Stop exhausting air from your building and blowing your natural gas budget!

In 2021 natural gas prices spiked across much of the United States, leaving customers with costly energy bills. In many states, natural gas prices have more than doubled, leaving consumers and businesses alike worried about heating costs throughout the winter months.

As manufacturing businesses can relate, saving precious dollars on energy costs is extremely important. If your business generates dust, fumes, or hazardous particulates, having an industrial dust collector is imperative to keeping your energy costs down.

How can a dust collector save money on energy costs and benefit your business? To answer these questions, first we need to look at what many companies do to eliminate hazardous dust and particulates from the air.

the easy way isn't always the right way

A typical solution used by many companies is to use an exhaust fan and make up air units. Make up air systems are designed to “make up” the air in your interior space that has been removed due to exhaust fans. Make up air units are also capable of heating and cooling air before venting air into the building. An exhaust fan blows air out from inside your building.

The problem with this solution is when the air in a building is exhausted and not replenished from another air source, the result is depressurization or negative pressure. This can be seen in doors slamming shut or swinging open on their own. If the air is not able to be vented into the building, exhaust systems will struggle to overcome the negative pressure. A buildup of fume and dust will be visible as less air is being exhausted.

Consequently, air from outside the building will have to be vented into the building. This can be done by make up air units, fans, or leaving exterior doors and windows open. If make up air units are not used, then internal temperature could reach near outside ambient temps. If you are using make-up air, you are spending money heating air that is then being exhausted outside, leading to increased heating costs.

The problem with not having dust collection

A bigger problem in just using make up air units without filtration is the increased maintenance cost. Without dust collectors filtering the air, the make up air units are doing the heavy loading with filters that are not designed as well as dust collectors.

Standard Merv ratings for dust collectors are Merv 15, where make-up air units are Merv 13. Merv 13 will prevent less than 75% of the 0.3-1.0 micron particles from passing through, Merv 15 will prevent up to 94%. Make up air filters are normally tricky to change, and particulate will travel through the filter and build up on the inside reducing air flow and potentially causing a fire hazard depending on the type of dust. Dust collectors have built in filter cleaning to reduce filter maintenance and replacement. Even if the particulate is exhausted outside you are still increasing the load on the filters and possibly recirculating the particulate that has just been exhausted.

SOLUTIONS FOR ALL OF YOUR INDUSTRIAL DUST COLLECTION NEEDS

 The best solution is to update your dust collection equipment to ensure you are providing employees with clean air. Not only will this result in happier, more efficient employees, but it will also reduce your heating costs. Contact us today and to find the dust collection system from A.C.T. Dust Collectors to help clear the air in your manufacturing business.