A new ventilation system is set to take the heat from rising energy costs.

The Fantech QuietflowDCV inline fan range is a new concept that uses sensors to automatically control the amount of ventilation according to the occupancy of a room.

Demand Control Ventilation (DCV) increases the efficiency and effectiveness of the ventilation system and reduces energy consumption.

In the past most buildings have operated at a constant ventilation rate based on maximum occupancy levels, and this requires a huge amount of energy to drive the fans and condition the air.

Thermostats have been used to control variable speed fans for a long time, but DCV takes into consideration whether a room is being occupied and at what level. As a result there are significant energy savings.

Classrooms, theatres, shopping centres all have one thing in common – they do not run at full capacity all the time. The number of people in any part of the building at one time varies considerably through the day and as such so does the ventilation requirements.

It makes sense that a fan works harder when there are more people in a room, and that the fan speed is reduced as people leave the room.

The Quietflow DVC is a robust, lightweight unit with a galvanised sheet steel casing. It is lined with flame retardant Class O rated acoustic lining which ensures breakout noise is low.

To achieve this, the DCV system is available with a series of on-board different sensors which continuously monitor the conditions in the room and feeds the information back to the on board DCV zone controller in real time. The controller then adjusts the Quietflow fan speed modulating the ventilation rate to suit the environmental conditions and occupancy levels of the room.

Sensors are available to measure differential pressure (0-300 Pascals); temperature (0-50°C); relative humidity (35-95% RH); and carbon dioxide concentrations (0-2000ppm).

All fans in the range have backward curved centrifugal impellers coupled with aerodynamically optimised inlet cones and are available with AC or high efficiency electronically committed (EC) DC motors – the result, a quieter fan that is more energy efficient.

Air volumes are from 0.1m³/s to 1.677 for the EC/DC unit and 0.077 to 1.338 for the AC unit. Inlet and outlet spigot sizes range from 100mm to 500mm.

The Fantech Quietflow DCV is not a standalone unit and can interface easily with other systems such as passive infrared (PIR), building management systems (BMS) and building automation systems (BAS) to alert customers of changes in performance, energy levels or maintenance requirements.