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5 Reasons to Choose a Rooftop HVAC System

rows-of-modular-commercial-rooftop-HVAC-units

You’ve surely seen rooftop HVAC units, if not by admiring commercial rooftops, at least by watching action movies, which have a surprising number of fight scenes set among these units. But you might not know why they’re so common.

In short, it’s because of the many benefits that make them the best choice for many buildings. Here are five of the top advantages that rooftop HVAC systems can provide for your commercial building.

1: Space

Rooftop HVAC units were originally designed to be added to existing buildings. There was a limit to the amount of available space within the buildings for additional systems, and keeping the bulky HVAC units on the rooftops prevented the systems from occupying large portions of the space in the buildings.

This allowed for the usable space to remain usable for the businesses housed in the buildings. Today, buildings are designed with HVAC needs in mind. But keeping the units on the rooftops is still the best way to maximize usable space in a building.

2: Noise

HVAC units make noise. While it might be easy enough to ignore the whoosh and hum of a residential air conditioner or furnace, HVAC systems that supply heating and cooling to large buildings are processing a great deal more air.

This means that they do make more noise. If the units were inside the buildings, the tenants, workers, customers, and other users of the buildings would be very aware of the noise. With the units on the rooftops, the noise inside the buildings is minimized.

3: Accessibility

It might not seem like having your HVAC units on your rooftop would make them easy to access. But it does! Nearly everything that an HVAC technician would need to access is right there, in one place. And that place is completely out of the way of the day-to-day traffic of the commercial spaces below it.

Maintenance and repairs on commercial rooftop HVAC units in Hayden, ID can take place without inconveniencing the users of the building. There’s also a benefit to the lack of access by unauthorized persons. An HVAC unit sitting on the ground beside a building is vulnerable to both unintentional damage, such as being hit by a car, and intentional damage, like vandalism. Rooftop units are safe from these risks.

4: Potential for Expansion

Rooftop HVAC units are modular, which means that they are designed to connect to each other. If you build an extension on your home, and your home’s air conditioner is not powerful enough to cool the larger space, you need to replace it with a larger model. If your commercial building is expanded, or the HVAC needs of the space change, the system can simply be modified by adding another unit, with no need to replace the whole thing.

5: Efficiency

Rooftop units are manufactured to meet higher energy-efficiency standards than other HVAC systems, which is to say you can get a rooftop unit with a higher SEER rating than any standard unit. And beyond that, the fact that they are out in the open, with ventilation on all sides, means that they are more effective at releasing heat, thus requiring less work (and less energy) to accomplish their task.

ACI Northwest is here to help with your commercial building’s HVAC needs or concerns. Please do not hesitate to contact us for helpful advice. Contact us today.

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