With the advent of real-time pricing for electricity, managers are looking for ways to flatten their facilities' electrical load profile. And the electric chiller, with its high electrical load, is a very big target. Sizing When making chiller-replacement decisions, managers need to pay careful attention to the capacity of the replacement unit. Chances are, the cooling loads have changed considerably in the building since the original chiller was installed. Factors such as changes in building use, upgrades to other energy-using systems and original system oversizing all can combine to produce situations were the existing chiller is oversized for the current building needs.
Oversized chillers cost facilities money in two ways.
First, excess installed capacity wastes money. Second, oversized chillers cost more to operate. Operating a chiller at less than full load reduces its operating efficiency. The lower the load, the lower its efficiency. Oversized chillers spend more of their time operating in lower efficiency ranges than properly sized chillers.