What Type of AC is Good for Commercial Buildings?

Written on: May 1, 2023

Trust AFC with keeping your commercial space cool and comfortable

With summer’s warmer weather coming soon, now is the time to think about your business’ cooling needs.

AFC is here for you with expert commercial air conditioning services. Our team of service technicians is skilled, experienced, licensed, and insured.

What are my commercial air conditioning options?

Commercial buildings come in a wide range of sizes and are used in a variety of applications. Thus, commercial air conditioning is not a one-size-fits-all solution, and there are several kinds of commercial AC available.

Central air conditioning – Thanks to the ductwork system, your commercial central AC can effortlessly distribute air across various areas of a space. The supply air and return air ducts work together to ensure conditioned air is dispersed throughout circulating warmer air back to the AC unit.

Not only does this type of commercial air conditioner unit cool the air, it takes out a significant portion of humidity and creates an more comfortable atmosphere.

Smaller commercial settings like small restaurants and shops are ideal for central AC.

Ductless mini-splits – A ductless mini-split is composed of one exterior unit linked to a single indoor component, which can be mounted on the wall, via refrigerant tubing and electrical wiring.

Also known as heat pumps, these are ideal for small spaces or multiple small spaces as they can create zoned cooling. If you don’t have existing ductwork in your commercial space, installing ductless mini-splits is an ideal, cost-effective solution.

Multi-split systems – Multi-split systems work in a comparable way to single split units, but with the advantage of connecting multiple indoor components to one exterior unit. This approach is commonly used by restaurants, businesses, and offices since they take up less outdoor space while creating a more attractive appearance.

VRF/VRV – For commercial businesses of medium and considerable proportions, such as hotels, retail stores, or offices – the perfect HVAC solution is often a VRF (variable refrigerant flow) or VRV (variable refrigerant volume) system. Though these two are essentially one and the same; they simply bear different names depending on their respective brands. Heat pumps and heat recovery systems are both used in these systems. For open floor plans, heat pump systems can rapidly and productively cool the space making it ideal for large areas. On the other hand, if you have many separate rooms then a heat recovery system is an excellent choice as they can deliver cooling or heating to multiple locations simultaneously.

PTACs/VTACs – These are commonly used in hotels and apartment buildings.

Packaged Terminal Air Conditioners (PTACs) are an ideal solution for hotel room cooling and heating, as they don’t require any costly ductwork to install. These PTACs provide guests with a level of control over their environment.

Vertical Terminal Air Conditioners (VTACs) are efficient and space-saving wall air conditioning systems made to cool a variety of rooms. They operate by extracting air from the base and releasing it through the upper duct, thus cooling any area they’re installed in.

Chillers – Chillers are a common type of air conditioning system and come in two forms: air-cooled or water-cooled. Air-cooled chillers can reduce heat without introducing extra moisture, whereas for the water-cooled variety, liquid is circulated through pipes quickly to eliminate the heat from your space efficiently.

If you need quality commercial air conditioning installation and service, contact AFC today for a consultation.