out our new ventilation brochure. It’s packed full of product specs, proper placement suggestions, and more!

CHECK OUT OUR NEW VENTILATION CATALOG

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