UK – Ebm-papst today revealed details of an air conditioning upgrade that the company has carried out to help make work quieter and more pleasant for employees in the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One team’s paint shop in Brackley. The company stated that the project has already reduced energy consumption by 64 percent.

The formula one team, which won the constructers championship in 2015, employs 15 people in its paint shop. These employees are now reaping the benefits of an upgrade of their air conditioning system a few months ago which now features a pleasantly cooled workspace quietly maintained by EC fans from ebm-papst. The upgrade was also deemed to be beneficial from a financial point of view since the new air conditioning system now uses 64 percent less energy and, ebm-papst claim, will have paid for itself in just two years.

Prior to the upgrade in the team’s paint shop, staff stated that the AC fans in the facility were difficult to control and the air flowed through the ducts too quickly, resulting in continuous background noise. In an effort to reduce the noise, staff closed the outlets, consequently creating a hot and uncomfortable environment especially in the summer months, even with the air conditioning system running at full power.

ebm-papst, who also supply tailor-made cooling solutions for Mercedes’ race cars and team garages in hot climates, replaced the paint shop AC fans with RadiPac EC fans, which are easier to adjust to the required speed. Featuring a user-friendly fan control system installed as part of the solution, the building will, the company claims, henceforth be adaptable to changing conditions.

Commenting on the success of the new air conditioning system, Robert Yeowart, the director of business development & logistics at Mercedes AMG Petronas, declared that “The feedback from the employees in the paint shop was very positive, because the system has a very pleasant cooling effect and is also very quiet. Not only that – now freshly painted parts dry more consistently.”