Air conditioning for hotels has become an essential part of ensuring guests have a comfortable experience. At Elliott’s we understand the complex air conditioning requirements that are unique to the hospitality industry.
Use of hotel air conditioning has developed significantly in recent years and is now one of the most efficient means of heating and cooling these types of buildings. Specifying very efficient air conditioning systems within hotels needs to consider the additional redundancy required for high season, but also operate extremely efficiently during periods of low demand.
This is where we can help, right from heat load estimation to design and selection of equipment through to installation and commissioning in order to ensure that everything is correct. Design considerations such as high efficiency, roof space, occupancy variations, individual room control, quiet operation, air flow, odour control, ease of maintenance and condensate drainage need to be taken into account as well as different parts of hotels which will have different air conditioning requirements.
We know that guest’s requirements for heating and cooling can vary enormously. Public areas such as receptions, bars and restaurants need different air conditioning to the gyms, spas and treatment rooms. Added to this, more and more hotels offer conferencing facilities where air conditioning is now the expected norm.
Traffic noise or security concerns may also mean bedroom windows are kept shut, so air conditioning is essential to provide a comfortable room environment. The key air conditioning requirements for hotel rooms is individual temperature and humidity control, quiet operation and now more commonly, odour filtration.
Smaller Hotels
Air conditioning in hotels with a small number of rooms is usually best achieved using low-cost ‘wall split systems’. The indoor unit will have individual controls that are either wall mounted and/or infra-red remote controlled and can provide simple or complex cooling and heating operations depending on requirements. They can also come with enzyme and photocatalytic filters to clean the air.
Larger Hotels
Air conditioning within larger hotels is usually more efficient with VRF systems, where up to 50 indoor air handling units can be connected to one external condensing unit. Each hotel room can be individually controlled and can be turned off if the room is unoccupied. Since air conditioning demand can vary significantly during peak and low season (or even weekdays and weekends) it is important that the system can deal efficiently with these changes so as to ensure minimum energy usage with maximum performance.
We can also link in Windows based control systems to ensure energy is not wasted in unoccupied rooms and set-back and group control can be changed easily. Key card switches can also be integrated into the room unit control function, in order to save energy.
Public Areas (Gyms, Spas, Bars, Restaurants & Receptions)
Air Conditioning has become essential in bars, night-clubs and restaurants. This is also true for the gym and fitness centre which also have the added requirement for odour control in changing rooms. A large number of low cost options exist to provide heating and cooling to these areas.
Hotel Meeting and Conference Rooms
This is a regular source of revenue for hotels and as guests are typically paying a premium for these services, they are often even more discerning than the usual guests and they have high expectations.
Air conditioning within meeting rooms is essential as these rooms often have a large number of people in a confined space for prolonged periods and usually need windows closed to prevent traffic and aircraft noise. They often have extra heat generated from increased lighting and projector equipment. Food is often served in these rooms, so adequate odour control also needs to be considered.
Smaller meeting rooms with less than 8 people can usually be air conditioned with a small wall-split systems or floor mounted units. Larger rooms would require cassette or ducted systems, depending on their size and the type of construction.
We can help
Whatever the size your hotel, gym or spa we can help you find a low cost and efficient air conditioning system. We will also assist with the selection and layout of systems, the routing of pipe work and drainage.
Modern systems are very efficient and can therefore generate significant savings over older equipment and this added to some excellent manufacturer finance packages can mean that you can upgrade to great new system without any impact on your cashflow.
Please give us a call to discuss if you are responsible for managing this type of facility.
