How to Use an Aircone with a Rotating Vane Anemometer

Air measurement tools are used to test and balance HVAC systems, to design parameters and aide in uncovering or troubleshooting system problems. Rotating vane anemometers are portable test instruments used to measure air velocity, air flow rates and temperature. TSI-Alnor aircones are accessories for our vane anemometers, used to quickly and easily measure air flows in applications in which traditional capture hoods are too large to use or the air flow is too low to measure.

Rotating Vane Anemometers

Rotating Vane Anemometers work very similar to a windmill, where airflow impinges on the vane, creating rotation. They are useful instruments for measuring air velocity at supply openings, but not for multiple throw diffusers.

Ideal for face velocity or flow measurements: 

• Kitchen exhaust hoods
• Small bathroom exhausts  
• Exhaust and return grilles
• Hard to reach areas
• Low flow rates
• Heating and cooling coils
• Filter face velocities

The most commonly manufactured rotating vane is 4" (100 mm) in diameter. Rotating vanes are a good alternative if the grille is too small or too large to accommodate a capture hood.

Aircones

Aircone Flow Hoods are a fast and accurate method of maximizing the usefulness of 4" (100 mm) rotating vane anemometers. After snapping the cone onto the head of the rotating vane, the instrument can be held with the seal against the supply/extract grille to be used as an air volume flow balancing tool.

• Measure low volumetric flow at small grilles, diffusers and registers 
• Practical solution for proportionally balancing inlets and outlets
• Read air volume quickly
  • Best suited for air flows below 80 ft³/min (38 l/s)
• Available in two shapes for flexibility
  • Rectangular size: 11.2" x 9.2" (285 mm x 235 mm)
  • Circular size: 7.1" (180 mm) diameter

Using an Aircone with the RVA801 and RVA501

Aircones can be used to measure supply or return airflows depending on how the RVA801 or RVA501 is attached to them.  Arrow indicators on the vane head provide an indication of which way the airflow should be passing through the vane anemometer when attached to an Aircone for either supply or return measurements:

To setup the model RVA501 for use with aircones, program the “Flow type” as “Air cone” and set to either “Air cone-Supply” or “Air cone-Extract”.  If using the RVA801, then the following area factors need to be manually inputted for either supply or return flow measurements:

For more information, see our page on Alnor Rotating Vanes.