Month: August 2021

Are you looking into the most common types of commercial HVAC system in use in office buildings across the country, for the purpose of deciding which kind would be best to have installed in your building? There are a few factors you will want to take into consideration, both for energy efficiency and overall cost savings.

What Size Unit Is Optimal for the Occupancy in Your Building?

You will want to find the system that is powerful enough for the number of people who work in the building, clearly. But you will also want to be careful not to go overboard and install a system that is far too powerful for your occupancy needs, as that will only inflate your energy consumption and costs each month.

What Type of Sensor Should the Unit Have?

Commercial HVAC systems will have sensors to help them perform additional functions in addition to cooling. You need to determine which of those sensors would address your needs. The types of sensors will depend on the kind of system. There are infrared sensors, motion sensors, and even glass break sensors.

Do You Need a Unit with Fire Safety Systems?

A commercial HVAC system with fire safety systems will include sensors to determine if there are any fires. They also monitor things like the temperature and humidity levels in your building. When there is a fire, the sensors will notify the appropriate personnel, such as firefighters and first responders, that there are no active fires in your building. This allows these people to have a head start on putting out the flames so that they don’t spread throughout your building, which could result in a domino effect of other fires across the floor.

What Features Does The Unit Have That Will Ensure Optimal Air Quality?

Commercial HVAC units that have filters, features, and sensors in place will ensure that the air quality in the building is optimal. There are several models of commercial HVAC units available on the market today, but not all of them offer the same features or levels of protection. For example, some commercial HVAC systems include features to protect the indoor environment from allergens and even improve indoor air quality by increasing humidity.

What Type of Process Should Drive the Cooling System

You need to figure out which basic type of air conditioner will best serve your needs – a direct expansion, a chiller, or an evaporative cooler. They operate with three very different technologies.

A direct expansion cooler – also known as a DX cooler – has three parts; the compressor, the condensing section, and the evaporator cooling coils. DX coolers are the most common kind of commercial HVAC units in use today. A chiller has a refrigerant that cools water that is used to cool the coils, which also makes cold air. An evaporative cooler mixes hot air with moist surfaces in order to put some of that cooler moisture into the air, thereby cooling the air.

How Much Will the HVAC System Cost?

Finally, of course, price is always a consideration.

The cost of the commercial HVAC units will depend on a few different factors, such as the size and operation of the unit. The broad range of prices will be between $5,000 and $20,000. The larger the unit is – i.e., the more people it has to cool at once – the higher the price will be.

The only thing left for you to do now is to begin shopping around for a commercial HVAC system that includes any of these features which make sense for your building and occupancy.

Natural stone is one of the best choices for countertops gracing your kitchen and bathrooms. There are so many choices of natural stone including marble, Premium Grade Quartz, granite and limestone that it can be a tough choice to find the option for you.

In the following article we will take a closer look at two of the most popular choices, Granite and Marble and how they perform in a side-by-side comparison. First, let’s take a look at the pros and cons of these highly popular natural stone countertops.

Granite Pros:

Cost Effective

Many different colors and styles

Highly durable

Low maintenance

Heat resistant

Cons:

Not completely stain proof

Can be scratched

 

Marble — Pros:

Elegant appearance in patterns

Great variety of colors and styles

Heat-resistant

Cons:

Expensive

Not especially durable

Vulnerable to staining and scratches

Requires considerable maintenance

Now that we have a better idea of the strengths and weaknesses of Granite and Marble countertops. We can take a look at how they compare in their individual application.

Appearance

As a metamorphic rock, marble has an attractive design pattern made of wavy veins of striated minerals. The color of marble will depend largely on the base minerals found within. For example, serpentine based marble has a greenish tone. Marble can also be found in blue, red, brown and grey tones, but typically it is just black and white.

Granite is also a metamorphic rock and comprises a wide variety of minerals that have been compacted together. This gives it a very unique and beautiful pattern in speckles, veins, flecks and solid colors. Granite is also available in a much wider color scheme than marble including deeper tones of greens, browns, cream, reds, blues, whites and many more multi-colored options as well.

Installation

Granite and marble will be installed in a very similar way. First the solid slab will be purchased and then cut into the template before being installed. The slab of natural stone will then be installed in the kitchen or bathroom and secured with silicone. It is essential that this task is handled by an experienced professional.

Maintenance

All natural stone countertops will require special care and attention after installation and in ongoing maintenance.

Granite is a very durable stone that requires less maintenance and is generally more resistant to staining than marble. Granite countertops should be properly sealed after installation, you can tell this has been done properly when water droplets bead on the surface of the granite. Small damages to the surface can be repaired by an expert, but only to a certain degree. After the initial sealing, granite should be resealed each year to ensure longevity.

It will be essential to protect marble countertops with a proper sealant designed for these porous surfaces. But even after it has been sealed marble can still absorb stains so it will be important to keep the countertop perfectly clean and wipe up all spilled liquids immediately. Marble is especially vulnerable to acidic juices like lemon juice, tomato paste, etc. Staying on top of cleaning will be of the utmost importance if you will keep a marble countertop looking good for its full-service life.

Long-Term Durability

While natural stone is characterized by its impressive durability, it is important to remember that this is only part of the story. If you hope to maintain the stunning beauty of your natural stone countertops in immaculate conditions, you will need to treat it with special care and attention. If liquids are not cleaned up quickly, they will eventually seep into the surface and disfigure the surface beauty. Furthermore, you will want to be very careful about not scratching the surface of these stone countertops while dragging heavy or sharp objects across the surface. Granite it the harder surface of the two and will not scratch and chip as easily.