Cool & Quick: Emergency Cooling

A well-equipped HVAC contractor deals in all types of cooling, including the movable kind. Better known as spot cooling, these easy-to-position and versatile units are comfort on wheels, portable air-conditioning systems that can be easily placed where your customers need them. They can be moved from room to room, or be strategically positioned over a long period of time. They provide cooling and dehumidification for hot spots in an office or building, or for areas that tend to overheat and require consistent lower temperatures, such as a computer server room.

While energy costs continue to climb, utility companies are frequently unable to provide all of the electricity that a plant, laboratory, hospital, or office complex may require. When circumstances force a business to control capital expenses, spot cooling provides efficient, low-cost cooling.

Garth Tagge is vice president of sales for Spot Coolers, Norcross, GA, a preferred nationwide distributor of Movin Cool portable cooling products. Spot Coolers deals exclusively in portable air conditioning, units of 1- to 5-ton capacities that can be easily brought into a commercial building.

Thirty years after portable air conditioning was introduced to the HVAC market, Tagge says its achieved full acceptance and awareness as a valuable service.

"As we've watched the market develop, we've seen it become something that's expected by customers. Much like cable television or microwave ovens, portable cooling has become common, a required and essential product and service," Tagge says. Contractors are specifying portable air conditioning more often. They'll often request a unit before the contractor ever makes the suggestion.

The best-outfitted suppliers carry a variety of units for leasing, in different sizes and configurations. This saves the HVAC contractor from buying a standby unit, which may not apply to every cooling need.

"We have five or six types of 5-tonners to rent, and they all have specific purposes," Tagge explains. "An HVAC contractor wouldn't want to buy one type of five-ton unit, because it may not be applicable in every situation. They may need a water cooled unit one week, and an air-cooled unit the next," he says.

"Portable units provide quick and easy installations. They're a great option to offer customers to keep areas cooled during transition periods," adds Eddie Stevenson, marketing manager for MovinCool, Long Beach, CA. "If clients are adding heat loads from something such as server equipment, it might be more cost efficient to supplement the cooling permanently with our unit rather than change the entire system."

On the Spot When Needed
Batchelor & Kimball, Livonia, GA, provides commercial HVAC, plumbing, and fire protection for a wide range of facilities, including hospitals, industrial centers, and data centers.

John O'Neil, assistant vice president, is one of Spot Coolers' happiest customers. He calls for a portable cooling unit based on two contingencies: an emergency cooling need due to a failure of forced air equipment, or to accommodate a temporary shutdown of the forced air system.

"If it's an emergency, Spot Coolers offers 24-hour service, and there's always someone to talk to. That's what we expect, from a customer service standpoint," O'Neil says. "We give them the address, the number of units we need, and tell them we need them as fast as possible. Sometimes they can get them to the site within an hour. We might need them for a computer room, telephone equipment room, or hospital."

Spot cooling at a moment's notice not only brings cool comfort to customers; it also makes the contractor a hero. "Customers take notice of it as an important part of what we do. They call us because they know we can get equipment when they want it," O'Neil says.

Beyond Comfort, to Network Security
Comfort is important. However, in some situations, the enhanced value of timely portable cooling can include preventing the failure of an entire communications network. Ed Smith has been there. He's executive director of mechanical operations for the HVAC service division of Roth Brothers, Inc., Youngstown, OH. Roth Brothers provides Design/Build mechanical work for commercial, retail, office, and industrial customers across the U.S.

"A major air conditioning unit failed at a power plant control room," Smith recalls. "If that control room overheated, the generators would have shut down, killing power to millions of homes. Another prime example is in server rooms or computer rooms. When a crucial piece of air conditioning equipment fails, we mobilize portable equipment in critical spots to keep computers and servers operating. Otherwise, the failure could crash an entire network."

That's why time is of the essence. A fast response when the mercury's climbing means everything.

One of Roth Brothers' major portable cooling suppliers is Topp Portable Air, Aston, PA. Topp offers a complete, line of portable air conditioners, MovinCool spot coolers, and large mobile air conditioners at locations across the U.S.

"They're always there on the spot with a variety of portable air conditioners. With Topp, we're able to bring in the range of cooling our customers need," Smith says.

Ken Morello, director of sales for Topp Portable Air, says contractors appreciate the units' "tactical” benefits.

"Portable air conditioners serve as a tactical solution while a permanent air conditioning system is being repaired or replaced. More and more contractors understand the value of portable air conditioning as a cost-effective viable solution," Morello says. "Installation is quick, easy, and cost-effective, and is complete in a matter of minutes."

Flexible Duct Option
"We see the interest in spot cooling being driven by energy efficiency and savings," says Randy Niederer, director of marketing for Unico, Inc., manufacturers of The Unico System, based in St. Louis, MO. Their spot cooling method — the Unico Spot Cooling System — uses 2.5-in. flexible aluminum ductwork coming off of a main plenum.

"The ductwork retains its positioning, so that you can point the cooling to the appropriate area. Unico is a high velocity system. It moves the air at about 1,600 feet per minute," Niederer explains.