Polar Vortex and Heating Systems

Building owners and occupants often ask two questions during, and immediately following polar vortex weather events:

1. Why doesn’t my heating equipment cycle off or maintain normal temperatures in my building when it is extremely cold outside?
2. Can we install bigger equipment to make things work better when it's cold?

These questions can be answered by understanding the "99% and 1% Principle of Heating Systems." Heating equipment is required to be designed at or above the lowest outside temperature on approximately 99% of the days in a year. For example, the design temperature for Green Bay, WI is -15 degrees F., as the lowest temperature on approximately 99% of the days in a year is at or above -15 degrees F.

Back to the two questions.

1. Why can't my heating system keep my building up to normal temperatures when it is extremely cold outside?
   • Answer: Properly sized equipment may never cycle off and might have a difficult time keeping the inside of the building up to normal temperatures when it is extremely cold outside. This will vary from building-to-building based on several variables, a few examples could be the following:
     1. How much traffic goes through the building, opening and closing exterior doors?
     2. Age of building
     3. Insulation
     4. Windows  
2. Can we install bigger equipment to make things work better when it's cold?
   • Answer: No, oversizing equipment can result in short-cycling. Short-cycling can cause:
     1. Lower reliability and higher maintenance costs.
     2. Equipment failures and shortened life expectancy.
     3. Uncomfortable temperature swings in the facility.
     4. Lower overall efficiency of the heating system.

Please contact your local Ahern representative if you wish to learn more or have any questions. If you do not have an Ahern representative and would like one, contact us today!

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