EES Blog

Save on energy resources by utilizing a heat-recovery chiller or DX compressors

Running an air handler in “dehumidification” mode tends to be a resource hog. First, you are using a lot of chilled water to *squeeze* the ever-living-moisture out of the air, then you have to reheat it to make the air temperature comfortable. A double expenditure of energy: cooling and heating.

Utilizing air-side economizers during the cooler seasons can significantly reduce chilled water costs by leveraging outside air for cooling, offering substantial energy savings for businesses in temperate climates.

As we slip into fall, our thoughts turn to pumpkin spice.  Our air-side economizers – a duct and damper arrangement with a control system that enables the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system – however, think about saving chilled water costs.  If we can lower load for the chiller, we can save money due to less energy being used. If the outside air is cool and dry enough, we can open an economizer and let nature do the job instead of using the chilled water coil.  It also usually has the benefit of changing the air more quickly than during the winter or summer seasons.  

Less chilled water pumping also lowers the energy needed to move the water around. We control the differential pressure of the chilled water by slowing down the chilled water pump via a variable frequency drive (VFD), and less load raises the differential pressure.  The tower also must do less work because there is less heat rejected out to it, so the fans run slower.  This saves tower make-up water as well: less evaporation, less water needed.

How Optimizing Variable Refrigerant Flow Cooling Systems can Save Building Managers on Energy Usage

EES is very active with several Variable Refrigerant Flow, VRF, cooling systems’ manufacturers. In this article the condenser-water optimization on Samsung equipment will be discussed.