It’s true, not only does water concern these Texans, they want air to work the right way too. Mark’s Plumbing Parts, located in Fort Worth, Texas is a leading nationwide distributor of genuine OEM and aftermarket plumbing parts as well as maintenance repair products for just about any plumbing application or problem. These guys celebrate a great history dating back to 1980 as a small, family-owned business. Mark’s is now a national distributor of plumbing parts and MRO products, tracking nearly 30,000 SKUs shipped from its main warehouse.
In the hot Texas summers, Mark’s provided portable fans to help keep employees cool because the facility does not have a centralized HVAC system. These coolers and fans were strategically placed throughout the facility in an effort to cool employees down in the triple digit, midday summer heat, and ultimately protect workers against heat-related illnesses.
Clearing blockages, clearing air ways and clearing walk ways.
However, in order to move the fans to locations where they were the most effective, Mark’s needed to utilize large, industrial extension cords throughout the warehouse area. These extension cords not only created a tripping hazard for employees, they also, as Mark’s found out during a 2011 inspection by the Fire Marshal, created a potential fire hazard that needed to be addressed. With no centralized HVAC system , they definitely needed another cooling solution.
“We knew we couldn’t just remove the fans and not provide any alternative method of cooling,” said Jason Marbut, Operations Manager for Mark’s Plumbing Parts. “Since having no alternative was not an option, we started to look into other solutions to keep our employees cool as well as be compliant with the orders of the Fire Marshal, when we came across Kelley HVLS Fans,” he added.
Throw us a wrench and we’ll solve the problem.
Mark’s did what anybody would do, they sought out an expert in air movement, Craig Sommerfeldt with Miner Equipment Texas, the local Kelley Fans distributor. They also did their due diligence and visited the Kelley Fan Lab located at Kelley Corporate headquarters in Carrollton, TX for a side-by-side comparative testing of several competitive fans. After much consideration, Marbut decided to install three Kelley FUSION HVLS fans in the warehouse and stocking areas to ensure a safe and productive work environment for the warehouse employees that were busy picking, packing and shipping orders.
The fan for the job.
The Kelley FUSION HVLS fan is designed to create a comfortable environment while maintaining an energy efficient facility when used in addition to or in this case, in place of an HVAC system. Kelley fans are available in a large selection of sizes and power configurations that are suitable for just about any environment, from warehouses to manufacturing facilities to sporting arenas and more.
And the cooling effectiveness of these fans has really been seen within the warehouse and shipping/receiving areas. “Not only have we seen a reduction in temperature,” Marbut said, “but the sheer amount of air movement caused by the fans helps to keep the warehouse area from getting stuffy and humid. This assists in maintaining a consistent temperature in the building from June through September, when it climbs into the 100’s outside and big temperature fluctuations can be costly.”
Happy campers, happy plumbers.
“The fans provide a lower operating cost for us,” Marbut mentioned. “We typically see an increase in our energy consumption in the summer months of upwards of 30 percent, but running the fans on the optimal energy efficient setting of seven helps us manage that increase a little better.” added Marbut. And managing the building’s internal temperature creates the opportunity for energy savings of up to 4 percent per degree change.
In addition to increasing energy efficiency and employee comfort, they have helped Mark’s Plumbing Parts stay in compliance with fire regulations.
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