Fitness facilities get hot and stuffy—it’s a given. As usage increases throughout the day, air conditioning systems tend to get overwhelmed, leaving the atmosphere within your facility less than desirable. Increasing the tonnage on the HVAC system is one solution to the problem, but not necessarily the most effective or cost-efficient. The innovative product line from Big Ass Fans® offers the most reliable, flexible and effective air movers to solve comfort-related issues in a cost-effective, sustainable fashion. Regardless of facility size, Big Ass Fans go a long way in providing comfort to your members, improving indoor air quality and circulation with minimal environmental impact.
Houston-based Fitness Connection began outfitting all of its facilities, both retrofit and new construction, with large diameter, low-speed fans by Big Ass Fans. With heavy foot traffic throughout the day, Fitness Connection needed a way to circulate air in order to keep members comfortable.
“Even though the air conditioners were maintaining a constant 70 to 71 degrees, the air was stagnant,” said Tim Vaughn, Fitness Connection manager. Having increased the capacity of his HVAC units in some facilities, Vaughn noted that the increased tonnage did nothing to address the air circulation he was lacking, yet it did increase his utility bill. In a recent retrofit project of a 55,000-square-foot space, Vaughn installed four 24-foot Big Ass Fans instead of increasing the tonnage on his HVAC system.
“As a result of the fans, not only were our members more comfortable, but the air movement also allowed us to increase our air conditioning system a set point or two without sacrificing comfort,” he said.
Snap Fitness owner Ben Cowan, based in Lexington, KY, was dealing with a similar problem in that his facility lacked sufficient air circulation. With member occupancy levels constantly changing in this 24-hour facility, he quickly learned the exorbitant cost required to keep his HVAC running 24/7. With low, 13-foot ceilings and a relatively small 2,900-square-foot space, Cowan was worried that floor fans would take up precious equipment space, and the price to install, run and maintain numerous typical 52-inch ceiling fans would outweigh the benefits. Instead, he installed one 9-foot diameter Isis™ fan, also from The Big Ass Fan Co.®.
Upon installation of his Isis, the benefits were immediate. “I have been able to move the thermostat from 68 degrees to 70 and that’s strictly because the fan is moving the air,” he said. The breeze created by Big Ass Fans helps create a “feeling of coolness” by evaporating moisture on the skin. The more you perspire, the cooler you feel. By speeding up the evaporation process, people feel more comfortable.
“We receive a lot of feedback from potential customers that think they can’t make use of our product either because of their facility size or concerns about integrating our fans into their retrofit projects,” said Rob Hignite, fitness market specialist for Big Ass Fans. “What they don’t realize is that Big Ass Fans has a solution for almost every space conceivable in today’s fitness centers.”
Designed with both aesthetics and sustainable function in mind, all Big Ass Fans are precision engineered to last. The commercial-grade Element®, sized from 12 to 20 feet in diameter, and the lightweight, eight- to 10-foot diameter Isis provide silent, smooth operation, seamlessly integrating into any environment, even those with ceilings as low as 12 feet. Similarly, the industrial-grade Powerfoil®X™, eight to 24 feet in diameter, is engineered with onboard electronics preventing electrical interference. Though large and powerful, Big Ass Fans are also remarkably energy efficient because they use very small motors, particularly relative to the volume of air movement generated.
Big Ass Fans is changing the way people think about the ceiling fan with its advanced engineering, impressive air movement and customizable aesthetics.
“We retrofitted one existing club to see how the fans would work for us,” said Vaughn. “With the success of that installation, we now engineer for Big Ass Fans to be a part of all our projects.”
Combining silence and style with efficient airflow and sustainable function, Big Ass Fans is the perfect air movement solution for any facility.
Big Ass Fan Co. is a designer and manufacturer of high volume/low speed ceiling and vertical fans designed to improve facility and worker comfort in large commercial, industrial, agricultural and institutional buildings worldwide.
Big Ass Fans is an advertiser in the February 2010 issue of Club Industry magazine and the Feb. 16, 2010, Going Green Special Report e-newsletter.