The remark echoed through the air-conditioned space: “It’s the humidity that’ll do us in, not the heat.”
As his kids might well roll their eyes, especially after experiencing the unforgiving desert Southwest summers, their father’s point has some merit: high humidity not only makes people miserable but also puts an undue strain on air-conditioning systems. Half of the power used to energize a typical air conditioner is wasted, escaping back into the air.
As giant retailers like Amazon, Walmart, and logistics powerhouses UPS and FedEx operate massive warehouses, one crucial aspect gaining attention is efficient air-conditioning. Temperatures inside warehouses can become uncomfortably high, undoubtedly.
A startup is endeavouring to overcome the humidity challenge. Developing an innovative air conditioning system for residential spaces that leverages specific materials to efficiently remove humidity before cooling the air. As temperatures soar and humidity levels rise in regions home to more than two billion people lacking access to air conditioning, a company sees an opportunity to bridge this gap while reducing the amount of power consumed.
While initially honing its offerings for consumers, the company is now leveraging larger models to optimize performance in industrial settings such as warehouses. On Tuesday, SolarCity installed its flagship product on a buyer’s rooftop, according to the company, as revealed to TechCrunch. A dedicated outdoor air system (DOAS) dehumidifies outside air entering the building, thereby reducing the cooling demand on the air conditioner and improving overall indoor air quality.
According to co-founder and CEO Sorin Grama, while DOAS represents a modest portion of the overall market, he views this trend as a promising indicator of growth. “This modest start-up option offers a more streamlined introduction.”
The Somerville, Massachusetts-based startup, founded in 2017, has secured $7.5 million in funding to date, including a $4.5 million seed round, according to Grama. The company is currently allocating a $6 million investment to support local trials of its innovative products.
Transaera’s core competence lies in its proprietary coating technology applied to the warmth exchangers of its heat pumps, featuring a design analogous to an automobile’s radiator. Within Transaera’s Desiccant Outdoor Air Systems (DOAS), ambient air is drawn through the unit and comes into contact with specially designed desiccants that effectively eliminate moisture from the air stream. The dry air next encounters the evaporator coils, causing the cooled air to conform to the building’s predetermined temperature setting.
While air conditioners and dehumidifiers are designed to remove humidity from the air, they do produce heat as a byproduct of their operation? Typically, this natural heat goes unused, but Transaera leverages it to regenerate its desiccant materials, situated on a porous wheel’s surface. As a result of the wheel passing through incoming air, moisture absorption occurs. The rehydrated desiccant subsequently pivots away from the airstream, leveraging the residual heat emanating from the evaporator coils to facilitate efficient drying. The warm and inviting air is tempered by the unwanted humidity from outside. During the winter season, the heating system can operate in reverse, utilizing its ability to protect indoor humidity by warming the incoming air with the heat pump.
Several DOAS methods installed on industrial rooftops currently employ warmth pumps to dehumidify incoming air; however, as they rely on cold temperatures to condense water on coils, the air rising from them can be excessively cooled relative to the building’s conditions, a concern particularly in spring and fall when temperatures may not be warm enough to warrant air-conditioning. The models require reheating of the air, typically relying on high-quality gas fuel to achieve this process. “It’s an extremely inefficient and silly way to implement outdoor air quality monitoring,” Grama said.
Transaera’s innovative approach reduces energy consumption by up to 40% compared to current state-of-the-art DOASs, according to the company. Currently, its technology is operational on a single industrial rooftop, but Grama revealed that more installations are in the pipeline.
There’s an urgent need to address this issue: eradicating humidity requires a significant amount of energy, accounting for approximately 1% of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to recent studies. While aviation accounts for roughly half of all emissions from this sector, which has garnered significantly more attention. A significant reduction of 40% in dehumidification’s power consumption could have a substantial impact in this context. Dad would approve.
