Solar Whiz Commercial — Master Form
Case Studies
Business
MasterForm Systems Pty. Ltd.
Region
Preston, Victoria (3072)
Client’s Needs
MasterForm Systems is a moderately-sized company that fabricates custom hob work solutions for paving and construction. As with many engineering firms in Melbourne, they occupy a building designed and built in the 1930s that was not fit for the purpose of engineering or fabrication. It had virtually no natural ventilation.
An office mezzanine was placed directly above the below workshop; where they had at least 4 welders operating at any one time throughout the day. Peak season often saw up to 8 welders working at the same time. As a result of insufficient ventilation and poor structural design, fumes from the welding machines began accumulating in the workshop and office. This was posing a serious threat to the health and safety of MasterForm’s employees.
Initially, MasterForm installed a commercial active-power 3-phase fan to extract fumes and exhaust from the welding work but found the ventilation was not enough. In order for the 3-phase fan system to be effective, they would need to install multiple fans, skyrocketing prices. MasterForm found that installing and operating more than one active-power 3-phase fans was highly inefficient and expensive; so they came to Solar Whiz.
Cost of running a commercial active-power 3-phase fan system per year: $1,655.64
- Requires a crane to lift the units onto the rooftop,
- Requires an electrician to assist with the installation,
- Incredibly expensive RRP price for industrial 3-phase fans.
Our Solution
We offered 3× SW-RAF10000s roof exhaust fans to be installed directly above the workshop, extracting the welding fumes overhead. The building’s roller door at the front supplied fresh replacement air through the workplace (which included the cutting room and workshop) and flushed the welding fumes out overhead through the workshop, achieving cooler, more comfortable workplaces, as well as welding fume extraction.
Solar Whiz roof exhaust fans’ ROI stood out against the competition at half the RRP price. Due to the building’s natural shading, a No-PV (solar panel) option was offered, reducing the cost of the unit itself at the expense of being 100% reliant on mains power. Which still runs far cheaper than our competing products!
Cost of running per year: $122.64
- May only require a scissor-lift to install,
- Installed without the solar panel panel for cheaper base unit cost,
- Just over half the cost of a normal industrial 3-phase fan.
Results
On a regular day, with 3-4 active welders, the roof exhaust fans keep the air in the workspace moving and clear. On busier days with up to 8 workers on the floor, there is a slight rise in overall fumes, however, it is still within acceptable limits. Should MasterForm put more welders on permanently, they will pursue the installation of more roof exhaust fans to keep up with the workload.
They’ve even mentioned that the airflow through the building is quite refreshing on a warm day.
Exhaust extraction for fabricators is essential for health & comfort.
The interior, featuring the mezzanine office over the fabricator workshop.
“The Solar Whiz roof exhaust fans have kept the overall fumes down in our workplace. MasterForm fabricates concrete hob formwork and custom formwork structures and products. We often have up to 4 welders in the workshop on a normal day, and our existing three-phase fan wasn’t extracting enough of the fumes in the workshop.
The idea of installing another expensive three-phase fan as well as their running costs wasn’t that attractive. Solar Whiz came to us with the option of either solar power or mains power or a combination of both, keeping running costs to a fraction of what another three-phase fan would’ve cost us.
3 Solar Whiz roof exhaust fans keep the fumes out of our workshop on our standard workday. There is some excess fume build-up when we have more welders on the floor, but we’re in a position to install another if we start putting more welders on.
The team at Solar Whiz set the system up in a day, and did a great job without getting in the way of the team.“