Industrial Fans - Are they better than Commercial Grade?

Scott Williamson
Founder

It is astonishing how your efficiency and ROI depends on choosing the right industrial fan. Needless to say, when it comes to such a crucial part of your business, such as ventilation equipment, you need a reliable working industrial fan, along with service to back it up for years to come.

That’s why commercial fans should never be substituted by industrial fans. Conversely, it’s overkill to apply as an industrial fan for a commercial job.

But how is a business owner to know?

You may be charmed by cheap prices, offered by certain manufacturers. Keep in mind that they can’t offer the quality needed to handle heavy duty projects that will last for years.

You may be charmed by cheap prices, offered by certain manufacturers. Keep in mind that they can’t offer the quality needed to handle heavy duty projects that will last for years.

Cheap commercial or even cheap industrial fans tend to break-down sooner, which conveniently happens out of warranty. Therefore, in the long run, you’re going to be spending much more.

R. Williamson & Associates of Illinois created this guide to explain the difference between a quality fan built to handle real industrial jobs compared to shoddy commercial ones. Fans produced by foreign companies usually only end up giving owners headaches down the road.

Industrial Fans with a Proven Track Record

To the average person a fan is a fan. The designs essentially look the same to the untrained eye. However, a true industrial fan must be built to an industrial ISO standard.

Take the centrifugal fan for example, it must be analyzed using finite element analysis (FEA Wiki) for speed, among other tests that hold industrial fans to a high standard.

When investing in industrial fans, the following features give you hints if the fan is in fact durable:

Customizable Industrial Fans for All Applications

When buying from an industrial fan from R. Williamson & Associates, let us know what the application is. A trained specialist will work with you to offer the features necessary for the job.

If you’re in the tri-state area then we will come out to make sure you’re implementing the best industrial fan for the application. It’s not practical to buy a Corvette to buy groceries and pick up the kids.

Fans have a similar principle.

This is unlike typical commercial fan retailers; your application must adapt to their design based on their limited availability. For example, size is an important factor, commercial fans don’t get larger than 48” at most.

This is unlike typical commercial fan retailers; your application must adapt to their design based on their limited availability. For example, size is an important factor, commercial fans don’t get larger than 48” at most.

Heavy Duty Fan Motors

The industrial fans we offer are reliable and follow efficiency standards. They should be easy to repair as well. If you purchase from us then we will supply you with the nearest official representative in your area if you so happen to need repairs in the future.

What are the best materials and finish?

Before anything else, a supplier must know where and why you are going to use your fan and based on that, they will advise you which material you should choose for your fan to have the best experience.

We take into consideration many details, such as ductwork specs, temperature limitations, airstream contaminants, etc. We’ve heard others ignoring such problems. One such example is applying aluminum fans in environments containing chlorine gas. Where the buyer was unaware that gas quickly corrodes aluminum.

One more factor that you must be familiar with is the finish or final coating. Some companies advertise “coated steel”, which typically isn’t what it sounds like. It’s simply a paint job of epoxy or resin. Technically speaking it is resistant to corrosion, but that’s only if the paint isn’t scratch.

Like a car, once scratched it will begin to rust. What we recommend are powder-based coatings which cover your fan thoroughly.

Be mindful that not only the fan’s blades are coated. The housing and wheel should be protected as well.

One more factor that you must be familiar with is the finish or final coating. Some companies advertise “coated steel”, which typically isn't what it sounds like. It’s simply a paint job of epoxy or resin. Technically speaking it is resistant to corrosion, but that’s only if the paint isn't scratch.

Wheels, Bearings & Propellers

When it comes to propellers, we advise you to look for one-piece welded propellers instead of propellers that have been made by fusing different parts together.

Why? Because many fans are weak. Therefore they have to be held together using pop rivets. This will make the fan run slower from the get-go, it causes drag and will reduce the lifetime of the fan by putting more stress on the motor.

One of the crucial parts of your fans are the wheels and the bearings. They must be made with the proper materials. For example, a fiberglass casing doesn’t last long with metal bearings.

Quiet Industrial Fans

One important fact that must be taken into consideration is the noise your fan makes, it can be distracting to hear a constant noise while your fan is working. Trying to decrease fan noise takes specific technical engineering.

Trying to decrease fan noise takes specific technical engineering.

We offer fans that have been lab tested in order to be certified by the Air Movement and Control Association AMCA. They do rigorous testing for air movement and sound; something most fan manufacturers will not invest in.

Why Work with R. Williamson & Associates?

Competitors in the industry typically offer a 1 or 2 year warranty. They are aware that their products won’t last much longer than that, especially since they’re not sure how you’re using the fan and in what application. With all these certifications and testing from the industrial & commercial fan manufacturers we represent, we are able to provide a warranty on fans for 5 years. The longest warranty in the industry. We stand by our products and take pride in the quality we offer.

We’ll be happy to help explain which model and make is best for your application.

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Serving the Greater Chicago area

Once you have decided on the appropriate air curtains, R. Williamson & Associates can provide you with pricing for air curtains.

Specializing in ones that fit a variety of business needs. We are also the official representative of Berner International covering Illinois, Wisconsin, & Indiana such as, but not limited to:

We can also send out a trained specialist to assess the area and make certain the proper unit is being used for your specific application.

We run tests on-site to see how cost effective each model will be to assure maximum efficiency.