Case Study: Dehumidifiers For Emergency Services

Damp Equipment Puts Lives at Risk

In an emergency, such as a fire, uniforms and equipment get wet. If personal protection equipment is still damp when our services respond to the next incident, it can be dangerous. In wet conditions, the moisture can become steam. Steam can result in a severe burn for the wearer, among other problems. 

Drying rooms are one of the most important areas of a working fire station. Therefore, it is important that they work efficiently, using dehumidifiers and air treatment equipment that is fast-acting and up to standard.

Firefighting and emergency equipment must be prepared and ready to go at any time. Any doubt about the integrity of gear can lose valuable seconds. In emergency situations, seconds can be the difference between life and death.

Calorex UK manufacture and supply a range of specialist dehumidifiers. The units are designed for humidity control and moisture removal in demanding areas. While they are used across various industries, they proudly protect the teams working across our emergency services. Calorex freestanding and wall-mounted dehumidifiers feature for fire services, police, hospitals, and coastguards.

Essex Fire & Rescue

Like every well-run fire station, the Maldon Fire Station, Essex, UK, still depends on their drying room.

Drying rooms are frequently filled with recently used personal protection equipment. They also store equipment so that it is ready for use and host training sessions. As a result, a drying room's dehumidifier runs almost constantly.

The station has provided more than 20 years of service. In that time, the Calorex dehumidifiers that are installed have any been replaced once. Even still, the replacement was to integrate a more modern unit into the building rather than a failure or performance issue. The station now uses the 30-litre Calorex DH 30 wall-mounted dehumidifier.

A spokesperson from the Maldon Fire Station had this to say —

“Our drying room is key to helping and protecting our firefighters on a daily basis. The dehumidifier is ultimately our essential back-up to the fire and rescue service.”

As far as we are concerned, there is no better indictment of the quality of the machines than the full confidence of the people whose safety they ensure.

How Calorex Dehumidifiers Work

Calorex dehumidifiers draw in damp air and pass it across refrigerated coils. The coils cool the air below dew point, turning to water vapour into condensate. The cooler air then passes through a condenser, and it is reheated. The warmer air is then reintroduced into the space at the set humidity.

The dehumidifiers circulate air throughout a room. This movement prevents any moisture from condensing on surfaces, clothing, and equipment. Equally, the machines actually remove moisture from the space. The excess water is drained out through the chosen method. You can connect Calorex dehumdifiers to external drains fed by gravity, or with a pump.

Calorex systems also take energy from moisture in the room and convert it to useful heat. This technique accelerates the drying process. It also prevents the need to reheat incoming air, saving on energy consumption and running costs.

Key benefits of Calorex dehumidifiers:

• High-performance levels.
• Suitable for unheated areas.
• Powerful centrifugal fans.
• Automatic hot gas defrost.
• Automatic hygrostats.
• Work with external condensation drain & condensate pumps.
• Self-contained.