High Velocity Air Conditioning Pros And Cons

There are many reasons why people would ask you to install HVAC in their home. If you have been looking for a heating and cooling system tailored to your needs, and HVAC System can give you the highest quality air in your home all year round.

This article looks at various aspects of HVAC systems and helps you decide on their effectiveness.

What is High-Velocity HVAC?

HVAC stands for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning. HVAC performs a number of functions in buildings. These include climate control, sanitation, and indoor air quality management.

Specifically, HVAC helps keep the building warm in winter and cool in summer. It also keeps the interior of the building as sanitary as possible. 

It does this through air filtration that traps dust particles, bacteria, and viruses. Air that passes through the filters is kept clean and healthy.

High-velocity HVAC or high-velocity air conditioning is a unique cooling system that consists of an alternating pressure exchanger and several nozzles that channel cold air throughout the building.

If your ac unit is old, it probably uses a lot of energy. The new high-velocity HVACs are so much more efficient they use almost half the energy to do the same job the old units did.

An air conditioning unit uses a design similar to the large units used in homes and businesses but installed with a connecting tube on the outside unit rather than inside.

This allows greater airflow through the hose, which allows for higher velocity air that can be directed further or at a higher angle.

How does a High-Velocity HVAC System Work?

High-velocity HVAC describes an HVAC system that operates at very high airflows, using more powerful fans than the systems used in typical buildings. They can be used for ventilation or to move large amounts of air conditioning in and out of a structure.

Most HVAC systems seem like they are on a constant push, pull or blow cycle. To your home inhabitants, heating and cooling equipment might appear to be constantly working.

Where high-velocity HVAC solutions shine is the response time. Imagine a fire truck racing down the road with a maximum speed of 40mph; a fire breaks out across town at an office building. 

To beat the bridge burn, the massive engine must accelerate to over 75mph in seconds! That’s essentially how high-velocity HVAC works for air conditioning. With far less energy wasted 

The most common application for high-velocity fans is ventilation. High-velocity fans produce a large volume of air at an increased velocity, which reduces the fan’s static pressure. This is most useful on recirculation, extraction, or combination systems with multiple duct systems that require substantial airflow.

What is the Difference Between High-Velocity HVAC and Conventional AC?

Until recently, if you were looking for a high-efficiency air conditioner (also known as an HVAC unit), you would find only one option: the conventional AC. However, today’s market offers various cooling units, including the high-velocity AC (also known as an HVAC unit). 

While both the high velocity and conventional air conditioners circulate air, they differ in how effectively they do so.

Let’s start by talking about the most obvious difference, power. 

Dual-Headed High-Velocity AC is stronger than conventional AC and can cool a space more effectively. Conventional airflow is designed to work in line with typical ductwork. On the other hand, high-velocity air is focused on one or two rooms in your home because it shoots out of the vent and moves into open space. 

This design works for both long, horizontal vents and vertical designs.

Conventional AC is slightly less powerful than High Velocity through the vents. Typically, it can feel like you have to increase the thermostat a few degrees higher to achieve similar results. 

High-Velocity AC systems are much more efficient than conventional AC because they chill air by spraying the stream of cold refrigerant directly onto surfaces, rather than blowing it through the air. In the winter, a typical home’s outdoor condensing unit pumps 60 to 100 tons of heat up a flue, and then inside the house through the ducts. 

On a hot day, this same unit can pump as much as six tons of heat through your home from an indoor evaporator coil. These huge quantities of heat must be extracted from your home.

Conventional air conditioners move warm air through your home by cooling it and blowing it into the cooler space you are trying to cool. Because the air is cooled and then pushed out, it lowers the room’s temperature that it’s being blown into but doesn’t lower the temperature of the molecules contained within that room. 

This means that cooling a house using conventional AC is like pouring cold water on a body: it gets you wet (and hopefully cooled) but doesn’t cool your body down.

High-Velocity Air Conditioning vs. Mini Split

If you are looking for less cost, less installation effort, and less impact on the environment than a mini-split air conditioner, the High-Velocity Air Conditioner is your solution.

A mini-split system serves a single space, but the air in an entire house can become uncomfortable when that space is not occupied. 

A high-velocity air conditioning system (HVAC) uses displacement ventilation to cool or condition. It is generally quieter, cleaner, and more efficient than a conventional unit because it does not need to exhaust stale air.

High-Velocity Air Conditioning Pros and Cons

This is a question that we receive all the time from customers. Many people we talk to find it hard to believe that there is a difference between High Velocity and Conventional AC units. Most simply do not believe it to be true that a higher-priced unit can provide better comfort and energy efficiency.

Each manufacturer has its version of High Velocity, and they all work slightly differently. In general, though, High-Velocity AC systems move more air than conventional systems, and they can do it at lower fan speeds. This makes High-Velocity AC very energy efficient.

High-Velocity AC is the most efficient cooling method available. Much more energy-efficient than standard AC, High-Velocity systems can cool a home faster and maintain a lower average temperature setting. A higher percentage of the cooled air gets to the living area instead of being expelled outside through vents without cooling the home. 

It is also much quieter and cleaner than conventional AC units.

Depending on the model and size of your home, a central air conditioner can be more expensive to operate than a high-velocity window unit. Most central AC units operate at between 2,000 and 5,000 cubic feet per minute (CFM), while high-velocity units peak at around 4,000 CFM.

Sizing High-Velocity AC

With so many sizes, systems and options, it can be overwhelming to determine how much high-velocity air conditioning you need for your home or commercial building. 

The first step is to size an HVAC system to determine what conditions need to be maintained in any space. The next step is to determine the Btuh of heat gain or loss that needs to be handled by the system, and initial equipment selection can begin. The final step is to verify that the system will be able to handle the load.

The sizing function performs a load calculation based on the outdoor design conditions and the initial room conditions. The function then recommends the smallest Btu/Hr system that will return the space to its needed conditions.

The recommended system size can be compared to size guidelines tabulated in ASHRAE Standard 62-1989. 

How Much does a High-Velocity Air Conditioning System Cost?

Well, this depends upon several factors. The unit’s size and model, how much space you need to cool, the quality of the equipment, ductwork, and other installation costs can all play a part in determining what type of air conditioning system is right for your home.

A new, high-velocity air conditioner can cost anywhere from $900 to $6,000. A typical central comfort air conditioning system can cost on average $5,000 to install. 

Installing a High-Velocity Air Conditioning System

A high-velocity air conditioning system utilizes a wall-mounted indoor unit connected to ducts, sending cooled air into rooms and areas within a building.

Such a system might include a variable speed compressor and heat pump for interior space cooling, heat recovery that reduces energy use, VRF for more precise temperature control, and zoning that divides temperature-controlled spaces into multiple zones.

Considerations for Choosing and Installing a High-Velocity HVAC

The primary consideration for an HVAC unit is the size of the room you are trying to heat and cool. 

High-Velocity HVAC systems are becoming increasingly popular for installation in new structures due to their high efficiency and how quietly they operate. These systems rely on fans to move large quantities of air into a structure. Since air is invisible, you may be interested in knowing where these fans are located and what they look like.

 High-Velocity HVAC fans rarely require maintenance, which makes them ideal for new construction projects.

While there are several factors to consider when choosing and installing a high-velocity system, at the end of the day, the most important considerations are how many rooms you want to cool simultaneously and whether you intend to use your system all year round just during the warm season.

High-Velocity AC Systems Maintenance

High-velocity fans have become a popular source for air movement systems. Their use means less noise, lower energy requirements, and that equipment can be placed closer to the work area.

Many customers prefer this type of system because of the lower initial cost and its simplicity. However, high-velocity fans must be maintained to perform properly. 

This maintenance can take up to 50% of the total running time in some cases. 

If not maintained, high-velocity air conditioning systems will fail prematurely.

With the right maintenance and routine filters, your high-velocity air conditioning unit won’t go out on you in the middle of a hot summer when you need it most. 

Summary

To achieve maximum comfort, the temperature of the air inside and outside of a building must be kept at an even level. The indoor temperature should not be too high or low compared with the outdoor temperature.

If the difference is too great, it can make a person feel uncomfortable, so HVAC systems are designed to maintain this balance. 

A high-velocity HVAC system has several advantages. More than anything, it reduces the amount of energy needed to cool or heat a home by allowing for precise temperature control throughout the house, something standard systems can’t do as well. Besides, high-velocity systems incorporate a vent in each room to replace stale air with fresh air. 

This prevents mildew buildup in attics and crawl spaces and also cuts down on drafts and dust.

An HVAC system’s key purpose is to keep the temperature at a comfortable level and humidity level just right to retain a peaceful environment. An HVAC can also help save money, as it can be adjusted to specific settings that allow small amounts of energy to power the system all year long. 

More specifically, an HVAC system is used in residential and commercial buildings with multiple rooms. The AC air conditioner part of an HVAC system cools down the air in the building’s rooms, while the heating part warms the air when necessary.

An HVAC can provide you with many things. You get the convenience of keeping your local area comfortable for you and your family. You can better control temperature, humidity, cleanliness, and air quality in your workspace.

And you can save energy while doing these things. You don’t need to be uncomfortable when an HVAC system can make you comfortable all year long.