Monday 11 January 2016


Heating, air conditioning and air quality at Lonsdale Grove

In our last post we touched upon the all suite design and sealed floor drains that help ensure the health and safety of our guests.  Integral to the safety discussion is our HVAC and system and the air quality at Lonsdale Grove. 


Lonsdale Grove heated Porcelain floor
At Lonsdale grove, we elected to heat our suites (and cat condos) with an efficient in floor heating system.  Rather than heating and drying the air and still having relatively cold floors, our heated tiled floors are warm to the touch, gentle on small paws, and comfortable to warm up on after a quick run through the winter snow.  Since we heat our floors and can warm up small bodies quickly and easily, our air temperature can be kept slightly more mild, with less winter dryness than is experienced with forced air heating.  Slightly cooler, less dry air makes breathing easier and more comfortable. 

Lonsdale Grove in floor heat utility






Lonsdale Grove demand boiler to in floor heat.


Many ‘kennel’ facilities use concrete floors to house family pets.  They are a popular choice because they are durable, generally impervious to liquids, and can be easily cleaned with harsh chemicals by spraying copious amounts of water and some concentrated cleaner.  They also are unpleasant to lay on, unsightly, and over time can become saturated in urine that leaves an unpleasant smell.  Critical to small animals, our focus at Lonsdale Grove, these floors can be very cold in the winter.  No small dog, in particular, should be permitted to lay on a cold cement floor in the winter for extended periods.  Severe loss of body heat to the floor can result in a critical health situation of hypothermia and potentially even death.  Small dogs are much more susceptible than larger dogs, though in our opinion cold cement floors are not suitable to house any animal.  Ensure at home that your small pet always has a comfortable place to lay that is not too cold and not too hot. 


Our dog suites feature a washable raised bed with blanket.  Once little bodies are warmed up, your furry family member can lounge on the more cool raised bed or lay comfortably on the tiled and warm heated floor so that they always feel “just right”. 

Raised Bed

In the summer, our hotel is fully air conditioned.  Small dogs also have more difficulty keeping their body temperature just right in the summer heat, especially those with long hair or thick double coats.  But Lonsdale Grove is always comfortable.  No excessive panting required. 
Lonsdale Grove private dog suite, raised bed and heated floors.

Lonsdale Grove Air cleaning distribution systems.

The final piece to ensuring the health and safety of our guests is our air handling system.  In the summer months our air handling brings cool air conditioned air into each suite and year round it is essential to bringing clean, healthy air into every suite.  Each suite is equipped with its own fresh air source.  Clean air flows from the HVAC system in our utility room to the suite.  Air then flows from the suites back into the system via the central hallway.  Air does not flow from the hallway into the suite, and this ensures that the air in each suite is fresh and clean and avoids contamination with airborne viruses.


According to ASHRAE‘s (American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers) guidelines for design and construction of hospitals and human health care facilities, a minimum of 2 outdoor air changes per hour are required for intermediate care and 3 outdoor air changes per hour are needed in surgical suites.  Additionally, a total of 6 air changes per hour are needed. 

Our air exchange system provides 3 outdoor air changes per hour to each suite and a total of 7 air changes per hour, exceeding hospital surgical suite requirements.  The system takes in fresh outdoor air, and also some recirculated indoor air, and passes it through filters that capture particles less than 1 micron in diameter (120 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair).  This system:

  • Traps 99% of airborne pollen, mold, and spore-sized particles
  • Eliminates 98% of airborne bacteria-sized particles and fungi
  • Removes 98% of pet dander and respirable dust, which can trigger asthma
  • Captures 95% of airborne particles the size of tobacco smoke and smog
  • Removes up to 80% of airborne virus-sized particles and ultra-fine particles down to 0.01 micron in size.

Lonsdale Grove Ultra Violet air Purification.
Our system then treats all of the filtered air with a UV system which further kills 99% of remaining airborne mold, bacteria, viruses and other allergens.  Lonsdale Grove exceeds human hospital surgical suite air quality requirements for the protection and health of your small dog and cat.  We are confident that we have the best heating and air conditioning for our guests with the safest quality air possible. 





Affordable residential air purifier.
Air quality, viruses, mold, pollen and other allergens can be a problem at home and lead to allergies and asthma-like symptoms for both people and pets.  If you don't have a high quality air exchange and cleaning system in your household HVAC system, we highly recommend adding one.  Alternately, small air purifiers/cleaners that are suitable for a single room are available for around $ 150 that are better than nothing.  They help to remove particles from the air and can improve air quality in the room.  The best of these systems also have ozone settings.  The units can generate ozone which oxidizes many airborne pollutants to destroy them and remove them from the air.  CAUTION: never run the ozone setting with people or pets in the room as inhaled ozone can be harmful.  Only run the ozone setting briefly—10-20 min, and allow the room to air out before re-entry.  Ozone smells much like the smell produced from an electrical short or spark from a defective household outlet.  Allow the smell to dissipate completely.  Read the manufacturer’s instructions thoroughly before using such a system to help improve your home air quality. 

Visit our website and Facebook page for more information and photos.  Watch for our next blog post on water safety!