How to select specific fans in my model

[Keen Ventsim user]

Hello! I'd like an easy way to select multiples fans in my model, but specific ones.

For example, I want, say, all of the auxiliary fans in a particular secondary layer, or at a particular level. Any recommendations?

Edited July 1 by Keen Ventsim user

[Martin Griffith]

Hi!

This can be hard if you have a big and complex model.

Probably the easiest and most versatile way to do this is with the Spreadsheet tool. 

Click the Escape key to clear your selection and then go to Tools | Spreadsheet.

(There is a little bit of work to do to set this up, but once you've done it, you can reuse this later. You can also use this to create a fan report of the model)

Next click Select Columns | Data Options and make sure you have the following property ticked on:

• Attributes | Fan Name

 

It's probably a good idea to have the following ticked on as well

• Attributes | Fan Configuration On
• Attributes | Fan Curve
• Airflow | Quantity Mid Entry
• Pressure | Fan Total Pressure
• Descriptors | Air Type
• Descriptors | Primary Namer
• Descriptors | Secondary Name
• Descriptors | Level Name
• Attributes | Z1

as well as anything else you can think of that you might want to categorize your fans by, or anything else that you want to know about your fans (such as the density or the power usage or cost)

Click OK and you'll have something like this, perhaps with the columns in a different order: 

Now, click the "Filter by Fan" option, which will remove any row/airway without a fan, and group everything by fan name. You should get something like the below. You now have a count of how many of each fan there is in the model. 

 

If I want to get all of the fans in a particular secondary layer then I can click and drag the column header Secondary Name above the Fan Name header and I can get the following, which is showing me all the fans in each Secondary Layer: 

 

In this case, I might not need the Fan Name grouping, so I can click and drag the Fan Name column header back to where the rest of the headers are and now I have all the fans grouped per Secondary Layer

If I want to select and edit the 2 rows/airways shown above, I can hold down the Ctrl key, click on the 2 rows, then right-click | Find & Select Airways.

And now I have the 2 airways with fans in them in that secondary layer selected and can edit them if I wish.

Once you have the Spreadsheet in a format that you like you can expand the Saved Views dropdown and select <New View> , which will prompt you to save the Spreadsheet View and come up with a name. That way you can come back to it if you want.