The world can be a hot place … and warehouses are often hotter. Humans have found countless ways to keep cool, from tank tops and swimming pools to the luxury of air conditioning. While there are many ways to drop the heat, we all can’t jump into the pool whenever the temperature gets too high, especially in the workplace. 

Thank goodness for fans. They’ve been around since at least 500 B.C., and the Chinese took it up a notch when they invented rotary fans nearly two thousand years ago. These days you’ll find them everywhere: in our cars, computers, homes, appliances, offices, and more, doing the hard work of keeping things—and people—cooler. 

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Yet a surprising number of companies still don’t take advantage of the many benefits of fans, especially in larger buildings such as warehouses and factory floors. Done right, the payoff can be significant for businesses in several ways. 

How Are Cooling Fans for Warehouses Different?

Like other rotary fans, warehouse cooling fans are designed specifically to circulate air in huge spaces. They tend to be bigger—MUCH bigger—than standard ceiling fans. Standard ceiling fans in a home are typically 3 to 4-feet across, whereas warehouse fans can reach up to 24-feet. 

Size isn’t the only thing that matters. Warehouse cooling fans require precision engineering and reliable power to keep running long hours for years at a time, often while operating under severe conditions. In addition, warehouse fans have unique airfoils designed to move air efficiently in any season. 

The various parts on a warehouse fan are unlike the smaller fans you’d find in a home. Because of their immense size, warehouse fans require aircraft-grade safety cables, fire relays, guy wires, heavy-duty gearboxes, and other durable safety features. 

Warehouse fans are also fundamentally different in how they run. Smaller fans found in homes tend to run at high speeds, whereas the huge warehouse fans are known as “high-volume, low-speed” (HVLS) fans. Even though their blades turn more slowly than smaller fans, they’re capable of circulating a much higher volume of air.

Because of their low speed, large warehouse cooling fans can circulate air without blowing papers and other light objects out of place. What you feel is a pleasant, gentle—and silent— breeze.

Why Do Warehouses Need Cooling Fans?

The financial benefits of having warehouse cooling fans can be significant. As fans make temperatures feel cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter, employees are more comfortable, healthier, and able to stay more productive. 

Research proves it. According to the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago, numerous studies have shown that higher temperatures are linked to lower economic output in countries throughout the world. One study analyzed data from 70,000 factories and found that productivity decreased as much as three percent for every degree above the average temperature. 

Those numbers add up fast. Just a five-degree increase can reduce a company’s productivity up to 15 percent. The heat can affect absenteeism, as well. A one-degree uptick in temperature increases the probability of employees missing work by as much as five percent. 

While air conditioning and heating systems can be highly effective, they’re also very expensive and require significant amounts of energy—especially in warehouses. Large fans, however, can cool large rooms at a small portion of the cost for just a fraction of the energy. 

While every case is different, warehouse cooling fans have been known to save companies tens of thousands of dollars every year, both in decreased energy costs and increased productivity. 

How Effective Are Cooling Fans?

Fans work in much the same way that air conditioning does: with evaporation. When a fan blows air over your skin, the moisture in your skin evaporates, making you feel cooler. AC units, while more complex, also cool the air through evaporation, albeit mechanically through compressors, coils, and a cooling liquid.

The big difference between the two is the amount of energy it takes to create the cooling process. Using energy = spending money, and AC requires a large amount of energy. Fans, in contrast, use far less energy to operate, especially the warehouse-sized ceiling fans, which run at lower speeds than small fans in the home. 

One main reason air conditioning is pricey and less efficient is because it needs to cool the entire room, whereas fans are primarily just cooling the people in the room. Fans work well in huge spaces like warehouses because they keep the air moving. Rooms that feel stagnant or stuffy (and, therefore, hot) do not have good air circulation. 

Do ceiling fans decrease the temperature in a room? Technically speaking, the motor in a ceiling fan produces a small amount of heat. (Electricity turns into heat.) But since they move air around a room very efficiently and effectively, they make a room feel cooler. 

Fan manufacturers aren’t the only ones to tout the benefits of warehouse cooling fans. The U.S. Department of Energy says ceiling fans are the most effective type of fan you can use to keep rooms cooler. 

Types of Warehouse Fans 

Fortunately, there are a lot of outstanding options to choose from when it comes to warehouse big fans, with a variety of models designed for everything from warehouses and factory floors to gymnasiums, event venues, airports, barns, and other commercial facilities. 

The world’s best-selling industrial fan is the Powerfoil® X from Big Ass Fans. It’s a monster of a fan, with sizes ranging from 12-feet (3.6 meters) to 24-feet (7.3 meters). With a patented airfoil system, it maximizes airflow through any large space using a minimum amount of energy (meaning massive savings). 

Big Ass Fans also offers an assortment of directional fans for more specific industrial cooling needs. The Cool-Space evaporative cooler is a portable solution  for even the hottest environments up to 6,500 square feet (600 square meters). It’s capable of reducing temperatures by up to 33 degrees, and works especially well when bundled with other Big Ass fans. 

Buy Warehouse Cooling Fans from Big Ass Fans

Big Ass Fans knows warehouse fans better than anyone. They’re the best-selling fans in the world, and our customers will tell you why: because they flat-out work. They look great, they’re reliable, and they get the job done. 

Plus, you’ll love working with the team at Big Ass Fans. We’ll do everything we can to keep you and your employees cool, happy, and productive. Find out how Big Ass fans can save your company more money than you thought possible. 

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