No heat, no cool season quickly approaches

Published March 15, 2013
By Staff Sgt. Emerson Nuñez
OSAN AIR BASE, Republic of Korea

OSAN AIR BASE, Republic of Korea -- Every day Osan spends approximately $30,000 on heating the base. The 51st Civil Engineer Squadron Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning shop is beginning to prepare as this year's no heat, no cool season gets closer.

No heat, no cool season takes place to cut back on the bills and help transition Osan's facilities for air conditioning in the coming summer months.

This year's start of the no-heat season is planned for after April 1 and will begin when daily low temperatures are above 40 degrees Fahrenheit.

"No heat, no cool season is a period of time where we turn off the heat in the buildings and give the machines some time for maintenance repairs until we turn on the cooling system," said Tech. Sgt. Matthew Lindquist, 51st CES HVAC technician.

During the no heat season the base saves approximately $420,000 on average between electric and fuel purchases. While the heat and cooling systems are down, CE Airmen will turn on the ventilation systems in order to keep fresh air circulating in all of the base facilities.

"The process of turning the heat off and preparing all 300 buildings on base for air conditioning will take close to two weeks," said Staff Sgt. Daniel Garcia, 51st CES HVAC technician.

The first facilities to be transitioned will be non-mission critical buildings such as warehouses. After those are transitioned, CE will shut down the heating in work centers, dorms, schools and the child development center.

Energy conservation is one of the main reasons the base goes through no heat, no cool. Linquist and members of the CES stress the importance of everyone taking advantage of different ways to help the base save on energy and resources.

"Anyone can help with energy conservation with just basic things such as turning off the lights, lowering the thermostat in the winter and increasing the temperature during the summer," Lindquist said. "A couple of degrees from everybody make a big difference."

As a reminder, the use of space heaters at Osan is prohibited. Facilities with heating systems not capable of providing suitable heat to occupied areas shall be reported to facility managers. Exception to this policy can be granted but must be routed through appropriate channels.

Based on guidelines for facility operations, HVAC systems used for comfort cooling will be turned on after June 1, when daily high temperatures are more than 80 degrees Fahrenheit for five consecutive days. Historically, we meet the said criteria around the first week of June. All other cooling systems designed to operate year-round such as computer room air conditioners will remain unchanged.