Information Articles

Sometimes known as make up air units, air handling units are useful for a number of purposes. They can be applied in a variety of locations and building types, including industrial facilities, warehouses, and kitchens and food service properties.

Those who work in or run larger buildings know that finding a good heating unit for their location can be a lot more difficult than simply purchasing a furnace for their home. These units have to be much more powerful to offer sufficient heat for the entire building while also being safe enough to follow proper building codes and standards.

In larger buildings and locations, there is often a problem with infiltration of contaminated or unheated air. This creates a problem with both the pollution and air quality inside the building as well as the temperature within the location.

A direct-fired heater burns hot gasses but transfers the heat to a process liquid or gas flowing directly through heat exchanging coils. Direct-fired heaters offers flexibility since they can be used in radiant and convection heat exchanges, and can be configured in a wide variety of ways to meet requirements in an industrial or commercial  application.

In a small setting such as a typical home’s hood over the kitchen range, the air can be made up by normal ventilation, air leaks or an open window. In a commercial or industrial operation, however, the large amount of air being evacuated by an exhaust blower must be replaced directly by a make-up air system to maintain the air quality in the building.

For many commercial buildings constructed since the energy crisis of the ’70s, the drive to build-in energy efficiency had the unintended consequence of creating “sick building syndrome,” resulting in health problems and reduced productivity in the workforce.