Investing in industrial air filtration systems represents a significant financial commitment for most businesses. It can be challenging to justify the costs associated with filtration, especially when compared to the cheaper option of simply expelling contaminated air outdoors.
While filtration offers environmental advantages and may even be mandated by increasingly strict EPA emissions standards in some cases, the financial advantage of air filtration often goes overlooked.
Avoiding the Expense of Reheating Air
In regions with cold climates, avoiding the expense of reheating the exhausted air is a major advantage of air filtration systems. Many industrial work facilities and machine shops depend on open doors and exhaust fans to circulate air and dissipate fumes. This works well in the warmer months, but in the winter, it is preferable not to leave the garage doors open longer than necessary in the cold. To maintain the operation of the exhaust fans, conditioned air must be introduced into the workspace to replace the air being blown outside. This is often accomplished using a rooftop air makeup unit.
Make-up air is required when exhausting plant air. According to the Minnesota State Statute 510.5.5: “Makeup air shall be provided at a rate approximately equal to the rate that air is exhausted by the hazardous exhaust system. Make up air intakes shall be located so as to avoid recirculation of contaminated air.”
While make up air is effective, there is a cost of reheating air that should be considered. If a factory operates throughout the typical northern winter for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, the cost of heating makeup air is around $0.30 per CFM. If the factory operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, heating makeup air will cost around $1.25 per CFM. Even a small welding shop could spend anywhere from $3,000 to $12,500 on continuously reheating make up air.
Filtering and returning the air can provide an immediate benefit to your bottom line if you are currently exhausting and reheating or cooling the air.
Alternatively, contaminated air can be filtered and reintroduced into the workspace, thereby eliminating the need for makeup air. This translates to significant savings, which often provide a return on investment within 2 to 3 years, after which owning the system becomes profitable. Additionally, rebates are sometimes available from local utility companies based on the energy savings achieved through filtration systems. These rebates can substantially reduce the initial investment cost of an air filtration system.
Your Experienced Industrial Air Filtration System Experts
Industrial air filtration systems can provide your operation with a multitude of benefits, especially when they are developed by an experienced expert who works with you to understand your particular facility and processes.
For decades, Glacier Technology has served a wide range of businesses in diverse industries by creating cleaner, healthier, and more productive working environments. Along with extensive product knowledge and application expertise, we’ve worked hard to develop relationships with the industry’s most trusted manufacturers so that we can provide our customers with the best service and solutions.
Glacier offers a comprehensive line of products to serve you as your one-stop source for industrial fan and air filtration solutions. Contact us to discuss your project.
Too Cold for Open Doors? Time to Replace Your Air Filters! 