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FIRE TRAINING CENTRE HOME & DRY WITH CONDAIR
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Firefighters at the new training centre of the Cheshire Fire and Rescue Services at Winsford are benefiting from a Condair dehumidifier to dry out their protective kit at the end of each wet training exercise. The equipment was specified by T Clarke, one of the UK’s leading building service companies, for the centre’s drying room as part of the new build project.
Equipment ensuring the strict control of moisture in a drying room is essential to save firefighters’ gear from the effects of water damage after a call-out or a training exercise. It’s vital that they have access to a drying facility to prevent extensive damage and potentially significant replacement costs for the fire service. Condair supplied T Clarke with a Condair DC 50W wall-mounted unit that had to be in place at the centre within one day of arriving on site prior to handover to fire chiefs. This timescale proved no problem as the dehumidifier was tailor-made for the job and was easily installed by the contractor’s engineers.
T Clarke’s Project Engineer, Doug Lumb, explained: “A new build project like this is really quite exciting with the scope to start from scratch. The Condair DC 50W dehumidifier was actually chosen by our designers, as it fit the bill perfectly for the environment. The unit size was based on the quantities of kit hung in the room to dry when the firefighters return to the centre at the end of their training exercises. It’s a reliable product and currently operating at the station just as expected, plus installation was really simple and didn’t take long at all, so all very good. I would definitely specify Condair dehumidifiers for future projects.”
The Condair DC 50W is part of a range of condensing dehumidifiers that offer powerful drying performance. It is easy to install and has an attractive galvanised sheet metal cover with powder enamel finish. The wall-mounted versions can be supplied with steel feet for extra stability. As well as the built-in digital user interface, the dehumidifier has an optional remote wall controller, which can be located up to 50m away. Remote mechanical hygrostats are also available.
The unit installed by T Clarke has a dehumidifying capacity of up to 49 litres per day (@30°C/80% RH). Capacities in Condair’s wider condensing dehumidifier range from 49 to 930 litres per day with airflows of up to 8,000m³/h. They can provide dry air directly to a room or be connected to a building’s ducted ventilation system. Models are also available with an external condenser that can expel the heat generated during the drying process remotely and therefore manage temperature control as well as humidity.
Winsford’s fire training centre offers the most up-to-date technology to ensure the best possible training for existing firefighters and new recruits, serving a large area of the North West Fire Services. After training the firefighters return to their allocated bases from where they operate a shift system of nine firefighters and officers crewing a fire engine, major rescue unit and incident response unit 24/7. The training centre operates Monday to Friday with high numbers of staff and trainees, and potentially a lot of clothing that needs drying out on a daily basis, so reliability is essential.
The Condair Group is the world’s leading specialist in humidification, dehumidification and evaporative cooling, with technologies for commercial, industrial and heritage applications. The company offers system design, manufacture, supply, installation, commissioning, maintenance and spares. You can find out more by visiting the company’s website at www.condair.co.uk.
