Cool the condensers off on your A/C unit with a giant ice block - Thermal Energy Storage (TES)
1
vote
vote
It doesn't look (yet) like a do-it-yourself project, but perhaps it will be shortly!
Thermal Energy Storage (TES)
"The Ice Bear uses a common, commercial-style, refrigerant-based air conditioner as its mechanism for creating a block of ice," Tropsa explains. "The Ice Bear simply uses the condensing unit at night when temperatures are cooler. Rather than running it on a rooftop, where it might be 125 degrees, we're running it later that evening, when it might be 72 degrees out."
The condenser runs steadily, consuming energy at the off-peak evening rates, says Tropsa, "and we're storing all that energy as ice. That ice doesn't cool the building. It's used to condense the refrigerant. The Ice Bear is essentially an ice condensing unit."
During the day, when a building's controls calls for cooling, an electric motor pumps refrigerant up into an evaporator coil, where it changes from a liquid to a vapor. In a conventional air conditioner, the heat in the vapor is then rejected through a power-hungry electrical condenser. But the Ice Bear returns the refrigerant instead through the block of ice, re-condensing the vapor into a liquid without consuming large amounts of electricity at the same time.
Incentives for ice storage air conditioning
Many utilities are offering time-of-use electric rates that reward customers for load shifting. In California, the Public Utilities Commission and municipal utilities offer rebates for installing ice storage air conditioners. Some programs are quite attractive.
"The Anaheim Utility District has passed the most attractive incentive in the country to drive the commercial adoption of energy storage," Tropsa says. "They're offering to cover the costs of the equipment and installation for the customer. And in return for using energy storage, they're offering a 20 percent reduction in the customer's annual electricity bill."
While commercial customers are saving on their power bills, California hopes to save even more. The California Energy Commission says the state's building efficiency standards (along with those for energy efficient appliances) have saved more than $56 billion in electricity and natural gas costs since 1978. It is estimated the standards will save an additional $23 billion by 2013.
Copyright © 2004-2007 Energy Priorities
Ice storage air conditioning
A rather simple but clever technology is providing a storage mechanism for energy, enabling customers to run air conditioning units in off-peak hours. It's called the Ice Bear, a product of Tropsa's company, Ice Energy."The Ice Bear uses a common, commercial-style, refrigerant-based air conditioner as its mechanism for creating a block of ice," Tropsa explains. "The Ice Bear simply uses the condensing unit at night when temperatures are cooler. Rather than running it on a rooftop, where it might be 125 degrees, we're running it later that evening, when it might be 72 degrees out."
The condenser runs steadily, consuming energy at the off-peak evening rates, says Tropsa, "and we're storing all that energy as ice. That ice doesn't cool the building. It's used to condense the refrigerant. The Ice Bear is essentially an ice condensing unit."
During the day, when a building's controls calls for cooling, an electric motor pumps refrigerant up into an evaporator coil, where it changes from a liquid to a vapor. In a conventional air conditioner, the heat in the vapor is then rejected through a power-hungry electrical condenser. But the Ice Bear returns the refrigerant instead through the block of ice, re-condensing the vapor into a liquid without consuming large amounts of electricity at the same time.
Incentives for ice storage air conditioning
Many utilities are offering time-of-use electric rates that reward customers for load shifting. In California, the Public Utilities Commission and municipal utilities offer rebates for installing ice storage air conditioners. Some programs are quite attractive.
"The Anaheim Utility District has passed the most attractive incentive in the country to drive the commercial adoption of energy storage," Tropsa says. "They're offering to cover the costs of the equipment and installation for the customer. And in return for using energy storage, they're offering a 20 percent reduction in the customer's annual electricity bill."
While commercial customers are saving on their power bills, California hopes to save even more. The California Energy Commission says the state's building efficiency standards (along with those for energy efficient appliances) have saved more than $56 billion in electricity and natural gas costs since 1978. It is estimated the standards will save an additional $23 billion by 2013.
Copyright © 2004-2007 Energy Priorities
Files
 | RE: I hope some enterprising HVAC company in Naples, Florida reads this 880,574 bytes, 226 downloads edited by Revelation Mosaic on Dec. 3 2007 · Zoom Greetings, I was involved with the Thermal Ice Storage / Chiller replacement at the Titusville Historic Courthouse Building. Residential application of this technology is cost prohibitive. However there is an alternative: http://www.fhp-mfg.com/ Installing a water source heat pump is an option. I built a home in Floridana Beach and installed this system and the energy savings were significant. Always compare EER ratings when comparing HVAC equipment. SEER ratings are not a true comparison for our 95*F temps. See: http://aridirectory.org/ari/ Please visit my website: http://www.thekoolteam.com |
 | Ice Thermal Storage: A Tool for New Construction & Retrofits 67,623 bytes, 1,174 downloads edited by Simplify3 on Aug. 12 2007 · Zoom Presentation for air conditioning folks on energy storage using ice blocks and using giant ice making technology (same thing that's in your ice maker in the fridge) to cool down buildings. I hope some enterprising HVAC company in Naples, Florida reads this and does it, and retrofits our house for free! It'll be a Neighborhelp Referrals!  |
Add a review
