Our society has come a long way in improving the working conditions for our factory workers. Those old, dingy, dark, hot, and smelly facilities are now bright, airy, cool, and comfortable—at least the ones with Big Ass fans.
Things are far better now, but conditions can still get oppressive in industrial-type buildings—especially when temperatures rise and warehouses get overheated. Nowadays, we know that keeping workers comfortable isn’t just a matter of being nice; it’s about helping them stay healthy and be more productive.
A miserable employee doesn’t get nearly as much work done as a happy employee.
So what can be done when warehouses get too hot for workers to be productive? In order to answer that question with a helpful solution, we need to understand the impact of air circulation.
How Warehouse Air Circulation Works
Whether inside or outside, air moves because of pressure. Outdoors, high atmospheric pressure pushes massive volumes of air, causing wind. In a building, fans and compressors create pressure, forcing air to blow through ducts and bringing warmer or cooler air throughout the building.
This basic principle works in any building where air circulation is needed to maintain a comfortable working climate. In most modern buildings, HVAC systems do the work of heating, ventilating, and cooling. But because air conditioning is very expensive to install and operate, most large buildings like warehouses don’t have it.
And when the weather gets hot outside, a warehouse can get even hotter inside. That’s because of the lack of air circulating through the building. The heat and stale air cause workers to become overheated, and productivity drops.
What Causes Problems with Circulation in a Warehouse
Pinpointing the problem is essential to solving the problem. While there can be multiple problems inhibiting air circulation in warehouses, the primary source of the issue is typically caused by one or more of the following factors:
Lack of Air Pressure
With no expensive HVAC system to force airflow, circulation simply doesn’t happen. Opening a door or window may help a little, but only if there’s wind outside. Even then, an open door isn’t going to bring much relief from the heat inside. With no pressure, there’s no airflow.
Physical Obstacles to Air Pressure Inside the Building
While every warehouse is different, most of them have something in common: warehouses are usually full of stuff. Rows of inventory often reach up to the ceiling, causing literal barriers to circulating air efficiently. Other physical obstructions can include ceiling height, large machinery, or the configuration of the workers, among many other elements.
Cost of Creating Air Pressure
Overcoming poor air circulation in a warehouse isn’t just a problem of physics. The price tag for creating adequate airflow through a warehouse can be staggering. Cost can be just as much a barrier to air circulation as any physical barrier.
What Solves Air Circulation Problems in a Warehouse
Assuming you don’t like wasting money on installing air-conditioning, your options for improving warehouse air circulation are limited. Fortunately, one of those options happens to be extremely effective while also being highly energy efficient: HVLS fans.
High-volume, low-speed (HVLS) fans are powerful enough to create massive amounts of pressure to circulate air throughout even the hottest warehouses. Using patented airfoils up to 30 feet in diameter, these giant fans force airflow where your workers need it the most: breezing across their skin.
These Big Ass fans have been engineered with industrial-grade motors and parts that run for years. They’re big enough to dramatically improve warehouse air circulation, they’re quiet enough to never be a disruption, and they’re effective enough to keep your workers comfortable and productive.
Even when the indoor temperature reaches the 80s or higher, employees remain feeling cool because the fans create an evaporative cooling effect. The air flows across their sweaty skin, making them feel physically cooler.
Schedule a Consultation to Improve Circulation in Your Warehouse
No matter how unique your warehouse may be, Big Ass Fans can find a solution to bring better air circulation to your building—and a huge relief to your employees. And no matter what your budget (or lack of one) might be, Big Ass Fans has a variety of options for improving your warehouse air circulation.
Our airflow experts use a proprietary software called SpecLab®, which uses computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to analyze your warehouse and create a visualization of how air circulation can be improved. Contact our team here to set up your SpecLab analysis.
