Personal bleg: Unbearably warm office building (evaporative coolers on the east coast?)

dangus

[dangus]

I work on the top floor of an old, poorly-constructed office building. Heat rises up the elevator shafts from the lower floors to mine. Even on the coldest of winter days, it's uncomfortably hot inside (80 degrees plus). We have two portable air conditioners running, but they're of limited effectiveness since we don't have direct access to outside air. Although our city is very humid, the air inside the office is very dry, year-round.

Would anyone know this?:

Would this be a good use for a small, personal evaporative air cooler? Would it just cancel out the effect of the portable, air-drying air conditioners? Or would they each make the other more effective? Would the more humid air generated be harmful to electronics? (Another reason we have a heat problem is that we have several servers.)

[MileHi]

Well the evap has to be a once through path. If it sits in and draws air from a closed space it won’t be effective, you will end up blowing around hot moist air.

[Dogbert41]

I’d get an air conditioning specialist to take a look at your office to get a professional opinion. Noone can tell you what the reality is concerning your office by just your description.

[cva66snipe]

Get a professional HVAC company to come in and assess your heat load in the rooms you need cooled. They can determine the correct tonnage needed too cool it. It sounds like you are trying to do too much cooling with too small of units. My guess off the top of my head for a couple of smaller electronics rooms is about 5 - 7.5 tons. We had too do this in a couple of vital areas on the ship and used water cooled condensers to take the condenser heat out. The condenser is the outside unit.

[hoosierham]

I forgot that commercial A/C has reheat coils ;sometimes the process of reducing the moisture results in air deemed too cold for comfort so it is then warmed before being sent to the offices.It's been over a decade since I worked with building utilities.

It could be the A/C controller is set up poorly and just needs a knowledgeable person to adjust it.I don't mean the wall controls but the main system controller which is likely computerized,unless really old.

Unless the unit is sized wrong for that building or has failed components,it is most likely adjusted improperly.

[Hegewisch Dupa]

I agree, we should all take our tops off

[al baby]

Do you know what the wet and dry bulb temperatures are?

That sounds naughty

[MileHi]

BTW, Mitsubishi makes ductless systems that would mount the condenser on the roof (you said you are on the top floor) and the evaporator in the room with only a couple small holes through the roof for copper refrigerant lines.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Agree with some other posts; have a HVAC expert take a look at the building’s requirements. Also, have someone look at the kind of lighting in each office.

[Yo-Yo]

The problem is that any solution to the building cooling problem will cost money, and it is obvious that your building owner is disinclined to spend any.

So for you personally, the only thing you can do is to wear a cool suit, like the NASCAR drivers do.

[keat]

BTW, Mitsubishi makes ductless systems that would mount the condenser on the roof (you said you are on the top floor) and the evaporator in the room with only a couple small holes through the roof for copper refrigerant lines.

Bingo, best solution. I was going to post it but read the threads first.

Mitsubishi is on the higher end of the price scale but there are a number of brands to look at.

Swamp coolers, as we call them out west, will not work in your climate.

[ccmay]

“We have two portable air conditioners running, but they’re of limited effectiveness since we don’t have direct access to outside air.”

Turn them off. They’re making things worse.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_law_of_thermodynamics

[IYAS9YAS]

What’s a BLEG?!!

The fallback when the ALEG fails. Eployee manual section Z31.a.b.c010804.14 - acronyms.

[Neidermeyer]

Hey, I live in the south. People used to work in the offices here in full suits and NO air conditioning. So, if you like your job...
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Yes they did ,, and in much shorter buildings that had less chimney effect ,,, and they had windows that opened ... What’s your point?

[cuban leaf]

—Yes they did ,, and in much shorter buildings that had less chimney effect ,,, and they had windows that opened ... What’s your point?—

My point is that human beings are resilient and can work with negatives if the positives are greater. That’s really all I meant.

Also, opening windows when the temperature is in the 90’s and the humidity is sky high isn’t all that helpful. ;->

[dangus]

They keep the server room cool. They get SOME access to outside air, but not enough, so they also pull air in from the rest of the office. They create negative pressure, which means much of the warm air gets pulled back in rather than progressing out any ventilation.

[Boiler Plate]

The amount of cooling you would get is dependent on the wet bulb as it indicates how much moisture the air can absorb before it saturates. Getting the relative humidity can allow you to figure it out as well.

Having said that, evaporative coolers work well in relative humidity ranges of 20%. I doubt it's that dry. I wonder if you are getting any close to the required outside air.

Where on the east coast are you and what are you thinking of using for your evaporative cooling system?

[Neidermeyer]

http://hpac.com/