Football, Fitness and Fans
What does legendary Texas high school football have to do with fitness centers and their unique needs? There doesn’t seem to be much of a correlation, but the connection is there. High school athletes in Texas face a daunting challenge – a scorching hot climate in which to train. Fitness clubs can become similarly stifling when faced with a space full of bodies in motion.
Because of the dangers of heat-related illnesses, Texas high schools have had to move football practices indoors to giant, enclosed practice fields and weighttraining facilities. The structures become very much like large fitness centers, and have to contend with many of the same issues. Both fitness centers and the practice facilities in Texas worry about air circulation, and both facilities have found a common answer to their air circulation problems – giant industrial grade ceiling fans.
Air circulation is a key component to creating a comfortable workout space. Keeping air moving helps the human body’s natural evaporative cooling method work at peak efficiency. As a breeze moves over the skin, moisture evaporates, making a person feel as much as eight to 12 degrees cooler.
Big fans, like the ones used in the high school training facilities and in fitness centers nationwide, are a revolutionary, new take on a simple idea: Fans move air, but big fans move even more. The giant ceiling fans range in size from a hefty six-feet in diameter to a behemoth 24-footer. The fans use their size, not speed to move air over large spaces. Unlike the more traditional, smaller, floor- or column-mounted fans, big fans move air gently and evenly over large areas. A single 24-foot diameter fan can replace 16 smaller, personal fans, and the bigger fan can cover an area as big as 20,000 square feet.
A Tale of Two Schools
Until Coppell High School in Coppell, TX and McKinney High School in McKinney, TX found their big fan solution, they were indoors when training, but still dealing with extreme heat. Their indoor practice facilities were not air conditioned – ovens of stagnant air. When their teams were supposed to be doing practice drills or strength training, the athletes were instead sluggish and losing motivation. With the addition of two 24-foot diameter big fans, both schools were able to make their athletes feel cooler because of the increased air circulation.
Like personal trainers at fitness centers across the country, Eric Jones, Coppell’s defensive line and strength coach, knows what the cooling sensation of evaporative cooling can do for athletes. “The fans have been great and are a great asset to our program in getting the athletes to train harder. Since these were installed we know we are motivating our student athletes to push harder, but still keeping them safe. It’s the best of both worlds,” says Jones.
A.J. Uland, Defensive Coach and Director of Football Equipment at McKinney, had a similar experience. “Even indoors you have to do something to relieve the heat stress on the kids, and that’s what these fans do,” says Uland.
At Coppell, the temperature inside went from a punishing 100°F to a livable 79°F with the two fans. At McKinney, the breeze can be felt throughout the entire 36,000-square-foot space.
Fans for Fitness
So, does a giant spinning ceiling fan that can cool a space as big as the practice facilities of Texas high school football sound like overkill for your club? The important thing to remember about big fans is that they are scalable to your facility. Big fans are available in a range of sizes, and have variable speed control. Texas schools may have to run their fans at higher speeds to compensate for their lack of air conditioning, but a fully climate-controlled fitness club may only need to run their fans at lower speeds to supplement the AC.
In truth, the beauty of a big fan becomes more apparent when used in conjunction with other HVAC systems. The fans are big, but their energy use is small. Big fans use tiny motors compared to their size, a meager one- to two-horsepower. That means a 24-footer uses only as much energy as a 60-watt light bulb, keeping operating costs at a mere 10 cents per hour. When used with AC, the fans let you set your thermostats higher, taking the load off of the expensive HVAC system, and saving you energy costs in the process.
Big fans have other benefits too. Proper air circulation reduces humidity and the condensation problems it causes. Using big fans means no more slick surfaces, and less damage to sensitive treadmills and other equipment. They also tend to draw a crowd. A giant fan spinning overhead, and the cooling breeze it provides has become a selling point for facilities with big fans installed.
When you think about air movement for your facility, think big, as big as the Friday night lights of Texas high school football, as big as a…big fan.
Heather Henley is a Technical Researcher for the Big Ass Fans Company. She can be contacted at 877.BIG.FANS, or by email at heather@bigassfans.com.
