ity ¥ Components v About Q.
Conditioning V Heating v Air Cleaning Y Hum
How a Fan Coil Unit Works
, a
Fan coil units are used in all types of buildings - from residential to
commercial to industrial - even the local bar down your street might have a
fan coil unit
Fan coil units come in all shapes and sizes - but no matter where a fan coil
unit is used, or what shape it comes in, its working principle is exactly the Hi, my name is Trey Lewis and fm the
founder and chief editor
same.
at hvactrainingshop.com. My goal for this
websites to help homeowners,
In this article, III explain how a fan coil unit works by first going over the troubleshoot and maintain their home's
basics of fan coil units. ll also provide some examples of different types of | ——_-HVAC systems.
fan coil units and explain how the different types of fan coil units compare
to each other.
Search... Q
Table of Contents- Fan Coil Unit Types
- How a 4-pipe fan coil unit works
- Howa 2 pipe fan coil unit works
Fan Coil Unit Basics
A fan coil unit works by using a fan to move air through a heating or
cooling coil to condition the ai
ina space.
In its simplest form, a fan coil unit consists of a fan and a coil:
* Fan: The fan is used to circulate air through the fan coil unit and the
conditioned space. The fan sucks air out of the room, through the
fan coll unit, and blows it back into the room,
* Coil: The coil is used to heat or cool the air as it passes through the
fan coil unit. In commercial buildings, the coil is usually connected to
a hot water or chilled water system,
Most fan coil units have an air filter as well
The air filter is used to filter particulates out of the air before they enter the
fan coil unit. The air filter helps protect the fan coil unit's internal
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Versus Air
Handling Unit =
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= Difference?
‘Whatis a
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Basicscomponents from dust and also cleans the air in the conditioned space.
HOT WATER FAN COIL UNIT
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Fan coil units usually aren't connected to a larger ductwork system, but
they may be in some cases.
The key defining factor of a fan coil unit is that it only recirculates air in a
given space. Ifthe unit uses its fan to bring in any outside air, then the unit
is technically not a fan coil unit - it’s an air handler,In commercial HVAC, a fan coil unit is actually a specific type of air handler
that uses a fan to recirculate the air in a space and a coil to heat or cool the
air as it passes through the unit.
In residential HVAC, the term fan coil unit is used loosely and is used to
name units that have at least a fan and coil, regardless of whether it brings
in outside air or not.
| go over all of the differences between air handlers and fan coil units in my
fan coil unit versus air handling unit article.
Fan Coil Unit Types
Every fan coil unit can be classified into two general types based on the
location of its fan
1, Blow-through. A blow-through fan coil unit’s fan is upstream,
(behind) the coil. The fan blows air through the heat-exchanging coil
2, Draw-through. A draw-through fan coil unit's fan is downstream (in
front) of the coil. The fan sucks air through the heat-exchanging coilBLOW-THROUGH FAN COIL UNIT
AR
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Training Shop
[Acomparison a blowshrough versus draw through fan col unis. The fan forthe Blow-through units
Upstream ofthe col wile the fan fr the craw-throueh units downstream ofthe col
There are pros and cons of both blow-through and draw-through fan
coil units. Generally, draw-through fan coil units are preferred for cooling
and dehumidification purposes,You can also classify a fan coil unit based on what flows through its coil:
1. Refrigerant. If refrigerant flows through the coil, then it's considered
a direct-expansion fan coil unit
2. Water. if water flows through the coil, then it's considered a
hydronic fan coil unit.
In a direct expansion fan coil unit, the coil serves as the evaporator or
condenser in the refrigeration cycle. An example of a direct expansion fan
coil unit is the indoor unit for a split system air conditioner.
In a hydronic fan coil unit, chilled water or hot water flows through the coil
to cool or heat the space. Hydronic fan coil units are usually only used in
large buildings with centralized heating and cooling systems. The water is,
cooled or heated in a separate system - such as a chilled water system or
a boiler system.
When it comes to hydronic fan coil units, there are two main types:
1 4-pipe fan coil units
2. 2-pipe fan coil unitsIl go over them below.
How a 4-pipe fan coil unit works
‘A 4-pipe fan coil unit has two coils - a cooling coil and a heating coil. Each
coil is connected to two pipes - one pipe for the water supply and another
pipe for water return.
Both cooling and heating coils have their own individual valves - so there
are separate cooling and heating valves.
The cooling valve opens if cooling is required in the space. The heating
valve opens if heating is required in the space.4-PIPE FAN COIL UNIT
AR
FILTER COOLING HEATING
COL COL _FAN
RETURN AIR
FROM SPACE
‘SUPPLY AIR
TO SPACE
CHILLED WATER HOT WATER
HVAC Strive Sueruvnerurn
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Diagram of 2 “pipe fan count
The main advantage of using 4-pipe fan coil units in an HVAC system is
that the cooling and heating coils are separate from each other,
allowing for simultaneous heating and cooling throughout the
building.
For example, if one part of a building needs cooling but the other part of
the building needs heating, a 4-pipe system will allow some fan coil units tocool the building and the other fan coil units to heat the building at the
same time,
Another advantage of a 4-pipe fan coil unit is that it can dehumidify a
space. A 4-pipe fan coil unit can use its cooling coil to remove moisture
from the air, then use its heating coil to reheat the air. This allows for
simultaneous dehumidification and temperature control in a space.
How a 2-pipe fan coil unit works
A 2-pipe fan coil unit has one coil connected to two pipes. One pipe is for
the water supply and the other pipe is for water return.
Chilled water or hot water flows through the coil, depending on whether
cooling or heating is required in the building
The flow through the coil is controlled by a valve on one of the pipes. The
valve opens and closes depending on the heating or cooling demand in the
space.2-PIPE FAN COIL UNIT
AR
FILTER — COOLING/HEATING
Col
SUPPLY AIR
RETURN AIR
TO SPACE
FROM SPACE
CHILLEDHOT
WATER VALVE
CHANGEOVER
‘TEMPERATURE SENSOR
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Diagram of 2ppe fan count
The main advantage of using 2-pipe fan coil units in an HVAC system is
that they are cheaper to install. There is less labor and material used
(pipes, fittings, valves, etc.) to install a 2-pipe fan coil unit when
compared to a 4-pipe fan coil uni
But how does a 2-pipe fan coil unit know if it has chilled water or hot water,
flowing through its pipes? Wouldn't it be a huge mess if the valve openedup when trying to cool the space - but instead hot water flowed through
the coil?
Fortunately, the 2-pipe fan coil unit is able to detect whether it has chilled
water or hot water flowing through its pipes by using a changeover
temperature sensor.
The changeover temperature sensor is attached to the water supply pipe
and measures the temperature of the water in the pipe.
The purpose of the changeover sensor is to detect whether chilled water or
hot water is flowing through the pipe:
+ When the changeover sensor detects hot water flowing through the
pipe, the fan coil unit's control board goes into heating mode and
opens the valve if heating is required in the space.
* When the changeover sensor detects chilled water flowing through
the pipe, the fan coil unit's control board goes into cooling mode and
opens the valve if cooling is required in the space.Trey Lewis
Hi, my name is Trey Lewis and I'm the founder and chief editor at
HVAC Training Shop. My goal for this website is to help homeowners
troubleshoot and maintain their home's HVAC systems. Whether its
changing an air filter, troubleshooting a blower motor, or just buying a
new humidifier, | want to make sure that you're covered,
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2 thoughts on “How a Fan Coil Unit Works”
ee Sledge 1UK
October 24, 2023 at 12:36 am
Can you please clarify a FM statement made to all occupants in a
high rise Middle East Tower block which we believe is false scare
mongering marketing to drum up business. Our units have a
metered chilled water to a draw through FCU unit with a On/Off 2
port valve, The FM claim a dirty filter and coil consumes more chilled
water. Q1).My understanding is the dirty coil increases the fouling
factor taking longer for the energy to be transferred from the inside
of the coil to the coil offside air and as “energy cannot be created or
destroyed” it has nowhere to go other than from the inside of the
Coil to the airside of the FCU where both chilled water temperatureare metered a short distance away. The lower heat transfer requires
a longer running time where the only loss on the chilled water side
is the chilled water pipework losses for this extra running time. Is
this correct or have | got this wrong. The other factor is the fan
efficiency operation point consuming more electricity and running
time which is marginal.
Reply
Trey Lewis
October 25, 2023 at 4:49 pm
Hi Sledge,
How is the building metering your chilled water usage? You
are correct that the energy transfer has nowhere to go other
than the coil. If your energy usage is metered using chilled
water flow and chilled water supply/return temperatures,
then the chilled water energy losses for you are minimal.However, if the building is metering strictly based on chilled
water flow, then maximising the heat transfer ability of your
FCU's coil would be beneficial
“Trey
Reply
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