In the tropics, air-conditioning is used in the spinning industry to maintain the relative humidity and the air temperature in the factory at a required level Most of the air is recycled for most of the year. This article reports on a study in a number of factories that use varying proportions of recycled air. The study concludes that, for most of the year, fresh air should be used to reduce the cooling requirement, which would help reduce electricity use in the chillers by up to 40%, or up to 6% of the factory total A physical model of a factory and its air-conditioning system is constructed to test the concept, as well as to develop a workable control system The control algorithm uses a simple proportional control for the air damper, which affects the relative humidity, and an on-off control for the chilled water supply to control the temperature. The results show an improvement in the control of the condition of the air in the factory, and confirm the expected potential for saving electricity.