Mechanical draft isn’t new by any means but it is something we often forget about. Venting of appliances often isn’t done properly and many times may be the leading cause of a variety of issues you may be having. Many times the venting of the system is left as a sidebar to the big picture going on in a building. Mechanical rooms are left to fend for themselves as they get loaded with everything that can be fit into them and many times a multi-story building just doesn’t allow for proper ventilation of multiple pieces of equipment.

Years ago many engineers put boilers into a building almost double the capacity required and they all tied into a common chimney. Gas was cheap, buildings were poorly sealed, and technology was still evolving in the boiler industry. Boilers and hot water heaters were both vented into a large chimney that didn’t have much for back pressure and life seemed good. Boilers had draft hoods and caused natural draft out the vents. Today’s boilers operate with far less excess air, stack temperatures are far less, and condensation points cause much more concern. Many chimneys (made of brick/masonry) cannot stand up to the condensation and begin to deteriorate over time.

Today, aesthetics play a much larger role and multiple smaller boilers is the current wave of efficiency. In a conventional setting these would have to be independently vented. Now these boilers can be common vented with a mechanical draft system. Atmospheric and power vented units can be tied in together as well. Mechanical draft systems even allow much small vent pipe diameters savings money on the materials and space required to vent the equipment. Sidewall terminations also ensure proper codes are maintained and are aesthetically pleasing as all components can be hid from view and termination piping and rain caps are non-existent.

Enervex is leading the industry with mechanical draft systems. How it works: A small sensing device senses the pressure (slight negative) in the vent piping and the fan (inline or on termination) varies speed to keep up with demand regardless of modulation rates on the boilers. This system is engineered in our office for your specific needs. Do you have all horizontal runs? An Enervex system can help. Have different category appliances? Contact us. Enervex even makes it easy to cover all the louvers on your building and bring the air in through a small ducted opening.