THE TUNDRA CHILLER BARREL
One lobster pound owner recently said to me: “All refrigeration guys seem like they know what they’re talking about.” But, YOU pay the big bucks for the condensing units. YOU pay the big bucks for the chiller barrels. YOU pay the big bucks for them to run copper pipe, and fill the thing with gas. These days, even cutting a cheque for the pvc pipe and the electrician hurts. So you get a chiller running, but…
A) Does it bring the pound down to your desired temperature and cycle off?
B) How much damage does it do to your power bill?
Many lobster pounds are lacking in cooling capacity. This is not your fault. Chances are you are paying for enough power to get the job done. But the chillers sold to you as “10hp” or “10 ton” are rated at 10°C or higher.
When used at 2°C they are only 4 ton chillers that still spin the meter like a 10 ton chiller. Our 10 ton chillers will give you 10 tons of cooling capacity at 2°C while using the same amount of power that many of our competitors use to give you 4 tons of cooling. Twice the efficiency, same capacity, half the equipment, half the energy bill!
Chilling the water is likely the biggest energy consumer at any lobster pound.
At one Nova Scotia lobster pound, we recently measured and logged performance data from our chillers and our competitors in a commercially operating pound.
Our chillers were more than twice as effective as our competitors units. For the same capacity, we used less than 50% of the energy.
At a Nova Scotian halibut hatchery where 5°C water is needed year-round, our methods were used to remove half of competitors’ compressors while maintaining the same cooling capacity.
At another Nova Scotian lobster pound, five of our competitors “10 ton” chiller barrels were replaced with two of our chiller barrels.
For the first time, this pound reaches its target temperature and has chillers that cycle off. Can’t be more efficient than turning off!
The reasons why are rather dry and technical in nature (ask and we’ll tell you if you really want to know). But the end result is what matters.
A chiller designed to operate more efficiently and reliably in your lobster pound means you need to pay for less power, less equipment, and less maintenance.
What is the cost of our chillers? Energy costs and maintenance costs are 50% or less than all competitors I have seen to date. Capital cost is also less per ton of cooling than our competitors.
We can be cost effective because we need less equipment to achieve the same cooling capacity.
Having spent decades between us as maintenance managers over the very same equipment you use, we do not compromise on quality. These are quality units built to last.