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HVAC SystemsFeatured

Why the Frost Stat Is on the Extract Side of a Plate Heat Exchanger

On a plate heat exchanger AHU the frost protection reads the extract, not the incoming fresh air, and engineers rewire it believing it to be a mistake. Why the ice forms on the extract side, how pack frost protection differs from the coil frost stat, and what actually triggers a defrost.

11 Oct 20269 min read

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Latest Articles

HVAC Systems

What Is a Recuperator AHU, and How Does It Compare With a Thermal Wheel?

A recuperator AHU recovers heat through a static plate pack; a thermal wheel does the same job with a rotating matrix and moves moisture with it. What separates them, the efficiency figures the manufacturers actually publish, and the different point schedule each type lands on a controls contractor.

11 Oct 20269 min

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BMS Technical

AHU Controls: How Air Handling Unit Control Sequences Actually Work

A full guide to AHU control sequences: start/stop and optimum start, the damper sequence, fan control, coil sequencing through a deadband, CO₂ demand ventilation, heat recovery by device type, both frost protections, and what to prove at commissioning before you accept a unit.

11 Oct 202612 min

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Case Studies

24V Window Actuator Wiring After a School Roof Replacement

Royal Harbour Academy, Ramsgate: eight weather-damaged 24V window actuator feeds re-cabled in 4 mm² fire-resistant cable, AHU control cabling drawn back and re-terminated, and extract fans wired back to the BMS during a roof replacement.

2 Oct 20267 min

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HVAC Systems

VAV Installation: TROX VAVs & Sontay CO₂ on a Trend BMS

A real VAV installation on a refurbished office floor: four TROX TA-Silenzio extract VAVs and Sontay duct CO₂ sensors wired back to a Trend panel two floors up. Core-by-core terminations, the signal-range and mode checks that decide whether the floor works, and what good looks like at handover.

28 Sept 20269 min

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BMS Technical23 Sept 202612 min

Data Centre BMS Integration: What Actually Needs to Talk to What

Most data centre BMS integration jobs fail on the boring bits — a Modbus register map nobody checked, a UPS that only talks SNMP, a chiller on a vendor gateway, and a commissioning plan that never actually pulled the plug. Here's how integration works in a live critical environment, including what we did on the Park Royal cooling-tower job.

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BMS Technical23 Sept 202612 min

Data Centre Alarm Management: How to Stop Critical Alarms Getting Lost in the Noise

Most data centre BMS alarm lists were never designed. They were left at manufacturer defaults, tuned to office comfort bands, and then ignored. Here's how to rationalise CRAC, UPS, PDU and environmental alarms against EEMUA 191 and ISA-18.2 so the one that matters gets seen.

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BMS Technical23 Sept 202611 min

BMS vs DCIM vs EPMS: What Each System Does in a Data Centre

Does DCIM replace the BMS? Does the EPMS need to be on the BMS? Who owns the sensor in the UPS room? These get asked on every data centre project and answered differently by every vendor. Here's the contractor's version: what each system is for, where the seams are, and which gaps cause outages.

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BMS Technical20 Sept 202613 min

Trend IQView4 Not Powering Up: Tracing a Dead BMS Display to a Failed UPS

The call was 'the IQView4 is down'. What we found was the whole BMS off — neither the display nor the controller had failed, both had lost the same 24 V supply. The fault was a UPS feeding one of three control transformers. A label named the UPS; nothing said which transformer it fed, so it took nine hours and a lot of conductor tracing.

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HVAC Systems14 Sept 202615 min

What Is a VAV System? How VAV Boxes Work (UK Guide)

A plain-English guide to variable air volume systems: how a VAV box measures and controls airflow, minimum and maximum setpoints, how the AHU fan follows the boxes, VAV vs CAV vs fan coils, what goes wrong on site and the UK standards that apply.

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HVAC Systems14 Sept 202612 min

VAV Box Problems: A Practical Fault-Finding Guide

Most VAV box problems are not the box. This guide sets out a logical fault-finding order: trend four signals, decide which half of the control cascade failed, prove the airflow measurement and K-factor, prove the damper, check setpoints, then reheat and the room sensor.

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HVAC Systems14 Sept 202611 min

VAV Minimum Airflow and Reheat: Getting the Sequence Right

Minimum airflow and reheat decide whether a VAV building heats and cools the same air. This guide explains why a VAV box needs a minimum, how to set it from Approved Document F ventilation rates rather than a template, how single and dual-maximum reheat sequences differ and what goes wrong on site.

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HVAC Systems14 Sept 202611 min

VAV Static Pressure Reset: Trim and Respond Explained

A fixed duct static pressure setpoint leaves VAV dampers throttled and the AHU fan working far harder than it needs to. This guide explains static pressure control, trim and respond reset from ASHRAE Guideline 36, realistic savings, the four reasons resets fail and how to deliver one properly.

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HVAC Systems14 Sept 202612 min

VAV Systems and UK Regulations 2026: MEES, Part L, Part F

The rules affecting VAV buildings have moved: the government dropped the EPC C 2027 step in June 2026, Approved Document L 2026 takes effect in March 2027, and the commissioning codes were revised in 2024. This guide sets out where things stand and what it means for VAV controls.

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BMS Technical7 Sept 202611 min

How to Reverse a Three-Phase Motor on an AHU Fan (Not the Winding Links)

A three-phase motor reverses when any two supply phases are swapped — at the starter for DOL, at the drive output or in the drive's phase-order parameter for a VSD. What that does to airflow on axial and centrifugal fans, why moving the star/delta links is the wrong tool, and how to isolate, prove dead and commission the change properly.

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Building Management Insights

Why the Frost Stat Is on the Extract Side of a Plate Heat Exchanger

Latest Articles

More Articles

Data Centre BMS Integration: What Actually Needs to Talk to What

Data Centre Alarm Management: How to Stop Critical Alarms Getting Lost in the Noise

BMS vs DCIM vs EPMS: What Each System Does in a Data Centre

Trend IQView4 Not Powering Up: Tracing a Dead BMS Display to a Failed UPS

What Is a VAV System? How VAV Boxes Work (UK Guide)

VAV Box Problems: A Practical Fault-Finding Guide

VAV Minimum Airflow and Reheat: Getting the Sequence Right

VAV Static Pressure Reset: Trim and Respond Explained

VAV Systems and UK Regulations 2026: MEES, Part L, Part F

How to Reverse a Three-Phase Motor on an AHU Fan (Not the Winding Links)

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