So Cool It, Already

But maybe not. Maybe you’re just a hot dancer; possibly even a little sweaty at times. You’ve got plenty of company, of course. While there are a few rare dancers who seem totally unaffected by heat and humidity, most of us are too hot during at least some our dance time.

The reason that is most often cited for having jungle conditions in the ballroom is cost, whether it’s driven by the electric bill or by the cost of installing a better AC system. But there are a number of other factors. Sometimes the problem really a matter of neglect (“Gotta get someone in here to fix that air conditioner one of these days...”), and sometimes it’s even a matter of apathy – event promoters and facility managers are often busy in performing their duties, which tend to be a lot less physically strenuous than dancing.

Many people seem to think that having a good air conditioning system means selecting a reasonably attractive thermostat and dusting it occasionally, but in reality, there is a lot more to it. Equipment selection is absolutely critical in any AC system, and dancing presents one of the most difficult environments to deal with. Dancers are very sensitive to excessive heat and humidity, yet they generate large amounts of both. Equipment factors, system maintenance, and even operation all affect an air conditioner’s effectiveness and efficiency.

It is important to realize that humidity is every bit as important as temperature in determining a dancer’s thermal comfort. A ballroom at 80 degrees and 10% relative humidity is more comfortable than one with a temperature of 70 degrees and 98% relative humidity. There is much online information available about the importance of keeping indoor humidity at comfortable levels.

Here are some tips for dance convention promoters, dance club boards of directors, weekly or monthly event sponsors, and facility managers (ballroom owners, bartenders, deejays, etc.). Some of them do not apply to annual convention promoters; in that case, the hotels hold all of the authority and responsibility for air conditioning and ventilation systems. But there are still a few things you can do to create a more rewarding and attractive dance environment. For those who sponsor or manage weekly or monthly dances, it is a good idea to at least discuss these items with your location’s owner(s) or lessor(s), if not to take an active role in improvement.

• Maintain the AC system. One service call per decade is simply not often enough to keep commercial AC equipment in good operating condition. The maintenance technician can and should check a variety of things that require specialized cooling system tools and/or knowledge:
  • The amount of refrigerant in the system;
  • Straight fins on both the evaporator (inside) and condenser (outside) coils;
  • Good air flow through the ducts and plenums, and no air leaks;
  • Proper insulation on the ducts and plenums;
  • A functional and safe condensate drain; and
  • Lubrication and other maintenance of the compressor and motors.
  Perhaps you should get an annual maintenance agreement and schedule periodic preventative maintenance visits in advance.
• Think about upgrading your equipment. Many of the new units are efficient enough pay for themselves in just a few years, and rebates are available in many areas from utility companies and state or federal tax programs.
• Make sure the AC system is sized correctly. Many buildings have oversized air conditioners, but bigger isn’t always better! A too-large system will turn on and off too quickly, resulting in higher operating costs, earlier replacement, and uncomfortably high humidity levels. It is important that the system’s capacity (in tons) be calculated carefully, and not just determined by a rule of thumb. Most AC contractors install oversized systems, which take their toll in both the original purchase price and in the operating expenses over the (shorter) lifetime of the system.
• Even if the system capacity is correct, reducing the speed of the AC fan will help a bit (in savings and comfort)... but having the right-sized is the real key to economical cooling.
• Add forced-air ventilation. Many areas have cool night time temperatures that allow using ventilation in place of air conditioning (for part of the year, at least). An exhaust fan in the roof or in the back wall will push out the hot inside air and draw cool outside air into the ballroom at a fraction of the cost of running an air conditioner. A roof-mounted plenum (shaped like an inverted “J”) allows the hot air (and sound) from the ballroom to be discharged in any direction. Multiple speeds or multiple fans let you tailor the amount of cooling to match the ballroom and outside conditions. Some venues may provide the opportunity to use portable fans to ventilate the facility.

• Consider other cooling issues: building insulation and vapor barriers, avoiding solar heat gain, using (rather than fighting) prevailing outside air flows, etc.
• Monitor comfort levels using both temperature and humidity. There are inexpensive hand-held meters; better yet, get thermostats that measure humidity and use it as a factor in turning the AC on and off.
• Check the AC filters often and clean or replace them whenever they are dirty. Poor airflow will result it more wear and tear on the equipment, higher electric bills, higher humidity, and warmer temperatures. If you can change to a cleanable high-efficiency filter (with less resistance to air flow), your system will perform better and last longer, and you will save money.
• Close the ballroom doors and start the air conditioning system early – at least two hours before any dance activity, and don’t be afraid to turn the thermostat down to 65 degrees or lower. Raise the thermostat to its “normal” setting when the dancing starts. This will (1) cool the building’s furnishings, floor, and structure to get a running start on the cooling; and (2) lower the humidity in the ballroom. If you wait until it gets uncomfortable to turn on the AC, it will have to fight these things as well as the heat that the dancers are generating. As a further bonus, you’ll get people up and dancing sooner if they come into a chilly ballroom.
• If there is room, add some ceiling fans. They keep the room air moving and add a little comfort, and they are inexpensive to buy and use.
• Keep lighting at lower levels. Ballroom lighting uses electricity in two ways (to run the lights themselves and to pump out the heat they create) – so lower light levels mean lower costs and greater comfort.
• Try to use energy efficient lighting. There are some very warm flourescent bulbs available; they produce much less light than incandescents. Even better, there will soon be colored LED flood lights to replace those energy-hogging incandescent floods that are so ubiquitous in ballrooms and dance studios. The LED lights will run much more efficiently, saving money and improving AC system effectiveness. Further, the LEDs will last as long as hundreds of incandescent light bulbs – replacing burned out bulbs will become a distant memory.
• If you are running a dance convention, consider putting a maximum temperature/humidity clause in the contract with the hotel. You’ll need to specify (1) a table or equation that defines temperature and humidity limits; (2) a way to measure these levels; and (3) a “penalty” for exceeding the limits. One possible remedy (in some situations) would be to remove a movable wall separating the ballroom from the next space and using that area’s air conditioning to “help” the actual ballroom area. If specifying and fussing over temperature and humidity is too much trouble, at least you can implement the next (and last) tip.

The fans do not have to be in the ballroom; in the hall outside the ballroom is just dandy. Mega-cooling like this is worth a few extra steps to an enthusiastic dancer.

You can buy them for your ongoing weekly or monthly dances from W.W. Grainger Inc. for $964 (item 3C673). It should be possible to rent one or two for a weekend dance convention (at less than $100 each) from a flood abatement company or an equipment rental company.

Unless you own (or lease exclusive rights to) your dance venue, you may even want to specify in your lease or contract the number and location of large portable fans that you can use.

Thermal comfort is an important issue to dancers – I have heard hundreds of comments and grumbles about it, and like contests, it has been a significant factor for many SoCal dancers in choosing where to dance on Sunday nights.

If you are the sponsor of an annual convention, you have no control over the equipment and the physical environment (except the option of changing hotels), but you can demand reasonable performance in the thermal management of the ballroom. If you sponsor or manage an ongoing event, you can work with your landlord to make sure that the cooling systems is doing all that it can and at a reasonable cost. In either case, knowing a bit about the cooling problem and the ways of addressing it may help in negotiating an optimum solution for a particular facility.

And pretty much anyone who is responsible for any dance event can pre-cool the ballroom, minimize the heating generated by the lighting, and add fans for ventilation and/or circulation.

So... stay cool, and help us do that, too.