Positive Air Systems

Frank Siccardi of Fayetteville continues to baffle the heating and cooling industry, as well as himself, with the success and continued development of Positive Air systems.

This heating and cooling wonder, first developed to regulate temperatures in chicken houses, has won the praise of every facility using his system, Siccardi says. Positive Air in its “simplest form” creates uniform temperature and humidity no matter how wide or tall the facility.

Siccardi says what makes Positive Air unique is the way the fans distribute the air and the length of time the unit operates per hour. He says the air discharges as if it were “thrown out like a bullet” in a straight line for about 200 feet. Once that blast of air hits a wall or similar structure, it spreads throughout the facility.

“I sent one [system] to a man in Dallas,” Siccardi says. “The guy went crazy over it. This gives air movement capabilities that have never been seen before.”

The Positive Air system is a true money and energy saver, functioning only 30 to 50 seconds every 10 minutes. Siccardi says that the environmental aspects of this system was “just one of those things,” and just something he stumbled on early in its creation.

As the system’s popularity grew, he formed his own company, COENCO (Coordinated Environmental Control) and operated out of his home.

Siccardi uses the warehouse for Marshall Town Tools as an example of how Positive Air can be cost effective and environmentally friendly.

“Marshall Town Tools has an 80,000-SF facility with a 125 horsepower motor that blows 22,000 SF of air,” Siccardi says. “Roughly 1 hp is making 800 feet of air per unit. With my system, one horsepower creates 16,000 feet of air at a cost of $300 per year.”

Though it sounds too good to be true, Siccardi says, he has developed a data layer analysis system that records all changes in temperature and humidity. An individual computer, he says, is dedicated to recording the temperature and humidity in various locations inside a facility and the grounds immediately around a building. A special program/chip, designed locally, calculates the various degrees and readings to provide an optimum environment.

“It’s hard to believe, but facts are now facts,” Siccardi says. “I have a 5-ton air conditioner in my own building. And recently, when the temperatures were 88 to 91 degrees, my building was 73.5 degree. Just 30 seconds every 10 minutes, using about 45 cents worth of electricity.”

Recirculating the building’s air, pulling in outside air and dehumidifying the air within the system not only helps regulate temperature, but also reduces humidity in the structure.

“It’s a push-pull system. That’s an important part of it too,” Siccardi says. “In a regular building, without good air circulation, the tendency is for hot air to go to the ceiling. [Positive Air] creates a uniform temperature air mass.”

Siccardi says Harry Burrington of Arkansas Western Gas Co. was so impressed with the system that he has put him in touch with Gas Research International in Chicago for further considerations and developments with Positive Air. He says the system primarily uses natural gas or propane gas as its fuel source, but it is adaptable to electricity.

Locally, the Positive Air system is in place at a retail warehouse in Bentonville, an aluminum wheel manufacturing plant, Campbell Soup’s research facility in Fayetteville and a large retail store in Fargo, N.D.

“That store was having a real problem finding its comfort level,” Siccardi says. “After it was installed, it was a minus-75 degrees outside but the building was a stable 71 degrees. And two years later, I’m told they no longer have the problem of dust collecting on their computers.

“The Positive Air system answers questions and solves problems that others haven’t even considered.”