OVERVIEW
As part of the MCCAC’s Recreation Energy Conservation (REC) program, the Town of Legal installed a REALice system at the Legal Arena & Curling Rink. They also included a tankless water heater in their retrofit project.
REALice is an energy-saving de-aerating system for ice rinks. It creates a controlled and structured vortex to remove gases and other particulates such as limescale as water flows through the device. REALice treated water reduces the need to use heated water when building or resurfacing your ice. The system also reduces ice plant compressor loads and run time. The system has no moving parts and is easily integrated into existing piping systems. The project was commissioned in September 2021.
APPROACH
This newly installed REALice system will help to reduce the costs of heating the water used to resurface the ice as well as the electricity costs associated with cooling the ice following resurfacing. This system eliminates the need for hot water when building and resurfacing ice by removing micro air bubbles from the incoming water resulting in lower natural gas consumption from water heaters and less load on compressors.
The project scope also includes replacing the existing 25-year-old (65 % rated efficiency) domestic water heater with highly efficient (97% rated efficiency) modulating water heaters. The system enabled the arena to reduce the need for hot water for flooding and resulted in replacing the old domestic water heater with a more efficient water heater. The ice temperature which previously was set at 19 degrees Fahrenheit is now able to be operated at 22 degrees Fahrenheit. This allows for reduced ice plant compressor run time, therefore, reduced power consumption.
RESULTS
Altogether, this project will save an estimated reduction of 27 tCO2/year and an energy cost saving of $5,928.07/year. Further, the retrofits decreased the amount of hot water used per resurfacing from 120 to 18 gallons. The project resulted in a 24% GHG reduction from the existing system and a 10% reduction facility-wide from the baseline.
We continue to focus on improving our facilities, finding cost savings, and planning for an environmentally sustainable future. This new technology contributes to all three of these priorities, so converting the Legal Arena just made sense. The Town of Legal is pleased to play a part in reducing our carbon footprint and energy conservation measures. The MCCAC REC grant gave us the opportunity to decrease the energy used while saving costs without compromising quality.
Trina Jones, Mayor, Town of Legal
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