Warehouses Look Simple, but Require Complex HVAC Solutions

Maintaining the proper environment for warehouses requires multiple-choice solutions. From the outside, if you don’t look too closely, warehouses are the most basic of buildings: essentially four walls, some loading dock doors, and few if any interior walls that cut into storage space.

It’s what is stored in the warehouses and how the buildings are used that set each of them apart. Some need to maintain low interior temperatures for products requiring cold storage. With other warehouses, humidity is the issue. In a warehouse that serves as a distribution center, ventilation with outside air is important to expel vehicle exhaust. If saving energy is a top priority, recycling inside air is the best plan.

When facing a contract to supply an HVAC system for a warehouse, the engineers at AbsolutAire designed a system that met the conditions of the building’s architecture, the products stored within it, and the activities in the warehouse.

For a distribution center with many doors to receive a constant traffic of delivery trucks loaded by a large dock crew, replacing the air is important. A Return Air (RA) system, that takes the inside air, heats it or cools it, then returns the air to the inside, would be unhealthy as carbon monoxide exhaust could reach dangerous levels.

For that situation, we would turn to our AbsolutAire high capacity R-Series direct-fired HVAC system. These OA/RA systems can operate in 100 percent outside air mode during times of heavy traffic to evacuate delivery truck fumes and keep CO levels safe, but can also blend a high percentage of outside air with a lower percentage of return air during reduced traffic times to save heating energy.

A company in Holland, MI, had a new facility that required a different approach. Without the need to exhaust carbon monoxide, the priority there was to maintain a comfortable 70 degrees inside for workers year round. An AbsolutAire E-Series direct-fired air turnover system met the requirement. It uses only 3 percent outside air during winter to provide warm air to the warehouse so it needs less energy to heat. The system’s 5HP direct drive axial fan is also quiet, making it easier on the ears and less disruptive on the facility’s work crews.

You can turn to the Solutions / Warehousing page on AbsolutAire.com to learn more details about these and other case studies where AbsolutAire designed and installed HVAC systems in warehouses that required customized solutions. If you need a heating and cooling system that meets your unique requirements, or you just have questions about our HVAC equipment, turn to the Contact Us page to send us an email