What is Water Cooled AC        Subcooling      Residential      Commercial

In water cooled air conditioners water is used to remove heat from the refrigerant and reduces the work of the compressor. There are several models and designs to achieve this energy saving consumption. The Water Cooled Evaporative Air Conditioner in a residential application, a technology already used in commercial buildings for split system air conditioners is known as chillers, is referred as a mini-chiller.

Evaporative cooled condensing units for split system air conditioners have a number of advantages over air-cooled units. In large commercial – industrial air conditioners typically rely on cooling towers to cool water and remove heat generated from the compression cycle of the chiller. The key elements of the unit include multiple low-pressure water nozzles that spray a mist of water over the condenser coils to remove heat after the refrigerant is compressed. Water temperature can be maintained at about 10° F over wet bulb via heat absorbed through evaporation, which is then, by some designs, removed by a fan(s) on top of the unit. This same technology is applied in residential units.

Air cooled units lose a large percentage of their rated efficiency at higher temperatures. Their SEER / EER ratings drop as temperatures rise. In most commercial rooftops around the USA are experiencing a phenomena called the “urban heat island” effect which causes the so called one size fits all design to become huge energy consumers. 

The efficiency of a water cooled air conditioner (evaporative water cooled unit) has a minimal drop and in the dryer regions the efficiency rises. Water removes heat from the condenser coils far more efficiently than air.

There several applications and designs now utilizing a water cooling tower to subcool the refrigerant in both commercial and residential. Some are called hybrid cooling towers, these use Freon/Water Heat Exchangers to achieve the same concept. Normally designed to used a swimming pool to cool the home and extend the seasons swimming pleasure. Several are designed to retro fit to existing HVAC systems. Keeping the Air Handler inside the home and replacing the Condenser unit outside with an Evaporative Condenser Cooling tower. This unit  water cools the refrigerant (Freon) lines within the tower and the heat evaporation is pulled out by a fan mounted on top.

In the commercial market there are thousands of the “one size fits all” HVAC roof top units operating today. Water cooled air conditioner technology has been used in larger buildings and industrial sites for years, but now there are new water cooling towers designed to address the already existing Roof Top Units on smaller buildings. This evaporative cooling tower is designed to sub cool the HVAC units in place. The evaporative cooling tower is designed to subcool several units at one time. This retro fit application can even include the stores roof top refrigeration. 

Evaporative Fluid Cooling, Evaporative Condenser Cooling, and Evaporative Subcooling towers all use water to cool the refrigerant in a closed loop design. The only difference in the towers is the coil design required by application. The Evaporative Water Cool Air Conditioning Retro Fit technology is saving energy by reducing consumption and lowering carbon footprint.

There are several different ways that water is used in air conditioning and  should not be confused with a swamp-cooler. An air conditioner that is water cooled uses water to cool the refrigerant (Freon) and utilizes a condenser (compressor). These are water cooling towers and are available in commercial and residential  applications. Water Cooled Air Conditioning is also available in geothermal applications. Water Cooled Air Conditioners are energy savers which lowers cost.