Keeping your industrial workspace cool and comfortable for your employees should be a top priority for any company. It provides a healthier work environment and ensures higher productivity from your team.
But for warehouses, factories, and other large facilities, it can also be a challenge. Traditional methods like spot coolers or air conditioning systems either fall short or are too expensive to operate. Thankfully, the genius of high-velocity (or, more commonly referred to as high-volume, low-speed, or HVLS) fans has been the ideal solution since they were invented in the late 1990s.
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These days, HVLS fans have become the gold standard in providing robust, continuous airflow into hot and humid workspaces. While they’re always worth the investment, it’s important to understand that not all high-volume, low-speed fans are created equally. We’re here to shed some light on how these innovative devices work, their benefits, and how to find the right one for your industrial space.
How High-Velocity Fans Work
Traditional ceiling fans push air directly downward, providing a steady stream of air in a limited space such as a bedroom or an office. But their much larger, more powerful cousins—high-volume, low-speed fans—can do so much more.
They feature oversized-diameter blades (anywhere from 8 to 30 feet) that rotate slowly. This combination of specially designed airfoils and the right speed generates a massive column of air that moves laterally across the workspace, creating a shear effect that gently mixes and circulates the air throughout the entire space. To the people below, it feels like a large, gentle breeze.
Why HVLS Fans Rule Industrial Airflow
Compared to traditional options like HVAC or regular fans, HVLS fans offer a multitude of significant advantages, including:
Uniform Air Distribution
More extensive coverage ensures consistent air circulation throughout the entire workspace, eliminating hot or cold zones that come with conventional solutions.
Improved Comfort
The gentle breeze created by HVLS fans promotes the natural evaporation of sweat, keeping workers feeling cool and comfortable without the harsh blasts of high-speed fans or AC.
Energy Efficiency
High-velocity fans use significantly less energy than air-conditioning systems. Their highly efficient motors and streamlined engineering promote natural air movement, reducing the reliance on mechanical cooling and leading to substantial cost savings.
Reduced Stratification
Warm air naturally rises, often accumulating near the ceiling in warehouses and factories. HVLS fans effectively break up this stratification, pushing warm air down and mixing it with cooler air at floor level, which creates a more uniform temperature throughout the building.
Improved Indoor Air Quality
The constant air circulation promotes better air quality by helping to remove dust, fumes, and contaminants. Employees can breathe easy knowing their air is continuously flowing and not remaining dangerously stale.
Reduced Maintenance
HVLS fans have a simple design with fewer moving parts, resulting in minimal maintenance requirements. However, with regular annual care, high-velocity fans can work for years and even decades.
Where Are High-Velocity Fans Used?
You can find HVLS fans in a wide variety of industrial and commercial spaces, including:
- Warehouses
- Factories
- Manufacturing facilities
- Vehicle work bays and service stations
- Distribution centers
- Airplane hangars
- Agricultural barns and equine centers
- Vegetation storage facilities
- Gymnasiums and fitness centers
- Restaurants and bars
- Event centers and sports venues
- Retail stores
- Churches
- Theme parks and entertainment centers
- Showrooms
Start Your Search for a High-Velocity Fan With Big Ass Fans
Big Ass Fans is more than another company selling fans — we’re the undisputed leader in HVLS technology. We were among the earliest pioneers and innovators of HVLS fans and continue to be the world’s top manufacturer of industrial high-velocity fans. We offer a wide range of models for a variety of applications.
Upgrade Your Airflow Today
The best place to begin your search for the best high-volume, low-speed fan for your needs is by taking advantage of Big Ass Fans’ free, personalized SpecLab® airflow analysis of your building. Our experts will measure your space, evaluate your needs, and provide a computational fluid dynamics visualization of how our fans will perform in your building. Then we’ll recommend the optimal HVLS fan solution to maximize comfort, efficiency, and productivity.
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