A dental laboratory is benches, handpieces, gypsum and alloy dust, and often a furnace or burnout oven that throws process heat. Comfort cooling can make the technician's standing position livable. Dust extraction at the bench is a different system. Do not pull grinding dust through the comfort coil, and do not treat this page as an extraction design. The split recirculates. An F-gas certified company installs the refrigerant side only.
Grinding dust at the bench
Trimming, grinding and blasting put fine dust in the air at the bench. Local extraction is what should capture it. A wall split or cassette across the room will ingest whatever the extract misses, then store it on a wet coil. Place the return outside the bench plume and keep the extract contractor's layout as the dust control.
A burnout oven beside two technicians
A burnout oven or a pressure bath is a hot object. It can dominate a small lab even with two people. Put it in the load, and do not expect the air conditioner to make the casing cool to touch. The target is the technician, under HSE workplace temperature guidance: reasonable comfort, no legal maximum.
A plaster store behind a door
A reception or plaster store with a door is another zone. One unit in the lab will not hold it. Model rooms and a casting area can be different again if doors shut.
- Keep the comfort return out of the grinding plume.
- Leave bench extraction as its own design.
- Include furnace or oven heat if it is in the room.
- Plan a short filter interval.
A filter change that does not dismantle the bench
The indoor unit should be reachable for a filter change without dismantling a bench. A washable fascia helps. It does not make the split a clean-room device. Condensate must go to a waste, not into a sink that is part of process washing unless a plumber agrees the connection.
Furnaces on the board and flats above the lab
Outdoor plant needs airflow, landlord consent and a noise check if the lab is under flats. Many labs are single-phase. The board is often already full of furnaces. An electrician should see it before the cooling is ordered.
When a comfort coil is asked to be the extract
That approach is wrong. Extraction captures dust at the bench. The split recirculates and will load its coil if it is asked to be the extract. A finer filter clogs faster. It does not replace local extraction. Keep the return out of the grinding plume and service the filter often. This page will not specify capture, filter grade or discharge for that extract. If the lab has no extract, say so, and do not let a comfort install pretend to close the gap with a finer room filter. An F-gas certified company installs the refrigerant side only.
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How this guide was prepared
This guide was written by the Local AC Installers Editorial Team. We compare official guidance, legislation and established consumer information, separate general information from project-specific advice, and show publication dates and sources. We do not accept installer accreditation claims at face value.