The Caretakers' Forum

Hi everyone,
Ive been tasked with solving an issue with the two receptionists, the office has no windows that can open as is very stuffy especially on hot days. I'm looking to get a unit of some description to make it 'comfortable' for them and not making the whole area cool.

I've used an air condoning unit before but they're quite loud.

Any suggestions?

Regards
Richard

The only issue I could see other than them being noisy is that most freestanding AC units need an exhaust point and a fresh intake of air.
If it’s already a stuff room your simply just pushing warm air around with no actual benefit.

A couple of things come to mind. A proper wall mounted air conditioning unit might be best. They do have to have a unit outside but are much quieter inside. They cost around £1,500 - £2000 installed. They can also heat in the winter.

My other thought is for their welfare. I hope there are no photocopiers in the office. We had an employee who went off sick. She claimed it was the Ozone being emitted in the room made her ill. I did have an extractor fan system fitted, but she ended up leaving and suing the school and the school ended up having to pay out thousands yes, she won. I remember the head giving me a pot plant for the room thinking that would help. The plant died after a week with no natural light and Ozone. Schools do have to consider the health and welfare of employees (even for caretakers).

If it does have windows that don't open, can you get somebody to fit windows that do open?

It's amazing the conditions support staff have to work in. I bet the heads office is nice and airy and light. I think a wall mounted A/C unit would be your best bet. Also look at how you could bring fresh air in.

- A/C

- Opening Windows

- Replace the windows with units that have holes and vents through.

AC is really the only viable solution here, and as has already been stated, if you want to loose the noise thena wall mounted one is the best option- albeiit the most expensiv too

Similar situation but different occupants. Our small kitchen storeroom with no windows that housed 6 large upright fridges and freezers was very hot and humid, particularly in the summer. Even with the single door left wide open as the kitchen would then heat up. The fridges and freezers were also suffering the hot climate and were continually breaking down. To say nothing of the most likely huge electricity consumption from the continuously working freezers.

We got a ventilation company involved and their recommendation was cutting two 30cm holes in the external wall, one at low level at one end of the room, and the other at high level at the other end and installing electric fans. The low fan pulls in air from outside and the high fan pumps out the warm air from the other end of the room. It worked quite well apart from the noise of the fans that were on 24/7.

Keyolder wrote: ↑21st May 2024 at 2:49pm Similar situation but different occupants. Our small kitchen storeroom with no windows that housed 6 large upright fridges and freezers was very hot and humid, particularly in the summer. Even with the single door left wide open as the kitchen would then heat up. The fridges and freezers were also suffering the hot climate and were continually breaking down. To say nothing of the most likely huge electricity consumption from the continuously working freezers.

We got a ventilation company involved and their recommendation was cutting two 30cm holes in the external wall, one at low level at one end of the room, and the other at high level at the other end and installing electric fans. The low fan pulls in air from outside and the high fan pumps out the warm air from the other end of the room. It worked quite well apart from the noise of the fans that were on 24/7.

To be fair just the vents low and high level would have worked without the fans. It would create it's own convection current just like the old larders with a cold step. The vents do need to be on a North facing wall to work most effectively.

Vera wrote: ↑21st May 2024 at 3:25pm To be fair just the vents low and high level would have worked without the fans. It would create it's own convection current just like the old larders with a cold step.

The company also installed a room stat to control the speed of the fans. At the weekend or during school holidays when the appliances had probably reached their set temperatures, the fans were noticeably quieter.