For decades, steel housings have been the standard in air handling units since few manufacturers have offered the aluminum alternative. With Air Enterprises, the rules are quite different. Aluminum is the preferred housing material for several very good reasons.

The Air Enterprises design capability began in 1964 with the use of lightweight aluminum panel construction offered as a means to quickly fabricate factory custom and on-site assembled air handling units. Some existing buildings will not accept factory made air handling units due to doorway or equipment elevator constraints. That's where the Air Enterprises on-site assembly can help out.

Machines can be field fabricated on equipment pads.

Company's benefit from the fact that aluminum housings and floors won’t rust, and better yet, don’t need painting. The installation of aluminum floor pans and floor drains make compartment cleaning easy. Aluminum housings have proven to be more durable than painted steel where water might be present, but without the need to go to costly stainless steel. Being easier to keep clean, maintenance is facilitated and inspection agencies more easily satisfied.

Double wall panel construction is the rule with both solid and perforated inner liners available. Solid liners can be any metal desired, with smooth aluminum and stainless steel being the most common. For example, the unit exterior housing can be leather grain aluminum, the inner liner stainless steel for food grade applications. By only using a stainless liner, not the entire air handling unit enclosure, significant cost savings can result. Many mix and match combinations can be used, even within the same unit, with certain modules solid lined and others perforated for acoustical reasons. Where perforated liners are use, several insulation coverings are available to meet the various codes and standards.

When specifying an Air Enterprises' unit, the specifier can get his answers up front, prior to unit layout and design, so that housing performance is not something of concern. Keep in mind, Air Enterprises has been building and improving this aluminum housing design for a long, long time.

The key to our success is the use of specially designed aluminum extrusions to form a joining framework, allowing for superior strength as well as no through metal housing designs. Both panel and door frame extrusions can be offered in the no through metal style, in order to minimize the possibility of housing sweating and condensate formation outside the unit on the equipment room floor for indoor style air handling units.

Outdoor unit designs differ very little from indoor units, both requiring air-tight housings, with outdoor units provided with a membrane roofing material for added protection. Gutters and downspouts are also available.