Steam Distributing Coils (Non-Freeze)

Steam Distributing CoilsWere you aware that Steam Distributing coils or “Non-Freeze” steam coils were essentially discovered by accident? First, it must be mentioned that there is no such thing as a 100% “Non-Freeze” steam coil because under the right conditions, any coil can freeze. As such, Capital Coil tries to steer clear of the term “Non-Freeze” because it is a mischaracterization. Steam Distributing Coils is the correct terminology that Capital Coil uses when speaking about steam coils that see entering air temperatures under 32* F. Trapped condensate in the tubes and/or headers, coupled with entering air temperatures below 32*F over the face of the coil, creates a situation with a near-100% certainty that your steam coil will freeze. Because of this, there is no magical solution to fully eliminate freezing your coil, which again is why Capital Coil does not use the term “Non-Freeze”.

Steam turns to condensate little by little as it travels through the coil. Lower pressure steam turns to condensate faster than higher pressure steam!! The longer the tube length in the coil, the earlier the condensate is formed, and the longer it has to travel through the tubes. One very important fact to always remember is that too much condensate in a steam coil IS NEVER A GOOD THING…under any circumstances! Because of this requirement, everything is designed to ensure the removal of all condensate from the coil. Systems are heavily designed with float & thermostatic traps, vacuum breakers, and placement of piping to help get rid of any remaining condensate.

Another headache that occurs when condensate freezes is that it creates a “water-hammer”. A “water-hammer” can best be described as a loud banging noise as the steam is coming into contact with the condensate in the coil. It does not allow the steam to be evenly distributed across the face of the coil…again not a good thing!

At the inception of the HVAC industry, steam coils were originally designed to be shorter in length because there was not a good way to evacuate condensate. In an effort to make steam coils longer in length, the concept of a steam coil containing a tube within a tube was invented. The steam feeds only the inner tubes, which travels the entire of the length of the outer-tube. Holes are placed every 12” with the inner tube releasing condensate to the outer-tube. The idea is that the condensate is slowly and evenly “distributed” across the entire length of the coil. Heating is also evenly applied across the coil’s face, and if the casing is pitched at a downward angle, condensate cannot remain trapped. It was later discovered as an added bonus that under most circumstances these coils will not freeze. So while the concept was never designed or intended to become known as “Non-Freeze”, they are now used in almost all projects dealing with air temperatures below 32*F. Please keep in mind that you will still need all of the other steam protective devices in the system, including the freeze-stat, but all in all, it is much more difficult to freeze coils today than it was 30-40 years ago. Necessity may be “the mother of invention” but this great concept was discovered accidently.

Capital Coil is available for all of your coil-related trivia needs, so please don’t hesitate to reach out whenever we can be of assistance.

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Quick, Reliable & Uncommonly Fast

 Quick, Reliable & Uncommonly Fast

You have many choices when buying replacement coils and choosing a coil supplier. You could decide to diversify and work with numerous suppliers, based on a particular need. However, Capital Coil & Air can make your buying decisions a lot easier. We have been in the coil business for many years, and in this industry, we recognize what is important vs. what is irrelevant. That translates into us having good insight on what you need and how best to support you as a customer.

Quick

Coils today typically do not have much “preventative” maintenance done on them. Most everybody just waits until a coil fails and then worries about the problem at that time. And when coils inevitably fail, they fail during the times when you need them most; i.e. cooling coils failing in the summer and hot water coils breaking down in the winter. As a result, there is usually an urgency attached to most HVAC projects. Generally speaking, most jobs require some form of “quick-ship”. Capital Coil & Air gives you (4) different shipping options for all replacement coils. Our standard ship time is 3 – 4 weeks, but if you need your order faster, Capital Coil will accommodate that need. We do not want to have a “one and done” transaction. Capital Coil’s goal as a business is to have a customer base that we work with for 20 years, not 20 minutes. While we will do our best to give you the fairest price possible, you have to recognize that there is an additional premium associated with quick-shipments on replacement coils. However, you will never pay that premium if Capital Coil is late on manufacturing your order. We’ve built our business on quick-ships, and we hit 99% of all deadlines on orders the last two years. In other words, we rarely miss! We give you options, and you only pay for what you really need.

Reliability

Reliability encompasses so many things in the coil industry. For example, if you need a price today, and the sales rep takes (2) days to get back to you, that’s unacceptable and unreliable. If you require a drawing to help you design a job, and you are waiting for a week to have it returned? Again, not what Capital Coil considers reliable. If a coil supplier promises you a ship date and ships (2) weeks late? Once again, not reliable. Do any of the above issues sound familiar? It is easy to make extravagant promises, and companies do it all of the time. However, Capital Coil’s success rate on meeting and exceeding shipping schedules says more than any promise we can make. We believe in under-promising and over-delivering, not the reverse!

  • Capital Coil responds quickly to all inquiries for pricing, general information, and engineering assistance
  • Capital Coil manufactures high quality equipment in the U.S.A. and is AHRI Certified
  • Capital Coil’s years of experience will help you quickly pick the correct product for the correct application
  • Capital Coil provides accurate shipping dates, real-time tracking and common carrier information after your order has left our factory

We do all of the above to make everything in your life easier. Capital Coil holds itself to the highest standards for both reliability and customer service. In short, we want your experience with us to be professional and simple. Please call or email our sales department for any job – no matter how large or small. We greatly look forward to the opportunity to work with you on your next project.

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Large enough to service all of your replacement coil needs, but small enough to care about what you think

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