Pollutants must be eliminated – particularly where people work and live. Dust, fibres, mould spores or even asbestos fumes can be found in the air and represent a serious health risk. When it comes to professional air purification, the commercial LR5300 Industrial Air Cleaner from Kroll Energy is the perfect solution

Where construction work is performed, there is dust. In most cases actually a lot. Dust not only affects workers and their health at the site but also the general public. Dust containing quartz, mineral fibre, wood, cellulose and asbestos are particularly hazardous because they enter the airways and lead to sustainable health effects. Fine dust, in particular, can enter the respiratory tract and lungs, and as these are enclosed by connective tissue making it practically impossible for the particles to exit again. This is followed by chronic sicknesses for the persons affected, such as the much-feared silicosis. Respirable dust consists of particles that are smaller than five thousandths of a millimetre in size. In order to prevent its entry into the respiratory tract, only one preventative measure does the job: the fine dust has to be filtered from the air in advance. The LR5300 Industrial Air Cleaner from Kroll Energy is especially designed for the raw day-to-day work on busy construction sites.

Additionally, spores, allergens and micro fibres, which can result during building, insulation and mould restoration, should not be underestimated.

Another factor to consider are in places of work; facilities and operating material have to adjust the limit values within the next four years. What use is the most sophisticated process optimisation in production when the goods then get damaged in the warehouse? It is vital to ensure optimal conditions in warehouses and storage facilities and to regularly check these.

A sophisticated combination of our LR5300 Industrial Air Cleaner and Dehumidifiers is all you need to take care of and maintain these sensitive areas. You can find various powerful dehumidifiers among the Flexiheat range. With the LR5300 Industrial Air Cleaner you can protect against any pollutants. Your products can be permanently and safely protected when in storage. Improper storage can result in serious damage to goods. Moist air in warehouses damages packaging and in the worst case mould can even form.  Within just a short time pallets or even an entire inventory can be completely ruined.  In short, what this means is that your goods can no longer be sold. Dust, mould spores and bacteria in the air are also not uncommon in warehouses and this too must also be effectively combatted. Pollutants do not just damage your goods; they can also expose your employees to great risk. From a human point of view this is a disaster. And on top of that work colleagues can easily be affected by allergies, rendering them unable to work, which can of course become quite expensive for your company.

If you combine one of our dehumidifiers with our powerful LR5300 Industrial Air Cleaner you will effectively combat dust and pollutants. These mobile professional devices provide a unique air flow control. In no time at all, dust, mould spores and bacteria in the air are no longer an issue in your warehouse or storage facility.

For more information on the LR5300 Industrial Air Cleaner, please click here  Alternatively, please give us a call on 01202 822222 and our dedicated sales team will be happy to offer advice and assistance or just contact us by mail by clicking here

Basics of dehumidification for commercial, or industrial dehumidifiers

Many homes and buildings suffer from high humidity and the problems it causes; Damp patches, condensation on walls and windows, mould and increased dust mite populations. A good industrial or commercial dehumidifier will reduce the levels of moisture and help to alleviate these problems.

High humidity is a problem that affects many environments. From homes to building sites, wine cellars to swimming pools.

Newer homes are better sealed with double glazing and often have less ventilation; older homes may have solid walls that allow damp to enter into the home. Common causes of excess moisture are drying clothes inside and poor ventilation

A domestic or commercial dehumidifier from Flexiheat UK is an ideal solution for so many applications;-

• Drying out water or flood damaged buildings, eliminating the need to replace and reconstruct
• Developing stable environments for exposed metal to prevent corrosion
• Reducing drying times at construction sites for concrete, insulation, and fireproofing
• Preparing surfaces and vessels for painting and coating applications
• Blanketing equipment to protect from humid air
• Maintaining correct ambient conditions for laying of flooring
• Prevention of mould and fungus growth

FHD30 Dehumidifier model – 30 Litres per day

So, what is Humidity?

 Relative humidity is a measure of how much water is in the air relative to the amount that air could hold if it was saturated. Relative humidity is expressed as a percentage. When relative humidity reaches 100% it is at the “dew point”. In other words the air is “full” of water and that water will start to condense onto any surface. Warm air holds more water than cool air so as air cools relative humidity rises even though the physical quantity remains constant.

For every fall in temperature of 10°C / 20°F the capacity of the air to hold water is halved. For example air at 27C /80°F with a relative humidity of 50% will reach the dew point, 100% RH when it has cooled to 15.5 C / 60°F.

Performance of dehumidifiers? How are they calculated?

Most dehumidifier manufacturers quote the capacities of their dehumidifiers based on a temperature of 30°C and 100 % relative humidity i.e the temperatures and humidity levels that you would find in Florida, in the summer. The capacity the units will extract is given in litres per 24 hours. If the temperature is lower, as we often find in the UK, then the performance of the unit is lower. Here is an example;-

                                                                                                          Flexiheat  unit                                                  Flexiheat  unit

Temperature & Relative Humidity                                    FHD30  model                                                  FHD70 model

At 10°C / 60% Relative Humidity                                                       4 litres                                                                    8 litres

At 25°C / 60% Relative Humidity                                                       13 litres                                                                  25 litres

At 27°C / 60% Relative Humidity                                                       20 litres                                                                  40 litres

As you can see from the above, the colder the temperature, the less water is extracted. At a temperature of 5°C refrigerant dehumidifiers will stop extracting all together

Low GWP Industrial dehumidifers range – 30 to 70 Litres water extraction per day

What can I do about this, to get my extraction rate up ?

Quite simple, add a heat source to the area to be dried. The best option is an electrical heater or an indirect ( this means the products of combustion do not enter the area being heated ) oil or gas heater. The hotter the area is, the better the extraction rate you will achieve

Airflow is important – You need to ensure that you are using the right size dehumidifier for the area you want to extract the vapour from. The general rule is –

To keep the room dry, multiply the air volume the unit will do by 2

So, for the FHD30 it is 300 M³/h thus a room with a volume of 600 M³

To dry a room, multiply the air volume the unit will do by 1

So,  for the FHD30  it is 300 M³/h thus a room with a volume of 300 M³

Here’s a quick reference chart for all our models

What can happen if I put 2 smaller dehumidifiers in one room, for example I want to keep dry a 600 M³ building, with two FHD30 dehumidifiers?

This isn’t a problem, although you need to evenly place the units within the area, for even extraction to take place. If one side of the room is wetter than the other, expect to see the closest dehumidifier to have extracted more than the other unit.

I’ve just had a phone call from a customer and he says the unit isn’t working, nothing or very little is water is coming out?

We test every commercial dehumidifier prior to dispatch – the unit is working, if the green light is on – simple as that

It’s probably one of these reasons, why the the performance is poor

1. Our commercial dehumidifier units only work down to 30% Relative humidity – the ideal relative humidity is around 50% or less within a living environment –  check what relative humidity you have with a hydrostat. If the relative humidity is under 30% the unit won’t work.
2. What’s the temperature within the room? Is there heating within that area? Please bear in mind night time temperatures, where heating systems have be turned off, a room can easily get down to 5°C in the winter – the unit won’t work at 5°C or below , and the performance drops off dramatically with lower temperatures, as stated previously.
3. Do you have windows / doors etc open that is allowing fresh damp air into the area?
4. Are you using a direct fired oil or gas heater? if so , then this adds water content, that is given off in the combustion process
5. Is the unit the correct size for the room – please see the above sizing chart
6. Do you have more than one domestic or commercial d dehumidifier in the room – are they evenly placed? Is one in the in the wetter area?

Commercial dehumidifiers from Flexiheat UK

Contact us for dehumidifers

For more information on our commercial dehumidifier range, please click on our dedicated product page for commercial dehumidifiers  or our industrial dehumidifiers .  Alternatively, please give us a call on 01202 822222 and our dedicated sales team will be happy to offer advice and assistance or just contact us by mail by clicking here

LTHW air unit heaters

Many industrial buildings prefer to run their heating from a piped hot water circuit. Where heat is available in this form then the use of LTHW air unit heaters fed with hot water is invariably the most cost-effective method of space heating a room or building. As with electric fan heaters, there are a variety of types and options available and we aim to make choosing the right model as easy as possible. The following guidance is written around our LTHW unit heater extensive range that we call the LH series. They are also referred to as lphw unit heaters – (low pressure hot water).

They are great heating installation solution for large areas such as warehouses, exhibition halls, factories etc.

Applications for Water LTHW air unit heaters / lphw unit heaters

There is no doubt that if you have a good source of heated water on a piped circuit then these unit heaters are a very cost-effective way to discharge the heat in to the areas in which it is needed. Each model has a large range of heat output depending on the flow temperature, return temperature, ambient air temperature, and water flow rate. This means that with the addition of a recirculation air / fresh air mixer cabinet and suitable controls, these ranges are an ideal compliment to heat sources that are bit less controllable than straight oil gas or electricity fired systems. For biomass boilers, solar fed thermal stores and wind turbine heated thermal stores it is useful to have not only a quick and effective means of dumping excess heat, but also a system that can deliver heat from quite low temperatures and be easy to integrate with a secondary heating system when water temperature is too low.

LTHW UNIT HEATERS – HOW MUCH OUTPUT?

If you are using a water fed LTHW air unit heater to space heat an area, the implication is that you are using available surplus heat and this will be the principle heating for the area.  As with any heating requirement the initial stage is to identify the size of the heat output requirement. Please contact us at Flexiheat UK for advice

CONFIGURATION FOR LTHW UNIT HEATERS

It is seldom the case that a required heat output for a system of water fed unit heaters can be met neatly with a single heater. In most cases there are a number of configurations using a number of models from a range to achieve the overall space heating requirement for an application. Sometimes there is a choice between a number of unit heaters of a large size or a greater number of unit heaters at a smaller size.

Generally the smaller number of larger unit heaters will be more cost-effective in terms of unit heater cost, control costs and installation cost. But the choice of unit heaters should also take into consideration the shape of the room and air throw of heaters, perhaps using larger unit heaters for larger uniform areas, and using smaller unit heater for smaller dead areas of the main area.

Uses of Fresh Air in Space heating

Because a water fed unit heater usually uses a circuit of hot water that is often ‘surplus’ it is quite common that these unit heaters are not merely mounted on wall brackets, in 100% re-circulation mode, but mounted on mixer boxes, which themselves are mounted over a vent in the outside wall, enabling heated air to be a mixture of re-circulated and fresh air.

With the addition of options available such as either manual or motorized dampers , the mixer boxes allows the flow to through the unit heater to be set at any level from 100% fresh to 100% re-circulated and anywhere in between.

Mixer boxes are useful because in addition to being able to take air straight from the room through a grill, the grill can be removed leaving an upstand (spigot) for ducting connection, so that the mixing box can be part of a more complex ducted ventilation system.

The key element to connection to a mixing box where outside air is brought in, is that the heater control system incorporates frost protection functionality, to prevent any chance of water freezing in the coils when the heater coils are not being used for general heating.

As well as mixer box options, there are also filter box options allowing a G3 efficiency filter to be fitted. This fitting is essential if the unit heater are to be used in dusty environments in order that build up of dust on the coils is prevented.

HEAT SOURCE FOR WATER FED UNIT HEATERS

Whilst many will consider conventional boilers to be the heat source of choice for a hot water circuit, they are not necessarily the most flexible source of heat. Water fed unit heaters are not fussy about what heats the water up and will operate perfectly well from a wide range of water feed temperatures. This means that as well as being ideally suited to conventional large boilers, the units can also use relatively low-grade heat produced by chiller/heat pump/ boiler combinations, where the chiller or heat pump preheats water to say 40-50°C  before the boiler adds top temperature to get it to normal heating circuit flow of say 80°C. The benefit of this type of arrangement is that typically the winter heating costs are lower and that in summer the chiller can be used to produce cool water for the heating circuit. Even if you have a heat pump or chiller producing 60°C this is hot enough to be used to feed LTHW air unit heaters, the only difference being that you will get fewer kilowatts out of it than if the flow temperature was higher. The beauty of LTHW air unit heaters is that even for lower temperature flows, they are still a very cost-effective way of discharging heat.

Our LH range of unit heaters from Kroll(A German manufacturer ) offer a wide range sizes and are noted for larger sizes with nominal heat outputs up to 118kw. They are competitively priced and at the bigger end of the range they offer size and output which is beyond the range of most of the other manufactures.

The larger Kroll lthw air unit heaters in this range have two fans and at the output at 90/70°C and an ambient air temperature of -15°C the largest LH range heater produces a whopping 203kw. Other useful features in our range are that there are extensive range of options for filter boxes, louvers, and side outlets. There are also options the heaters being supplied with stainless steel casing as an alternative to the standard powder coating. These air unit heaters can also be supplied with explosion proof fan motors, where required.

For more information please visit our  LTHW Unit Heater page , or contact us on 01202 822221  or  visit our website www.flexiheatuk.com

Flexiheat UK Ltd is the UK distributor for the Kroll range of heating products. One of the most popular and successful products, which has been manufactured to the same exacting specification for 50 years,  is the W401 manual ignition waste oil heater, capable of burning most oils including waste engine oil, hydraulic oils etc.

Flexiheat can offer two versions of this heater. The W401L, which produces radiant heat only and the W401K, which produces a combination of radiant heat plus hot air from the top mounted  ’thermo’  blower. Both models produce a heat output of 29kW / 99,000 BTU’s

We have supplied many of these units over the years to many different applications. from garage workshops to farm buildings. If you have an abundance of waste oil, then these products are the most economically efficient heating solution

Because of the popularity and overall longevity of these models, component parts have differed little and therefore we carry stock of all common spare parts suited to both older versions and newer versions.

For more information on our manual fired waste oil waste oil heater, please click here  Alternatively, please give us a call on 01202 822222 and our dedicated sales team will be happy to offer advice and assistance or just contact us by mail by clicking here

Flexiheat UK Ltd is the UK distributor for the Kroll range of Industrial dual voltage dehumidifiers

We have two units within our standard range, these being the Kroll T20D, a 20 litre a day unit, and the Kroll T40D, a 40 litre a day unit.

We have supplied many of these units over the years within the UK market, as we used to supply the Rhino RD4S dehumidifier as well as the Rhino RD2S Dehumidifier, both of which were dual voltage dehumidifiers.

Following the end of the sales agreement with Birchwood products, Flexiheat UK is now selling the replacements for the RD2S and RD4S units direct, please contact Flexiheat on 01202 822221, Email –   sales@flexiheatuk.com for current prices, information etc.

We often get asked for rhino RD4S dehumidifier instructions or rhino RD4S dehumidifier instructions as some people refer to, and these are available to download from the Flexiheat UK website – www.flexiheatuk.com as well as the Rhino RD2S model.

Spares parts are no longer available for the Rhino RD4S or RD2S Dehumidifiers, but please feel free to give us a call and we can quote you for the equivalent models.

You can contact us on 01202 822221 or drop us an email on sales@flexiheatuk.com

Since we stopped manufacturing the Rhino Dehumidifier range for Birchwood, we have moved forward with the design of our dual voltage dehumidifier, and the replacement units are now designated as the T20D, again a 20 litre dual voltage dehumidifier, and the T40D again a 40 litre dual voltage dehumidifier, which have proven to be a big success in the industrial and commercial flood restoration market, as well as the construction industry

On large sites, our large capacity industrial dehumidifiers are perfect for accelerating the drying process of plasterwork and concrete flooring.

The units have changed in appearance, to make them more ergonomically efficient, and easy to transport and lift if required. But the one thing that hasn’t change is the performance and durability of our market leading dehumidifiers, as Kroll being German, don’t ever compromise on quality. That’s why; we believe we have the best dual voltage dehumidifiers on the UK market.

We also do single voltage 240 volt dehumidifiers too, if you don’t require dual voltage. Contact us for details