Are there any gyms out there that consistently get their heating/cooling right?

In my experience, it’s a mythical unicorn that doesn’t exist. But if they are out there, I would like to know.

This is your chance to tell me about your awesome gym. Or, your chance to share horror stories. I’ll commiserate. 

It's like being a cook for a nursing home:  everyone bitches about the food. 

I'm not sure about their AC, but Minneapolis Bouldering Projects winter temperature was great, not too hot but not so cold I couldn't warm up. 

What is the optimum temp and humidity for a climbing gym?!

Tradiban wrote: What is the optimum temp and humidity for a climbing gym?!

55 degrees Fahrenheit and 30% humidity, boi. Seems cold at first, but once you’ve warmed up it’s magical. 

Tradiban wrote: What is the optimum temp and humidity for a climbing gym?!

I do know for sure that it’s less than 69F at ground level. 

I would also say that if everybody says “it’s too hot in here”, and nobody says “it’s too cold”, it is also a good indication of the direction things should be going. 

Justin Laursen wrote:

55 degrees Fahrenheit and 30% humidity, boi. Seems cold at first, but once you’ve warmed up it’s magical. 

I agree! But let’s be realistic about such things... I would settle for 60F and 40-60% humidity. 

My gym, Sender One in Los Angeles, tends to get things right in terms of the indoor climate. That might have a lot to do with the ambient climate in LA being pretty moderate. But they run AC in the summer to keep it cool enough. And it's warm enough in the winter without being overdone.

Never had an issue with the air temps. But the damn water can be cold. I mean ya get yer fingers all warmed up, ready to work da project, and ah shit ya gotta shit. Being you listened to yer mama you learned to wash yer hands after going to the toilet. But damn the water is freezing and there go yer warm fingers.

Señor Arroz wrote: My gym, Sender One in Los Angeles, tends to get things right in terms of the indoor climate. That might have a lot to do with the ambient climate in LA being pretty moderate. But they run AC in the summer to keep it cool enough. And it's warm enough in the winter without being overdone.

Yeah, I think the problem in most places is two-part. 

First and foremost, the HVAC systems in the gyms, even the brand new gyms that are built from scratch for the purpose, are almost always inadequate. They are designed and approved by people who have minimal cost in mind, and not really any idea of what the climbing gym really needs. 

Second, comes the poor decisions by the staff/people who are in charge of the thermostat. 

E.g. in our gym, brand new, less than 1 year, they can set the temperature at 64 F in summer, and on a normal Cleveland summer day the AC can’t cool the place to 64F.  It usually gets to 67-68. The building is not as well insulated as it should be (I’m sure it meets the code, and not a step farther), the AC system is not powerful enough, and the two ceiling fans are not enough to mix the air well.   And the wall of windows on the bouldering bay faces due west. It was obviously put there to attract the passers-by, but the byproduct of it is that on summer evenings, right when most people go to the gym, the bouldering bay is a full-sun greenhouse. Lovely! I’m sure the passers-by are happy though. But on top of that, the owner insists on opening the doors instead of running AC on “nice days”. Nice day in Cleveland in summer is 80% humidity, and 75F-80F. People sitting at the front desk are very comfortable, especially in the morning. They are right in the breeze path, and they are sitting, not climbing. By the time time someone complains in the afternoon, and they close the doors and turn on AC... yeah, that AC can’t do shit for several hours! And you sweat off holds at the top of the rope walls. 

Winter, similar situation. The heat vents are at the top, and pointed towards the walls. The gym gets cold overnight, the heat gets turned on in the morning, thermostat is at the ground level, set at 66F, and the staff is not allowed to touch it. The two air fans aren’t stirring the air well, and for some reason the desk staff doesn’t even turn the fans on to highest speed right away, until someone complains... maybe because they are cold, sitting in front of the door where people, and cold winter air, are coming in, and don’t want to feel the extra breeze? By the time it gets up to 66 at ground level, everyone is feeling like they are climbing into a sauna. And if there is a warm winter day in Cleveland... well, with the couple degrees of thermostat accuracy, it can easily get to 68-69 at ground level! 

To get it right takes a multitude of strategies, and a willingness to spend good money.

A huge factor is actually the chalk dust, the dust clogs the filters very quickly and diminishes the effectiveness of the AC. Busy gyms may want to change their filters every couple days, as you can imagine that's an extreme cost and a bit of work too.

The gyms that get it right, get it right simply because they're willing to spend the money to maintain their systems, by big ass fans to circulate the air, and pay for the electricity to run the systems. A big gym in California can easily rack up $10,000 a month in air conditioning.

Bitd we didn't even have air conditioning so thank your lucky millennial stars you're not drowning in sweat or keeping heat packs in your chalk bag.

Lena chita wrote: E.g. in our gym, brand new, less than 1 year, they can set the temperature at 64 F in summer, and on a normal Cleveland summer day the AC can’t cool the place to 64F.  It usually gets to 67-68. The building is not as well insulated as it should be (I’m sure it meets the code, and not a step farther), the AC system is not powerful enough, and the two ceiling fans are not enough to mix the air well.  

The whole gym is planned and run with most concerns centered about pinching pennies and losing pounds. The owner still hasn't figured out that turning off heat and fans for the night is a stupid idea - the whole HVAC system is so poorly designed that it takes hours for it to equalize. Furthermore, whoever designed it had absolutely no idea how to create even temperature distribution in a large and tall building. IIRC this summer the problem was with the clogged up system and a few AC units tripping breakers - once everything got cleaned AC became tolerable. 

And yeah, if the staff is comfortable sitting at the front desk doing nothing in a t-shirt, the temperature is too high.

Tradiban wrote:Bitd we didn't even have air conditioning so thank your lucky millennial stars you're not drowning in sweat or keeping heat packs in your chalk bag.

Not a millennial. ;) Yes, I climbed in a gym like that for many years. It used to be so poorly insulated that we were wearing big puffies to belay in a gym in winter, too. They insulated it eventually, and put in a new furnace, So it got warm in winter, but the AC was never an option. 

But with an old gym in an old ratty warehouse, you expected it. The fact that a new, fancy, and a lot more expensive gym couldn’t be designed to handle the normal weather conditions of the area bugs me a lot more. 

As the climate continues to get more extreme, controlling temps of indoor climbing gyms will become more and more futile. This is the great consequence of global warming that a lot of people gloss over while they're thinking about rising seas levels and heat waves killing people.  Thanks, big oil!

amarius wrote:

The whole gym is planned and run with most concerns centered about pinching pennies and losing pounds. The owner still hasn't figured out that turning off heat and fans for the night is a stupid idea - the whole HVAC system is so poorly designed that it takes hours for it to equalize. Furthermore, whoever designed it had absolutely no idea how to create even temperature distribution in a large and tall building. IIRC this summer the problem was with the clogged up system and a few AC units tripping breakers - once everything got cleaned AC became tolerable. 

And yeah, if the staff is comfortable sitting at the front desk doing nothing in a t-shirt, the temperature is too high.

You mostly weren’t climbing there in early evenings in summer/early fall. ;) it usually got tolerable by 8-9pm. But I was never sure if it was simply me adapting to the heat, or the AC finally doing its job. 

Pnelson wrote: As the climate continues to get more extreme, controlling temps of indoor climbing gyms will become more and more futile. This is the great consequence of global warming that a lot of people gloss over while they're thinking about rising seas levels and heat waves killing people.  Thanks, big oil!

You are just jealous that you don’t have the indoor gym option at the New. 

Lena chita wrote: You are just jealous that you don’t have the indoor gym option at the New. 

I am bummed that we don't have a decent indoor gym, but wouldn't go so far as to use the word "jealous" in reference to anything Cleveland-related. Also, the bouldering gym in Charleston is a 50 minute drive for me. How many people stuck in big cities drive 50 minutes to get to a climbing gym?

Pnelson wrote:

I am bummed that we don't have a decent indoor gym, but wouldn't go so far as to use the word "jealous" in reference to anything Cleveland-related. Also, the bouldering gym in Charleston is a 50 minute drive for me. How many people stuck in big cities drive 50 minutes to get to a climbing gym?

Lol, ouch!