Information on the Tes System and Drying Using Heat
What is Tes? – Tes stands for Thermal Energy System. Obviously from the word “thermal” heat plays a key role. A boiler system is used to heat a special fluid (trade secret). The boiler unit is placed outside the building to be dried. The heated liquid is carried at low pressure by hoses to Tex (Thermal Energy Exchangers). The liquid, now about 15° cooler is returned to the boiler. This is a closed loop system.
An air mover in mounted in the Tex (Thermal Exchange Unit) unit. The unit can now be used to direct heated air to the wet surfaces. The Tex units are compatible with almost any whistle style air mover including Dri-Eaz, Phoenix and so forth.
When drying carpeted floors, the heated air from the Tex box normally will be directed under the carpet and above the underlay, to float the carpet on a cushion of air. This holds the heat close to the surfaces we want to dry, the sub-floor, walls, skirting’s and so forth. The carpet and underlay will also dry quickly.
But many systems can dry carpet. A real advantage of Tes is that it can be used to dry the structure in record time with a minimum of damage or removal and replacement of building materials.
By leaving at least the carpet in place, even though at a later date it may be replaced, you not only control the heat, but you control the dust that is usually created during a “normal” drying process. Another advantage is that the home owner retains some semblance of normality during the drying, and afterwards they are not walking around on bare floors.
The Reets evaporation method – The principals behind Tes were developed by Jeremy Reets. Jeremy is from Sharpsburg, GA (just outside of Atlanta, in the USA). His family operates Champion Cleaning and Restoration. He grew up in the restoration industry and is very familiar with all methods of drying. HE got his IICRC certification in water damage, before he was old enough to drive.
The key to the Reets evaporation method is directed heat energy to the wet surfaces. (See additional information following to understand why this is different from past practices and why it is important to faster drying.) Evaporated moisture must still be removed from the air. The Reets method still uses dehumidifiers and/or exhausts to remove the humid air to the exterior of the building. Ideally both dehumidifiers and exhaust are used to help remove humid air quickly.
Tes is evolutionary. Tes is built upon the past. It is not totally new. At one time the drying industry just had metal air movers. Then we got dehumidifiers. Dehumidifiers were improved. New meters and improving meters helped restorers understand when a building was really dry and what was happening. Air mover designs improved.
Tes is the “latest step upward on the pyramid of progress.”
Tes and other heat based drying systems – There are other heat based drying systems on the market. Dry Pro and Water Out are two major players. We don’t want to promote Tes by making comparisons that place other heat based drying systems in an unfavourable light. This could result in damaging the reputation of all heat based systems.
Let Tes stand on its own. Discuss how test cases dried in 30 hours or less. These test cases included class 2 (lots of wet carpet and some wet walls) and class 3 (lots of wet carpet, lots of wet wall and even wet ceilings) losses. Tes has also been tested on slow to dry hardwood floors (class 4 water damage). This is one third the time these losses would have taken using conventional drying methods.
What if the floor is not carpeted? The key to using Tes effectively is to direct the energy to the wet surface rather than heating the entire room. Using the carpet to confine the heat energy and the kinetic energy of the moving air is a great benefit. However, the heated air can be directed where needed by other means, tenting a hardwood floor, for example.
How does Tes save money? By drying a home in under 2 days instead of 3 to 5 days or longer the family is has less inconvenience, is out of the home for a shorter time and less additional living expenses (ALE). This saves both the home-owner and the insurance company.
Additionally, significantly less structural material must be removed and replaced to complete the job. The cost of materials, the cost of labour to remove and later replace skirting boards, plaster board, flooring material and so forth will be a great savings. When repairs have to be made after drying, the occupants must be out of the home for even longer. This means ALE continues to add up for the family and the insurance company.
Drying equipment such as air movers and dehumidifiers will be used for shorter periods of time. This reduces costs for the insurance company. The restoration contractor will still be making significant rental income from Tes plus the air movers and dehumidifiers being used along with Tes.
Will Tes reduce the amount of other drying equipment needed on a job site? Almost certainly it will. However, this may be a point left for the contractors to learn for themselves. We don’t want to upset Dri-Eaz, Phoenix and other suppliers with whom we have a good relationship.
Key features – Tes uses heat energy along with the kinetic energy of moving air. This energy is applied directly to the wet surface rather than heating up the entire room.
Conventional drying methods were based on the out-date concept that air can only hold so much moisture. Actually there is no limit to the amount of water vapour air can hold. Air temperature is not the limiting factor of how quickly water evaporates. The limiting factor is how hot the water is! (See information below for scientific support.)
Article Source
This article is property of Ideal Group UK – Cleaning and Restoration Company in Kent. For more information on our commercial and domestic cleaning and restoration services, visit our website www.idealgroupuk.co.uk.
Re-distribution of this article is permitted only if the following conditions are met:
- Do not remove the link to the article source
- No changes are made to the article content or article source.
- You agree and understand that Ideal Group UK Ltd is the owner of the exclusive copyright of this article.
© The Ideal Group | Web Design & SEO by Adams Creative