What is Two-Stage Cooling?
Around Delaware and Maryland, controlling the summer heat and humidity throughout an entire commercial building can get expensive if your air conditioner isn’t optimally designed for efficiency. Air conditioners with two-stage cooling are not only more energy efficient, but they also provide greater comfort for your employees and customers.
Two-Stage Cooling: Advanced Air Conditioning Technology
Standard single-stage air conditioning systems have only two settings: off and high. When the building’s temperature rises high enough to trigger the air conditioning, the system kicks on into the high setting no matter how much cooling you actually need. Most of the time, a building needs only a small amount of cooling, so when the system always runs on high, it consumes energy unnecessarily and causes temperature swings.
An air conditioner with two-stage cooling has a compressor that can run at two settings: high and low. In addition, most of these systems use a variable speed air handler that can finely adjust the air output. With these two components, the system can meet your cooling needs more precisely.
A two-stage cooling system runs on low around 80 percent of the time. This speed is approximately 67 percent of its full capacity, but it’s enough to keep you perfectly comfortable on mildly warm spring and summer days and the cooler mornings and evenings during the hottest part of the summer. On hot summer afternoons, the system kicks into high to remove greater amounts of heat and humidity.
A two-stage system also runs for longer periods. Instead of intermittently blasting your rooms with cold air, it provides a gentle continuous flow of air, which helps with temperature and humidity control.
Greater Comfort and Savings for Your Entire Commercial Building
Two-stage cooling reduces your operating costs in several ways. Because the system spends most of the time running on low, it uses less energy than standard air conditioning systems. You’ll see lower electricity bills with no loss of comfort.
Whereas standard single-stage systems cycle on and off frequently, two-stage systems run for longer periods. Less frequent cycling places less wear on the system’s components, so they’ll last longer. You’ll have fewer breakdowns, which means lower repair bills, and you can use the system longer to get a better return on your investment. A more reliable system also reduces disruptions to your work schedule.
In addition to saving you money, a two-stage system will keep your employees and customers more comfortable. Because it frequently cycles between high and off, a single-stage system creates temperatures swings and has little time to remove humidity.
By running for longer periods at a lower speed, a two-stage system provides a steady, gentle flow of air. This gives you more stable temperatures and fewer hot and cold spots. The system has more time to remove moisture from the air, so you’ll enjoy healthier humidity levels. That, in turn, keeps building occupants cooler and more comfortable.
Your employees will be better able to perform efficiently when they aren’t distracted by temperature swings and their energy isn’t drained by excess humidity. Your customers will be more willing to linger, giving you a better in chance of winning their business.
Better humidity control also protects the building from mold and mildew, and the potentially costly damage it can cause.
As a bonus, a two-stage system’s motor runs more quietly at the lower speed, which helps minimize distractions in your workplace and create a more pleasant environment for your customers.
Our goal is to help educate our customers about Plumbing, HVACR, Fire Protection, and Alarm Systems in Mechanical, Commercial, and Residential settings. For more information about two-stage cooling and to view projects we’ve worked on, visit our website!
