How to Cool a Shop Without AC: 4 Solutions to Consider
Anyone who owns or works in a shop knows that they can get hot. Whether from the equipment or necessity to keep large bay doors open, it’s a great challenge to install a requisite HVAC system and have it be economical. Not to mention with rising energy costs, in almost all situations, HVAC systems just aren’t in the cards.
Thankfully, that statement is easy to make because there is a great alternative: commercial-grade fans. In this article, we’ll explain how modern fans manufactured for commercial shops can maximize the evaporative cooling effect and circulate air properly to provide a comfortable environment for shop personnel and equipment.
Understanding the Power of Evaporative Cooling
Air conditioning is truly a modern luxury, as it came into widespread use only in the last 70 years. For all of human history prior, the inhabitants of environments that experienced significant heat had one way to cool down: the process of evaporative cooling.
Without diving too deep into the science of the process, our bodies sweat to cool us down. When our internal temperature rises, the part of our brain that regulates temperature signals sweat glands to produce sweat that forms on our skin. Once sweat reaches the surface of our skin, it begins to evaporate. The process of evaporation - liquid turning into gas - requires thermal (heat) energy, which is sourced from our skin. As the sweat evaporates, the temperature of our skin drops, and the cooled blood near the surface circulates throughout the body to cool us down. It’s a nifty process that has been critical for our survival.
The evaporative process is most pronounced when there is airflow. If you’ve ever been outside on a searingly hot day, the difference between that experience with a small breeze and no breeze is profound. And this brings us to one of our most useful tools for cooling, one that has been with us for centuries and allows for non-air-conditioned shops to keep personnel cool: fans.
How Fans Alone Provide Cooling
Fans work because they create a flow of air that moves humid air away from the skin, allowing for the evaporative cooling process to be more effective. This is why breezeless, humid days are more unbearable than the same temperature in a dry climate. Dry air is much more effective for evaporation, so to achieve these conditions, there needs to be a flow of air to move humid air away from the skin so the evaporative process can be optimized.
The usefulness of fans was sent into overdrive with the rise of mechanical fans that could not only power themselves, but create superior air movement. Alongside the industrial revolution and its continuance into modern manufacturing, mechanical fans offer powerful cooling when A/C isn’t an option.
The Best Fans to Utilize to Cool a Shop Without A/C
For most shops, air conditioning isn’t feasible. Air conditioning systems are expensive, and the larger the building, the more that expense increases. Even if given a system for free, it will require significant energy to run (not to mention maintenance costs). With energy costs on the rise, the expense may simply not be possible. Especially considering that shops often have large doorways and open garages where conditioned air can freely leave, the system is working overtime to constantly replace that lost air, rather than a sealed space where it only needs to run intermittently.
The answer to these many issues is to rely on the power of modern industrial fans to induce the evaporative cooling effect to keep personnel cool. Take a look at these 4 solutions that could help cool a shop.
HVLS Fans
High Volume, Low Speed (HVLS) fans are the ideal ceiling fan to keep your entire shop cool. Depending on the size, even just one fan can properly circulate the air in your shop and make use of the evaporative cooling effect to provide cooling for personnel.
The ECO HVLS fan from Hunter Industrial is a great choice as it comes in sizes appropriate for shop square footages.
Directional Fans
While HVLS fans are indeed the ideal solution for cooling an entire shop, sometimes the entire shop doesn’t need to be cooled. In these scenarios, directional fans are the go-to solution as they provide targeted airflow to keep only the specific sectors of the shop cool.
Jan Fan Industrial Fans provide a mountable directional fan so it can be kept out of the way and pointed exactly where cooling and air flow is required.
Drum Fans
Similar to directional fans, drum fans are designed to move significant volumes of air over large distances. The advantage over directional fans is that drum fans are portable and sit on the ground and therefore can be repositioned in the shop wherever work is taking place.
The SD4VFF drum fan from Super Duty Fans is an excellent choice as it comes on a mount with casters for easy moving to where great air flow and associated cooling is required in the shop.
Evaporative Coolers
A bit different than the above fans, evaporative coolers utilize water evaporation to chill spaces without excessive energy usage. These solutions can cool spots up to 6,500 square feet each.
The Evaporative Coolers by Big Ass Fans are a great solution and an economical way to cool a shop and provide more targeted airflow.