Energy efficiency

Air conditioning controls

The air conditioning in the department can either be controlled centrally or by the user. Depending on the requirements the unit can be set by Estates to switch off in the evenings or weekends, or can be locked to prevent changes. If you want to change the settings but can't, or the control is broken please contact Trevor Cuming t.cuming@sheffield.ac.uk.

There is some useful information on Mitsubishi's website.  To change the operation mode – (Cool / Dry / Auto /
Fan / Heat) hold  the down arrow and the fan button simultaneously unitil the desired mode is displayed. Auto will switch between heating and cooling when the temperature changes. They also have a list of ways to increase energy efficiency. The most  relevant  are

• When a room is too hot or too cold do not set temperature cooler/hotter than the desirable temperature in an attempt to speed temperature change. This will likely cause an energy wasting “overshoot”. So if it is too hot or cold change it by one degree at a time and wait for it to adjust. This may happen in the morning as the controls will often have been off all night and wil take an hour or two to get to the set temperature

• Lower set point in winter as people benefit from the difference to the outside temperature. Set higher for summer. It is recommended that in summer the temperature is set to 24C, whilst in winter it should be set to 21C.

Thermal cyclers

Many PCR machines have a default chilling at the end of the cycle. This is not usually necessary and the machine can be programmed to switch of at the end of the final extension