Large, Glass-Walled Lobby No Longer Frigid
Challenge:
Keeping a Lobby Warm in the cold winter months
Project Description:
Having trouble staying warm? Worried about your pipes freezing? Do you want a way to make your deck more enjoyable during cooler months?
Bryan from Flynn & Reynolds came up with solutions for all of these questions for The Fuse Apartment Buildings in Cambridge. Flynn & Reynolds was brought to the job by Cox Electric because the residents of the building were complaining that the lobby and mailing area were too cold.
When Bryan did a walk through, he identified the issue right away. He noticed that the building was largely constructed of glass and adorned by two large garage doors on either side of the lobby entrance, letting in lots of cold air. He also evaluated the HVAC system in the building and realized that it was not able to function in the way the building needed, for it to be able to maintain a comfortable temperature.
The HVAC unit was not strong enough to warm the space resulting in cold air by the time it traveled to the lobby and mail room. Bryan looked into the different products Flynn & Reynolds represents to find a solution. “We talked about adding heat in the mailroom package area, and then putting air curtains over the doors. The concept was that when the doors opened there would be a barrier that prevents air from coming in from the garages and adding thermostatically controlled unit heaters so there would be more heat in the lobby,” said Bryan. This solution was a great idea and worked out nicely.
The electrician from Cox installed Marley/Berko Artisan wall heaters in the mail room and Marley/Berko air curtains to the garage. Having been satisfied with Flynn & Reynolds’ work, the apartment building looked into what other products Flynn & Reynolds could provide them.
They called Bryan back to the site a second time because the complex wanted a way to heat their pool during cooler months. Flynn & Reynolds provided them with Berko VRP series infrared heaters that included a crank timer, so guests could turn on the heater and if they left, it would turn off on its own after a certain amount of time. This added great value to the building.
This was not the last time the building asked for help. “The following winter we were called because they had some freezing in the parking garages. We went into heat trace mode with Delta-Therm and were able to recommend them cable to cover all of the drains that were entering the parking garages from the roof,” explained Bryan.
Flynn & Reynolds also cleared the building’s last concern: the fact that the stairwells were not heated properly, and there was a possibility of the water mains freezing. Bryan recommended two Marley HOSS commercial wall heaters for the stairwells.
Bryan was able to solve this apartment building’s various heating and de-icing needs by using Flynn & Reynolds’ diverse product offering and working closely with local electrical distributors to ensure the facility could get the products they need. Having so many products available to solve problems is just one of the many reasons Flynn & Reynolds is known throughout New England as the “Heat Experts”.
