Rink

What have you heard about tankless water heater systems? Most everything we have heard about these systems has been positive. Energy savings have been achieved, but more important to some is the amount of room that the facility gains when the old tank water heaters are removed. Here are two actual comments from rinks that recently had them installed: "We too went with a tankless hot water on demand system and are very happy with it. I had them include a circulating pump in the line just before the unit, and now I have hot water circulating throughout the building so if I need hot water at the concession stand, bathrooms or any place, I have it right away. No more waiting until the cold water in the lines is flushed out. With this set-up, the unit still only runs until the water is at a preset temp, and at night I have a switch to turn off the pump. We did need to install 2 units in order to get the volume of water needed to fill the ice resurfacer to 140 degrees in 20 minutes. We also needed to restrict the flow of water into the resurfacer; we had a 1 1 /2 inch line to it and reduced it to 3 /4 inch." — Jim Ferrell, Manitowoc County Ice Center Wisconsin "We went with tankless and it provides hot water on demand, so it does not have to heat the water sitting in a tank when not in use. The system has worked out very well for us." — Chuck Wilson, Sun Prairie Ice Arena How can monitoring the conditions in the rink area help my energy bill? Most arenas only read the return brine temperature or a slab thermometer to operate the facility. The temperature and humidity at ice level is of equal importance. If you monitor this and check it each shift, you will be able to operate your building more efficiently. In today's world all skating facilities should have energy efficiency as their operating theme. You have to monitor the room conditions and adjust the ice-making and HVAC- dehumidification equipment accordingly. Do you have all the compressor settings the same in December as you did in October? The outside conditions will determine how you need to operate the equipment inside. As outside conditions change, so should the operations of your equipment inside. If you have not done a true energy audit with your utility company, now is the time. Don't wait for their answers, start your own program of energy-efficient operation. Challenge your staff to lower the electric and gas usage next month. Then if they do a good job of saving energy, reward them in some way so they will keep doing it. Now that we are seeing $20,000 utility bills, saving just 1% is a big deal. Purchase a low-cost Thermometer/Hygrometer and place it next to the rink and monitor it everyday. The conditions that we recommend for facilities that do not already have a set condition to shoot for are listed below. Do the little things and reward your staff for energy-efficient operations; it will pay off! The ice surface temperature should be maintained at approximately 22-24˚F. degrees. Building temperature at 50-60˚F deg with a maximum RH of 50%. If your building temperature is 60˚F or higher, the RH should be at 40%. ★ ask dave 58 R INK MAGAZ INE January/February 2008 ■ You have rink questions. Dave has rink answers. Send your questions to AskDave@rinkmagazine.com. "We too went with a tankless hot water on demand system and are very happy with it." STAR PHOTO A tankless water heater. Purchase a low cost thermometer/ hygrometer and place it next to the rink and monitor it everyday. STAR PHOTO

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