Why heating/cooling load calculators don’t work.
Some rental outfits will have you believe that figuring out how much heating or cooling equipment you need is as easy as a simple calculation of square footage times some arbitrary multiplier. At Temperature Control Rental Services, we know that that sort of uninformed calculation is a sure-fire way to get a disappointed customer and a bad rental experience.
The answer to almost every question about temperature control system sizing and configuration is going to be “it depends,” so avoid putting too much faith in rules of thumb. Comfort cooling loads are too often approximated, based on empirical data and rules of thumb. Determining cooling or heating needs is dependent on a number of factors—many of which are not taken into consideration by rental houses that don’t specialize in climate control. For example, if a simple calculation of the area of space were used to estimate your needs (Length x Width), what about ceiling height? Shouldn’t that be taken into consideration if you’re trying to heat a volume of space? What ceiling height is ‘standard’? Eight feet? Ten feet? Even if we could agree on ceiling height, are we measuring the height to the top of the wall? What if the room has a cathedral ceiling? Peaked roof? Things start to get pretty complicated once you start working with complicated geometries.
Another example of a factor that needs to be taken into consideration is building materials and their insulation values (R-value), which can vary by surface or material. For example, if you’re trying to heat a tent versus a warehouse, you’re dealing with two very different situations. A building may or not be insulated. Walls may have less insulation than roofs. A concrete floor has a different R-value than wood or dirt floors…. Starting to see why an online calculator may not be the best way to estimate your needs?
What other factors need to be considered? Well, that depends.
Our specialists at Temperature Control Rental Services (TCRS) start with the most important question: what job is the equipment you’re renting trying to do? Are you providing comfort cooling for people at a wedding? Or are you using air conditioning to dehumidify a space? Different goals require different approaches. Are you trying to heat a job site so you’re workers don’t freeze? Or are you just trying to ensure that the concrete you’re pouring will cure without issues? Our teams around the country are trained to ask the right questions depending on the situation so that you get the products you need.
Our experience helps us eliminate variables, and anticipate—and mitigate—issues before they become problems. How will you power or fuel the equipment? We can help. Does the equipment require any special training? We can walk you through it. Our goal is to specify, deliver, set up, troubleshoot, and commission your job so that you have no issues. If questions come up, call us. We’re happy to help.
If you want to get a head start on planning your rental, we’ve put together this handy questionnaire to help us start to ask the right question and get to know more about your needs. Just fill it out, click submit, and one of our specialists will give you a call.