Ventilation expertise from Flettner
Rotary ventilator provider Flettner offers a range of wind-powered, environmentally focused solutions for commercial vehicles, with 40,000+ products sold worldwide per year.
The company attributes the range’s success to its quality and innovative design, which is said to reduce the requirement for auxiliary power needed for traditional HVAC systems to ventilate commercial vehicles.
“Fleet operators and commercial vehicle owners across the globe have specified our products because of their time proven performance, durability and quality, being wholly designed and manufactured in the UK,” said the company.
“In addition, Flettner’s wind powered ventilators are also used in a wide range of other applications including horseboxes, trailers, portable buildings, caravans and motorhomes.”
Flettner says its ventilators offer a low-cost, retrofittable alternative to HVAC and air conditioning units, extracting air from a vehicle almost all the time subject to a light breeze, and removing stale air, strong odours, condensation and excessive heat.
“One of the greatest benefits of a Flettner ventilator is its simplicity – the ventilator can be installed in as little as 20 minutes, and requires no auxiliary power or maintenance, and provides up to 250 m³ per hour of extraction,” said the firm.
It specifically highlights the potential benefits of its ventilators in ultra low emission vehicles (ULEVs) and electric vehicles (EVs).
“Existing bus HVAC and air conditioning systems are energy intensive, creating a major challenge for the introduction of ULEV and EV solutions, where the energy used for auxiliary functions cannot be regenerated unlike vehicle motion which can, through regenerative braking,” said Flettner.
“Meeting this challenge will extend the range/reduce energy requirements of ULEV and EVs. The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) found the driving range of EVs is reduced by 33 per cent when air conditioning is used, and The Brussels Intercommunal Transport Company study showed the highest potential for energy savings in EVs is from making auxiliary features such as heating/ventilation more energy-efficient.
“With a Flettner ventilator equipped automatically removing excessive heat from cabins, the energy demand requirements to power the ventilation and temperature control of existing and future ULEVs and EVs will be significantly reduced, resulting in lower emissions, cleaner air and increased range for EVs.”
Flettner’s positive climate impact goes beyond its operational life cycle, says the firm – for example, in reducing the need for polluting refrigerants, and additional wastage from non-recyclable HVAC parts.
“Flettner’s proven design is undergoing constant refinement, to increase efficiency and reduce its environmental impact,” said the company.
