Warehouse Fans & Ventilation

Cooling Fans and Ventilation Fans

An increasingly important part of a comfortable working environment is good air circulation which is essential for effective cooling, ventilation or both. More often than not these days good ventilation and a constant stream of fresh air are legal requirements of government and the Health and Safety Executive.

There are a number of ways to increase ventilation and airflow which range from simply opening a window or door, too complicated ducted systems that are built into a building at the point of construction.

Natural ventilation alone is not always an option though and sometimes mechanical assistance is required, of which there are two main types:

Ventilation fans remove hazardous substances such as smoke, dust, vapours, welding fumes and gasses like CO2.

Cooling fans are an excellent way to circulate air, which helps relieve the kind of stale, stuffy atmosphere proven to reduce productivity and efficiency. They are also used to supplement air conditioning for comfort cooling, especially in larger areas. These types of fans are sometimes known as Man Coolers in the industry.

With the Mighty Breeze and VF ranges, Broughton offers a number of portable cooling and ventilation solutions that can be used to supplement natural air movement or fixed installations. These high volume fans can be used to either suck or blow air to help create a more suitable environment, either on their own or with ducting and filters.

With a 30 year history in the design and manufacture of fans and ventilation equipment, we have previously supplied fans into all sorts of different industries. The VF range of industrial ventilation fans tends to find itself in more specialised settings such as manufacturing, tank cleaning, mining, tunnelling, construction and demolition, the military and even farming. On the other hand, the more subtle and stylish Mighty Breeze range is commonly used for either assisting comfort cooling and/or heating in applications such as event hire, factories, gymnasiums, centres and even on the sets of pop videos.

What’s the difference between cooling fans and ventilation fans?

Any fan can be used to ventilate, just by switching one on you’ll have some form of ventilation, however, sometimes, that might not be enough or it may be necessary to extract air that has become contaminated or polluted with something like smoke, fumes or even dust. You might also want to extract air from a tunnel or workstation which is nowhere near a window or doorway so ducting is required, for applications such as these you’d be better off using a dedicated ventilation fan.

Other than their shapes, which are quite different for ventilation fans, the main difference between ventilation and cooling are the blades they use. Cooling fans tend to use standard axial blades which, although excellent air movers and perfect for general cooling and circulation purposes, don’t generate much pressure so aren’t really suitable for use with ducting. Ventilation fans, on the other hand, will use sickle bladed or centrifugal impellers that are able to move air at great pressure and therefore perfect when ducting is required.

Typical Applications

Our Mighty Breeze cooling fans usually find themselves in marquees, retail centres, warehouses, offices, factories, large distribution centres and even museums. The more specialist VF range tend to go into more industrial settings and are generally used for welding fume extraction, tunnel work, tank cleaning, sewers and so on.

Useful tips for specifying the correct ventilation or cooling fan

To select the appropriate fan(s) simply calculate the volume of the room to be ventilated and multiply this by the number of air changes required (using the below table or similar). It is however also worth noting what type of application you have as a large VF600 would not necessarily be suitable for a nightclub or gym so a number of MB50’s might be a better option. You must also ensure that there are gaps in the room, an open window, for example, to ensure a good flow of air, especially when sucking the air through.

Below is a table of common applications showing the normally recommended number of air changes per hour. Although these represent a good guideline we would always suggest checking any legal specifics with the appropriate body as there can, on occasion, be variations.