The NE power cities - Washington DC, New York, Philladelphia, Boston - are all in a heat emergency. Temps reached 100 today and the headline stories of emergency relief centers and precautions continue to pour in. The high temps put our power grids to the test and air conditioning systems run full tilt.
When you're in the middle of a heat-related crisis, cool heads will prevail. The first call to make is to your facility manager or building engineer. They are intimately familiar with your site's mechanical and electrical systems. Even more important ... they're likely to have a list of approved contractors and suppliers who will provide quick, reliable services.
If your buidling engineer or facility manager doesn't have portable air conditioners in reserve for emergency cooling, they will contact a company that specializes in providing portable air conditioners. Spot coolers can be rented weekly or monthly to provide emergency cooling. Portable air conditioners can be rented general rental stores -- both small, single site rental companies and large, multi-site rental depots. If your cooling is critical and you want to protect your data and assets, consider contacting a company that specializes in assessing your needs and recommending spot coolers that keep you cool and work within your space and electrical power constraints.
Be prepared when you need emergency cooling. Here's a list of 10 things you should know when renting portable spot coolers:
- Size of the space to be cooled.
- Size of the air conditioning system that failed.
- BTU needed for emergency operations.
- Electrical power available for temporary spot coolers.
- Space available for AC units.
- Will temporary AC units be inside or outside?
- How will the evaporator (cool air) be delivered -- ducted or free blow?
- Where will the condenser air (warm air) be discharged?
- How will the condensate be removed? Manually with the tanks or automatically with the pump?
- When are the units needed (OK, that's a no brainer...probably YESTERDAY if you are having an emergency) and how long will you be needing the AC units?
You can checkout AirPac's Rental Cooling Guide for more information on portable air conditioners and an overview of commonly used terms.