Alaska National Air Guard installs Air Pear system in Eielson Air Force Base hangars
LONGMONT,Colo.– Extreme sub-arctic temperatures at Eielson Air Force Base near
Fairbanks Alaska, where winter temperatures often plunge far below zero, make working
conditions especially challenging for the Alaska Air National Guard based there.
Extreme cold, sometimes 50 below or even colder, means maintaining heating systems is
essential to be mission-ready.
To steady interior temperatures, reduce energy bills and improve worker comfort in large
hangars where doors are opened and closed regularly for aircraft maintenance, the Alaska
Air Guard 168th Refueling Wing chose the Air Pear Thermal Equalizer system,
manufactured by Airius, LLC in Longmont, Colo.
“We have a maintenance catwalk way up high to take care of some equipment,” said Scott Lammers, who oversees facilities management engineering for the State of Alaska and Air Guard. “The next morning I noticed when I got up on the catwalk how much cooler that area was. It was like the whole chamber was one temperature.”
The hangars are used primarily to work on Air Force KC-135R Stratotanker, a refueling aircraft. Hangar doors were opened to bring in large lifts to install the Air Pear system. Then a plane was brought in, with the hangar closed for the night as the Air Pear fans operated for the first time.
“When we walked in that hangar the first thing the next morning, we noticed how much hotter the hangar floor slab was,” said Lammers, who says he may be able to lower the digitally controlled floor temperature, saving on heating costs.
The Air Pear destratification system utilizes a multiple-unit approach to balance temperatures from floor to ceiling, resulting in no more than a 0 to 3 degree differential and reducing the run time of heating or cooling systems. Airius customers using the Air Pear system, ranging from military installations to big-box groceries to school and
government facilities, report savings of up to 30 percent in annual energy costs.
Air Guard officials installed a system of two Model 45s, six Model 60s and four Model 100s (the largest of six different available Air Pear models) in the first hangar. Each Air Pear is designed to service 400 to 2,500 square feet and will work in any building with ceilings from 8 feet to 100 feet high.
The Air Force, the largest energy user in the Department of Defense, is beginning several initiatives to reduce the demand on foreign oil.
Typically, the Eielson base hangar maintains a temperature of about 65 degrees at floor level to work on aircraft. The floor is warmed by a slab heat exchanger using the base’s centralized steam power plant.
After the Air Pear system was installed by Inlet Electrical Contractors and ran at 100 percent for the first night, the temperature on the hangar floor rose to about 80 degrees the next morning, said Curtis Cherrier, president of Inlet Electrical.
Some of the Air Pear units then were readjusted to run at only 75 percent.
The State of Alaska and Air Guard officials, Cherrier said, “were really pleased with it. I think it exceeded their expectations.”
The units working together had a “significant” effect, with the larger Model 100s installed at about 68 feet and the Model 60s and 45s installed lower at about 40 feet.
To learn more about the Air Pear Thermal Equalizer system and how it can reduce energy use and improve employee productivity at your business, go to www.theairpear.com
About Air Pear:
The Air Pear Thermal Equalizer system is the most efficient and cost-effective destratification air movement product on the market today, replacing traditional ceiling and warehouse fans.
Air Pear Thermal Equalizer is a U.S.-made product, produced by Airius LLC in its 165,000-square-foot design and manufacturing facilities in Longmont, Colo.
