Imagine cutting the ribbon on a brand new plant building. Every effort has been put into installing the newest, most efficient production equipment. Layout and workflow follow the latest studies on productivity. Sounds like a dream.

Now imagine the first summer with temperatures inside the plant rising to over 110 degrees Fahrenheit. Sounds like an all-too-familiar nightmare. But what's the most cost-effective way to cool the plant down?

Unfortunately, this situation faced Plasti-Line, Inc. in Columbia, S.C. after moving into its new 82,500 square foot pre-engineered metal building. "During our first summer, we recorded temperatures in excess of 110 degrees Fahrenheit on numerous occasions," recalls Michael Smith, manufacturing engineer for the company, which makes large retail signage.

Summer working conditions were so uncomfortable that employees were given an extra break period to cool down. With 100 employees, the extra 10 minutes of break time amounted to nearly 17 hours of lost production time each day.

Managers at Plasti-Line realized that there was more at stake than just lost production time, moreover. Excessive heat can lead to safety problems. So improving conditions became a priority.

Installing air conditioning was examined. But it was judged to be too expensive in terms of installation costs and operating expenses.

"From the beginning," says Smith, "I felt that the solution to the problem lay in improving airflow in the plant. The ventilation system simply did not move sufficient air at the floor level where the employees were working."

Small fans, pedestal- or column-mounted, were considered. But that meant purchasing and maintaining a separate fan at each of 100 workstations. And since workers aren't always stationary, they would feel relief only when standing directly in front of the fans.

Instead, the solution was to install nine ceiling fans of a particular type: the high volume, low speed (HVLS) fan. Each fan at Plasti-Line has 10 blades that are each 20 ft in diameter.

This fan, according to its manufacturer, provides 25+ times the airflow of a "standard industrial" ceiling fan. Turning at speeds of 50 to 60 rpm, the 20-foot-diameter fan model moves almost 90,000 cubic feet per minute of air, creating a breeze of about 3 mph. Non-disruptive, low velocity air currents from an HVLS fan reduce the effective temperature by 6 to 8 degrees Fahrenheit.

Compared to air conditioning costs of $4 to $8 per square foot installed, the HVLS fans are much less expensive, coming in at about $0.50 per square foot. Operating costs of each of the nine fans is less than $0.50 per day, or a fraction of air conditioning operating costs.

HVLS Fan

859-233-1271

www.hvls.com