No heat, no cool season begins

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Lynsie Lorenz
  • 374th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan --  Members of the 374th Civil Engineer Squadron began turning off air conditioning units around base recently as part of the base's No Heat, No Cool season. 

Most buildings will not have heat or air conditioning during this period as part of an energy saving measure, according the 374th CES officials. The No Heat, No Cool period typically lasts for about 30 days. 

"By shutting down the air conditioning we save the Air Force about $146,000 and a considerable amount of energy," said Tech. Sgt. Justin Yagoda, 374th CES NCO in charge of Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning. 

Officials use a five-day average temperature to gauge when to begin turning off air conditioning around base. The trigger to turn off cooling units for most base facilities is when the average temperature dips to 74 F or lower for five consecutive days. Family housing unit systems will be turned off when the average temperature is 72 F. 

The same type formula holds true for determining when to turn on the heat throughout the base. The trigger is when the average temperature drops below 62 F for five days.
The process of turning off air conditioning units and turning on the heat is not instantaneous, according to Sergeant Yagoda. 

"It takes two weeks to shut everything down," he said. 

The current plan is for all air conditioning units to be turned off and heat turned on Nov. 16. 

"Even though the air conditioning is off, you can still use the fan to circulate the air in your building," said Senior Airman Nicholas Williams, 374th CES HVAC. 

Airman Williams said this period of using ambient air to cool homes and facilities, called "free cooling" in the HVAC trade, is critical to not only save money, but allow time for maintenance. 

"The 'no heat, no cool' season also gives our shop the time to perform maintenance on our systems without placing the burden of high temperatures and humidity on the building occupants," he said.