Two-Pipe Fan Coil Issues in Historic Buildings

No new building will be designed with a two-pipe fan coil system today.  However, before the Four-Pipe fan coil system was phased in, the Two-Pipe fan coil system was an advanced heating and cooling system.  It was used in many pioneer buildings and is still active.  Today, we can see the two-pipe system in historic buildings and heavy commercial areas.  They are still waiting for the upgrade to meet contemporary comfort needs - free comfort control (heating or cooling) for each zone/room, which is essential, not a luxury today.  

The issue of a two-pipe fan coil system is basically on the comfort control for each zone/room. As all the fan coils in the building receive only chilled water or boiler water, comfort control becomes an issue in moderate seasons, like spring or fall. Also, the original design might not count the heat load variation at different times. In the building, some areas have more sun gain, more people activities, or just the people in the room has his/her preferred comfort temperature. As a result, some areas need heating, while others need cooling. It is not an answer a Two-Pipe system provides.  Would you still choose the hotel of a two-pipe building where you are told to have only heating but no AC during your stay?

Why not update to a 4-pipe system from a 2-pipe one? Yes, it sounds easy in theory, but it is quite out of financial reality. It costs far more than a new installation of a Four-Pipe system in a new building. Given a hotel property, the hotel business must be paused to upgrade the whole building. Upgrading a Four-Pipe system will turn the business operation from positive cash flow into a deeply negative one.  More than the site investigation, whole system re-design, permit, installation, inspection, etc construction associated matters, the human resource department needs extra money to take care of personnel until the project is done. It is not an easy decision for the investor. It explains why there are still two-pipe fan coil system buildings, especially in many beautiful historic, heavily commercial areas today. 

The Upgrade Is Now Full of Feasibility and Flexibility.  

PerfitTech can offer project turn-key or joint project with other trades 

This includes but is not limited to project management, site investigation, design, engineering, permit and inspection, equipment, installation, start-up and system commissioning, warranty, and service contracts. We excel at the project execution as we have all the knowledge and experience with each piece of detail to ensure the project's success.

Budget-friendly options

Taking advantage of the unique feature of a room-by-room base and not interrupting the whole system and business operation, we can work with your best budget plan and maximize the tax-saving scheme to achieve the goal together.  We experienced multi-phase upgrades, and even upgrades integrated into a long-term preventive maintenance plan.  We can do a small quantity, like 50 pieces or 100 at each phase, to meet your budget planning.

"Zero" downtime during the upgrade

Given a hotel, if it is not always 100% rented rate, we can control the progress upon the unrented rooms, like 3 rooms per day,  and even pause the work on an event that you need 100% the hotel rooms. Basically, the upgrade is one day in and out. With our planning effort, you won't find any downtime with the upgrade.   

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