'No heat, no cool' season kicks off

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Deana Heitzman
  • 31st Fighter Wing Public Affairs
AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy --  Airmen from the 31st Civil Engineer Squadron heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration shop have implemented their "no heat, no cool" season in efforts to save money and energy.

During this season last year, the base went without heating or cooling systems throughout all buildings for nearly two months and saved more than $320,000 per month. The time spent without the system running, saved costs in labor, natural gas and diesel fuel usage and maintenance.

"Although this is not a [Department of Defense] policy, we have implemented this to help save the Air Force money," said Master Sgt. Christopher Cluff, HVAC/R NCO in charge. "This changeover period also helps ensure our cooling systems are prepared to be turned on."

For the process to start, the local area must experience five consecutive days of temperatures above 50 degrees. If this does occur, they must abide by a wing policy letter that states no heat, no cool should begin mid-March, unless the temperatures remain low.  

"During this period, our workload decreases tremendously," said Cluff. "This gives us the time to visit all systems to conduct routine maintenance and make sure all air-conditioning units have water in them."

Cluff also explained how the preemptive work they perform decreases problems they might encounter during the switch to cooling.

"It takes five days for us to completely shut off all heating systems throughout base," said Cluff. "We start with the industrial heating that you see in the hangars, then we move to the offices and then the dormitories, [Temporary Lodging Facilities] and the Child Development Centers."

Earlier this year, Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James announced a new initiative program to encourage service members to develop ideas to help save the Air Force money. With programs like no heat, no cool, Aviano is continuously taking the steps to contribute to the overall Air Force innovative culture.

"In today's Air Force, we have to save money wherever we can," said Cluff. "It is worth it if we can save this much money by shutting off our heating systems."