These Include:

The correct heat load and heat loss calculations, taking into consideration occupancy different times of the day, thermal heat loads from solar gains through windows and skylights, opening and closing of access doors and of course, the correct ventilation and air distribution for the kitchen.

It simple for most companies to calculate the basic heat loads based upon the amount of people that will be present at any given time. however, it’s important to realise that peak occupancy usually isn’t at the same time as peak heat gain from the sun. if this is the case for you,  then the heat calculation would need to be made on both the maximum load during peak occupancy and then maximum load during the height of the summer at peak hours. Then a mean average could be taken to find out which of the maximum figures is most suitable to use as the air conditioning cooling load.  Simply running this calculation could save over 50% in installation costs and running costs.

When installing air conditioning into a restaurant, it is very important to find out how the air-conditioned area will be affected by  kitchen and toilet extracts. it is very common for a company to select an air conditioning company to supply and install the main restaurant area heating and cooling, and then use a completely separate contractor, to supply the ventilation within the kitchen and toilet areas. These areas need to be calculated together, ideally by one contractor who would take upon themselves to design the system efficiently.

If the kitchen extract is installed without given a second thought to the air conditioning in the main restaurant area, then large amounts of heated or cooled air would be dragged outside and would go completely to waste. The additional strain and additional costs are incalculable but thankfully avoidable.

It is also worth spending some time understanding the restaurant seating layout when deciding on your air conditioning. everybody has been inside a restaurant eating while having cold drafts of air blown on them this is certainly not desirable, but without the right design becomes unavoidable. This doesn’t have to be an exact location for each and every chair, but is always best to create a standard layout for your restaurant before calling upon and air conditioning contractor to design a system which will work efficiently and not cause anyone any discomfort.

If you are looking to air conditioning your restaurant, and you would like to ensure that you have the best possible solution for your requirements and is always best to call in a professional. At service group 365 we are able to offer you a complete no obligation survey and proposal, which will outline all of the features and benefits of the air conditioning systems that we have selected for you, along with the reasons why we have selected. From this, you will have all the information required to make an informed decision.

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This is the most popular opinion when it comes to speaking to clients regarding their server room air conditioning. This is until, it fails!

Service Group 365 is predominantly a service and maintenance type business, however we do have an installation team too. Many of our clients have come onto us simply because they were not getting the service that they wanted from their  previous maintenance provider.  Most of our clients already have their air conditioning systems installed, and up until there is a problem with it, they seem generally happy with it. what most air conditioning companies don’t understand, or don’t choose to ask, is: “how important is your server room air conditioning to you?”. I suppose this could be reworded to  ” how important is it that your servers stays up and running permanently?”

So many companies have been ill-advised by other air conditioning companies or even consultants when it comes to choosing the right mechanical package for their server room.

Simply having an air conditioning unit which copes with the heat load is not enough any more, certainly if server failure is catastrophic to your business. it is important to understand that all mechanical products will fail at some stage of their life, and it is also fair to say that all mechanical products, will fail at different points of their life.  Therefore, the solution that service group 365 would recommend for all server rooms, is a 100% backup type solution. this would mean that if your server room had a total heat load of 5 kW. Then we would recommend installing 2×5 kW air conditioning systems. The systems would need to be independently controlled, and independently operated. there are in fact control devices that can be connected to air conditioning systems which would then rotate and cycle which of the units acts as the master and which of the units act as the slave. the rotation is usually change them a weekly basis. if for some reason one of the air conditioning units failed that was set to master, then once the internal temperature of the server room raised past a certain point, then the slave unit would kick in and cool equipment adequately. it is also possible to have this same control device send out an SMS message to advise a person that one of the air conditioning unit had in fact failed.

No one wants to receive a message with such bad news, but the news is welcomed when you know you can rely on the second air conditioning system to ensure that your servers remain running just the way they should.

Whether you’re looking for a new air conditioning server room installation, or you have a current installation in place and would like advice, then please do drop us a line and explain what you’re looking for what you have, and we will be more than happy to advise you either way, obviously, depending on your requirements.

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During a site survey carried out this week, we came up with a very similar problem with a new client. They had their air conditioning installed a number of years ago, and simply followed the layout that they had that suited them at the time. Three years on from that, and their current office layout does not suit their requirements, and therefore they need to make some amendments and section off different areas.

Currently, some of the air conditioning systems that have been installed operate to all intents and purposes is one individual unit. Even though there are four internal fan coils, they all run off one controller and they are all piped back to 1 external condensing unit. This is, in essence one air conditioning system. Our client’s new office layout has four separate rooms. Each of these rooms  are used for different purposes and therefore have completely different heat loads. simply running the air conditioning system as it was but now divided into four separate areas will cause excess stress on the external unit.

The only option our client has at this stage is to simply replace all their air conditioning systems, either 4 separate splits or a VRV system.

Non of their existing installation can remain, which means all of the equipment they had previously purchased is now redundant to them.  Second-hand sales of air conditioning systems is also an area which gives a very poor return on investment. Small installations for air conditioning are between 40% to 60% installation cost, therefore a second-hand  air conditioning unit with no warranty, simply does not make sense to so many people.

Before deciding on the right system for you and your office requirements, please bear in mind that you may decide at some point to change your office layout, and if this is not discussed with your air conditioning provided beforehand, then there is a chance that you could be out-of-pocket just like our new client has found out.

Any reputable air conditioning contractor will explain all the pros and cons regarding which type of air conditioning systems are applicable to you. Please do note, the most cost-effective solution now, may be the one that costs you the most in the long run, it’s about understanding and speculating about future office layouts that will save you the most money.

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There really is no right or wrong answer when it comes to replacing your old air conditioning system, however there are a number of factors to consider when your air conditioner is over seven years old, or runs in conditions where it is continuously under use 24 hours a day seven days a week. Like server room and data storage areas.

Firstly, how much extra is your old air conditioning unit costing to run, compared to what a brand-new unit would? Manufacturers now are so proud of their COP levels ( this stands for coefficients of performance) and really means how efficiently it runs. That they are encouraging their end users to replace their old equipment with newer equipment, and allowing the cost savings of energy usage to pay for the new installation. Interesting! Now that does seem  as if they got quite a lot of confidence that you will indeed save money. Thankfully, the proof is in the energy ratings, and if someone is using their air conditioning eight hours a day five days a week and  throughout the entire year then it’s fair to assume that a system that is over seven years old is probably more efficient to replace than to keep.

If your air conditioning system has been running effectively with little or no breakdowns for a number of years, how long do you think that this will continue? Naturally, any mechanical type product which is at point in his life where it breaks down far more than it ever has in the past, will only continue to do so. All breakdowns and all callouts are a chargeable unknown quantity that without doubt will begin to occur when the product reaches a certain time its life. It’s these unknown and unaccountable costs which really make the breakdown a pain in the backside and the wallet. Putting aside for the moment the actual cost of the breakdown, and the repair of the air conditioning system. There are probably additional costs that will incur you may not have given a second thought to. This might be computers running more slowly as they are hotter, people working more slowly than they are hotter too! And the biggest cost of all, is that if some electrical equipment, such as computers or service actually fail because of the heat, then how do you allow for this cost?!

But what if you’re not a big user of air conditioning, what if your air conditioning system only gets turned on sporadically and in the past 15 years has proven extremely trusty and reliable when it needed to be. Well in this case, it probably makes sense to keep that system running for as long as possible, as long as you have a correct air conditioning maintenance plan in place to preserve as much of its life as possible then it seems to make sense to follow the old adage  “if it’s not broke don’t fix it”. or in this case don’t replace it.

Depending on the type of air conditioning systems you have the cost of a new air conditioning installation will differ completely for each and every application. if you’re really not sure what category you fit in, then it’s always best to call-up a professional and ask their opinion.

One interesting note to add regarding air conditioning usage that may make you realise just how efficient and how reliable your air conditioning is or has been. It’s a well-known fact that the average speed of a car travels in it’s lifetime is only 30 mph. it’s the cars average speed, sometimes little more sometimes a little less. The same goes with air conditioning. New type inverter air conditioning runs at an average speed throughout its lifetime, if you imagine that your air conditioning unit runs for eight hours a day five days a week and 50 weeks a year then your air conditioning system runs for a total of  2000 hours per year. if you put that into perspective of driving a car for 2000 hours then effectively, your air conditioning has covered the same usage that the car would after travelling 60,000 miles in one year. it then becomes very apparent when you start compounding that over 5, 10 or 15 years just how efficient and reliable your air conditioning system is.

if an air conditioning system is something that is really important to you that it stays running all year round, then we suggest that you always maintain your air conditioning systems at least twice per year. then whenever a main component goes with inside the air conditioning system and your system is 7+ years older and has been superseded by a far more advanced efficient model, then we would recommend that that system would be replaced.

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