Cost cutting doesn’t have to be painful. Indeed, it can be accomplished in some surprisingly easy and effective ways. That’s the lesson one of North America’s largest food companies learned when it teamed up with Camfil — the world’s leading provider of clean air solutions — to rethink the way it used air filters. Simply by switching to longer lasting, higher performing filters, the company is on track to realize more than $56,000 in annual savings. And even as costs decrease, airflow and air quality have increased — a true win-win situation.
That wasn’t always the case. Before the switch, the company was experiencing disappointing and costly results at its fry processing and frozen food plant. Sweet potato fry production was generating high levels of contaminants over the batter and fry lines, and air handling units (AHUs) could not keep up. Filters had to be changed frequently — triggering significant replacement and installation costs.
The problem was that the company had been taking a one-size-fits-all approach to air filtration. Each AHU was configured to use the same filters, even though some areas of the plant saw higher levels of contaminants than others. One size, it turned out, didn’t fit every situation. In areas with the most contaminant, the air filters often lasted less than a month.
Working with Camfil, the company embraced a different approach, where AHUs were categorized by the contaminant level in its location. Once that was done, appropriate Camfil air filters could be matched with each AHU. In the high contaminant area, the quickly overwhelmed prefilters the company had been using were replaced with Camfil‘s 22-inch deep Hi-Flo® MERV 9 bags. Meanwhile, Camfil 30/30® 2″ deep MERV 8 pleated filters were installed in the AHU’s second stage, and MERV 13 Camfil Hi-Flo ES filters in the final stage.
In use, the MERV 9 prefilters lasted six times longer than the previous air filters, while the MERV 8 and MERV 13 filters lasted twice as long as the filters they replaced. All told, the reduction in filters, labor, and energy use translated into an annual savings of $25,000.
Marked improvement was obtained in the medium and lowest contaminant areas, as well, where savings were calculated at $20,000 and $11,000, respectively. In all, the food company was able to reduce its air filter usage from 2,264 annually to just 563 — while reducing costs by $56,571.
Results like this may have come as a surprise — albeit a welcome one — to the food company, but for Camfil it is regular and expected outcome. Leveraging its six global research sites across the globe, Camfil’s advances have made possible a new generation of air filters — products that promote health, sustainability, and energy efficiency at the same time. Indeed, by maintaining their efficiency longer than more traditionally designed products, Camfil air filters do a better job of removing harmful particles from the indoor air, while lasting longer and using less energy. Already, Camfil customers are reducing their HVAC costs by up to 30 percent.
The benefit of efficient, sustainable air filters isn’t just reducing the cost of ownership. It is reducing those costs while improving indoor air quality. And simply switching filters can do all this. That’s one cost savings measure everyone can embrace.
That wasn’t always the case. Before the switch, the company was experiencing disappointing and costly results at its fry processing and frozen food plant. Sweet potato fry production was generating high levels of contaminants over the batter and fry lines, and air handling units (AHUs) could not keep up. Filters had to be changed frequently — triggering significant replacement and installation costs.
The problem was that the company had been taking a one-size-fits-all approach to air filtration. Each AHU was configured to use the same filters, even though some areas of the plant saw higher levels of contaminants than others. One size, it turned out, didn’t fit every situation. In areas with the most contaminant, the air filters often lasted less than a month.
Working with Camfil, the company embraced a different approach, where AHUs were categorized by the contaminant level in its location. Once that was done, appropriate Camfil air filters could be matched with each AHU. In the high contaminant area, the quickly overwhelmed prefilters the company had been using were replaced with Camfil‘s 22-inch deep Hi-Flo® MERV 9 bags. Meanwhile, Camfil 30/30® 2″ deep MERV 8 pleated filters were installed in the AHU’s second stage, and MERV 13 Camfil Hi-Flo ES filters in the final stage.
In use, the MERV 9 prefilters lasted six times longer than the previous air filters, while the MERV 8 and MERV 13 filters lasted twice as long as the filters they replaced. All told, the reduction in filters, labor, and energy use translated into an annual savings of $25,000.
Marked improvement was obtained in the medium and lowest contaminant areas, as well, where savings were calculated at $20,000 and $11,000, respectively. In all, the food company was able to reduce its air filter usage from 2,264 annually to just 563 — while reducing costs by $56,571.
Results like this may have come as a surprise — albeit a welcome one — to the food company, but for Camfil it is regular and expected outcome. Leveraging its six global research sites across the globe, Camfil’s advances have made possible a new generation of air filters — products that promote health, sustainability, and energy efficiency at the same time. Indeed, by maintaining their efficiency longer than more traditionally designed products, Camfil air filters do a better job of removing harmful particles from the indoor air, while lasting longer and using less energy. Already, Camfil customers are reducing their HVAC costs by up to 30 percent.
The benefit of efficient, sustainable air filters isn’t just reducing the cost of ownership. It is reducing those costs while improving indoor air quality. And simply switching filters can do all this. That’s one cost savings measure everyone can embrace.
