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Quotes - Engineering - SalesFree Cooling & Water-Side Economizer
Chiller-Free Cooling Hours
A water-side economizer runs tower water through a heat exchanger against the chilled water loop. When the wet bulb is low enough, the tower does all the work and the chiller shuts down entirely, which removes the single largest electrical load in most buildings.
Approach temperature buys hours. Every degree of approach in the exchanger raises the outdoor condition at which free cooling becomes possible. A plate exchanger reaching within two or three degrees delivers far more free cooling hours per year than any wider-approach alternative.
Sizing for the shoulder season. The economizer is not sized for design day; it is sized for the conditions where it will actually run. Getting that wrong means an exchanger that only works on the coldest week of the year.
Partial free cooling. Even when the tower cannot meet the whole load, it can pre-cool the return water and reduce chiller work. Designing for partial operation extends the benefit across a much larger part of the year.
Common FAQs
It depends on your climate, your chilled water temperature and the approach temperature of the exchanger. The exchanger is the part you control, and a closer approach converts directly into more hours.
For the conditions where free cooling will actually run, which is the shoulder season. An economizer sized on design day is usually far too small to be useful for most of the year.
Using the tower to pre-cool the return water even when it cannot meet the whole load, so the chiller does less work. It extends the benefit across a much larger part of the year than full free cooling alone.
The tower side sees open water, so plate material is chosen against that water chemistry. In coastal or high-chloride locations that may mean titanium rather than 316.
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