The 'Cool' Blog

With the lighter spring evenings here, now is the time to consider some extra heating for your outdoor event.  Your event may be taking place on a patio, in a garden or roof garden or other outdoor space, or in a conservatory, marquee or other temporary structure.  Mobile or portable heaters are a convenient and versatile way to heat your outdoor event space as one or more can be positioned exactly where the additional warmth is needed. We have a range of patio heaters to suit every type of outdoor entertainment space, including marquees.  Our patio heaters include an electric 360 degree patio heater and our newest model, the Sol Rey 3kW outdoor heater.   We also have available four types of gas patio heaters which are completely self-contained, and are supplied with everything you need, including gas (at an additional cost). Our commercial patio heaters are particularly suitable for outdoor settings and are rain and wind resistant.  The attractive design features a larg

To protect business-critical equipment from data storage problems or system crashes, it is essential to ensure that the temperature in server rooms or data centres stays within certain limits. With many housing large amounts of equipment, the heat generated can potentially cause computers and networking equipment to fail as they are designed to work within a fairly narrow temperature range.     What temperature is right? Air conditioning should be considered crucial for any server room.   Technology experts recommend a server room temperature of between 18ºC to 27ºC and not less than 10°C or above 28°C.   Relative humidity should be between 45-50% to stop damaging static electricity building up.   Even a few degrees too hot can blow a server chip or cause permanent damage to hard drives.   The cost of a serious server failure can be considerable – not only the cost of replacement, but lost online business, lost customer details, wasted staff time etc. How do you maint

With many schools and colleges holding exams and formal assessments, it may be useful to consider the temperature of the exam room to give pupils the best chance of success. Research suggests that temperature influences student attention span, with students in colder or warmer rooms testing poorly compared to those in a control room with a temperature of around 21 degrees. A study at Cornell University found similar results and research is continuing to explain why climate might play such a significant role.   It is thought that apart from the discomfort, which affects memory and learning capabilities, the mind becomes focused on maintaining its body temperature in a room that’s too cold or too hot which then affects concentration.   While warm rooms can make students feel tired and sleepy, colder rooms may make the body use its energy to keep warm instead. Not only would an uncomfortable temperature affect students’ performance, but in extreme cases a school or college

Many people think that air conditioning is just for the summer months, but a number of systems feature a reverse cycle system, or heat pump.  This facility offers extra versatility as the system can be switched between cooling and heating mode as required, keeping the workplace at a comfortable temperature all year round.  Maintaining a comfortable workplace temperature has been shown to improve staff health, safety and productivity. How do heat pumps work? Reverse cycle air conditioning works by warm air passing over a refrigerant to cool it down and lower the temperature of a room during the warmer months of the year. For winter heating, the refrigerant absorbs heat from the outside (even on cold days) to warm up the air going into the room to raise the internal temperature. As well as heating, these systems can also dehumidify the air and are an ideal way to remove airborne fungus and mites from the workplace, creating a more hygienic environment and decreasing the chance

Here at London Cool we are finding micathermic space heaters are becoming increasingly popular with our customers.  These heaters are unique in that they combine two methods of heating – convection and radiant heating - to provide fast, efficient and safe heating for the workplace.   When a micathermic heater is switched on, an electrical resistor converts electricity into heat.  As it’s generated, the heat is absorbed by a series of metal coils encased in a silicate mineral – mica - which can withstand very high temperatures.  Mica has high thermal conductivity, ie it’s good at transferring heat, and a high watt density which means it emits energy from its surface when it’s heated up.  Once it is up to temperature, a micathermic space heater generates electromagnetic rays.   The heat is not directly transferred to objects in the room, but transferred to objects via these rays, warming the ambient air as well, and heating up the entire room faster than most space heaters. This ma

London Cool has been very busy supplying portable cooling units for a number of events taking place in London.   Here are just a few - We supplied portable evaporative coolers for event cooling at   The Tabernacle , Notting Hill, London W11, where a programme of events is taking place as part of Notting Hill Carnival this Bank Holiday weekend. The First Dates restaurant is also being kept cool by some of our portable Climateeasy 14 air conditioners plus a Blizzard portable spot cooler.   Not only are the ‘first daters’ likely to get rather warm, but the filming itself generates a lot of heat from all the equipment and lights.   Also, we mustn’t forget that the presence of Fred Sirieix and his staff is also likely to raise the temperature a few degrees! At the famous Somerset House off the Strand in London WC2 we supplied some large warehouse drum fans for events at Somerset House Studios .   Boiler Room TV were presenting the last in their series of SYSTEM Sound Serie

The British heatwave could well be over and we will see a return to ‘normal’ summer temperatures.   As the temperatures drop, it might be thought that there is no longer a need for portable air conditioning , but on bright sunny days the inside of buildings will still heat up due to solar heat gain, especially in the city centres.   Although the sunlight may not be as strong, the lower angle of the sun means that it is shining into buildings for longer periods during daylight hours.   Buildings that have fully-glazed facades are particularly prone to over-heating caused by solar gain.     C ities with a number of high rise, glass fronted buildings, such as London and Birmingham, are often 1–3°C warmer than rural locations.   To counter this effect, some buildings have solar control glass installed which reflects heat and reduces glare from the sun’s rays.   As well as being practical, it’s also a requirement under Approved Documents L1A and L2S , which require the limit of solar

When deciding whether to buy or hire a portable air conditioning unit, you may come across the term ‘BTU’ or alternatively Kilowatts.     BTU stands for British Thermal Unit and in the world of HVAC  is the amount of heat that an air conditioner can remove from a room.  If an air conditioner’s capacity is measure in Kilowatts then one Kilowatt is equivalent to 3,412 BTUs.  For the science-minded among us, One BTU is the amount of energy needed to raise 1 pound of water 1°F at sea level. Why are BTUs or Kilowatts important when choosing an air conditioner?   Having the correct number of BTUs for the space you need to cool means that the room will be cooled efficiently.   It should also be borne in mind that as the BTU rating increases so does the weight, size and cost of the air conditioner. Too high a BTU means that although the room will cool quickly, the unit will cycle   on and off once the temperature is   reached and to keep it   at that temperature, overworking the

The first air conditioning systems were in use as early as 1902, but they were not for the comfort of people! According to Tim Hartford of the BBC World Service [1] , Sackett & Wilhelms Lithographing and Printing Company in New York found that varying humidity levels affected the quality of their printing.   The paper had to be printed up to four times in four colours and changing humidity made the paper expand or contract slightly, misaligning the print.   The company approached a heating company, Buffalo Forge, to devise a system to control the humidity.   Engineer Wills Carrier invented the first modern type of air conditioning in which air circulated over coils chilled by compressed ammonia which kept the humidity at a constant 55%. Carrier’s invention soon proved popular in industries where excessive humidity was a problem – such as flour mills and the Gillette Corporation, where excessive moisture would cause the razor blades to rust. The benefits for workers

As the outside temperatures rise and the sun is beating through the windows, it is tempting to turn your portable air conditioning down to as low as 16 degrees, thinking that the colder the air conditioner is set, the faster it will cool the room.  In fact, this is not how the cooling units work.  Whatever the temperature is set at, an air conditioner will pump out the same amount of cool air, and setting it at a lower temperature only tells it when to stop pumping out the cool air, rather than speeding up the cooling effect. The air conditioning units should ideally be set at around 24/25 degrees, to ensure that the units are not working so hard that they stop working altogether.  The models most affected by the hot temperatures are the Climatemaster, KY32, Trotec 2600, PKY12 or Compact 12, whereas units such as the Weltems, can cope with the exceptional temperatures. If your portable air conditioner does stop working or is not cooling the room, there are a few thi

Companies who service air conditioning units containing F Gas (fluorinated greenhouse gas) must, under a 2014 EU regulation, be certified to handle the F Gases. London Cool is registered with REFCOM (Register of Companies Competent to Manage Refrigerants), to show that we are certified to service stationary air conditioning and heat pump systems containing F Gas.   Servicing includes installing, repairing, maintaining, leak testing, commissioning and decommissioning.   Our engineers also have to be qualified as individuals if they handle F Gas. REFCOM has been appointed by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to operate as a certification body under the EU fluorinated greenhouse gas (F gas) regulation. In addition, all our air conditioning units containing F Gas must be labelled as part of the written procedures for handling F Gases and the equipment used.   We have developed a comprehensive set of labels to ensure we are fully compl

The use of fluorinated greenhouse gases (F gases) like hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) is governed by Regulation (EU) No 517/2014 and   impacts anyone who - ·          manufactures, uses or services equipment that contains F gases, like refrigeration and air conditioning systems, solvents or aerosols ·          produces or wholesales F gas ·          imports or exports F gas, or equipment containing F gas, to or from the EU Many air conditioning and heat pump systems contain F gases.   Companies that operate or service and maintain fixed air conditioning units containing F gas must meet the following requirements. Check if your cooling system contains F gas Look at the list of  F gases regulated by the EU .   HFC 404A and HFC 410A are common in air conditioning and heat pump systems.   To find out if your equipment contains one of these F gases you can: ·          check your manual or the labels on your equipment ·