Eliminate significant portions of your water heating costs for flood water and save 10%–12% of energy from your ice plant by lowering the temperature of the resurfacing water used on your ice pad. According to ASHRAE, 7% of an ice rink’s total energy use is due to domestic hot water that is used in the resurfacing process of the ice.
The more impurities in water (both minerals and dissolved gases), the more complex the refrigeration plant has to work before the water will freeze. Local water sources with higher concentrations of salts of various kinds will have different freezing properties and if the concentration is elevated enough to lower the freezing temperature even further, more energy is required to freeze it — and the resulting ice will have poorer quality.
To address these issues, most ice rinks heat the floodwater to 140–160°F to remove micro air bubbles before resurfacing the rink. In some cases where water quality is not good, additional water softeners or filtration systems are in use.
But using extremely hot water not only requires energy to heat — it also increases the refrigeration load because warm water is applied directly to the ice.
This is where REALice comes in. Instead of relying on extremely hot temperatures, REALice’s patented vortex technology removes the micro air bubbles passively — without any heating, chemicals, or consumables. By conditioning the water this way, resurfacing water can be used at much lower temperatures (typically 60–70°F), reducing both the heating and cooling loads.
The result?
Hockey-hard ice: denser, clearer, smoother surfaces with less snow buildup.
Proven performance: over 200 installations in Canada and hundreds more worldwide.
De-aerated water from REALice has fewer impurities than boiled water and can therefore be frozen at a higher temperature. That means less strain on your plant, less energy wasted, and better ice for your users.
Benefits:
- Reduces compressor run hours
- Eases the load on dehumidification and chiller systems
- Produces high-quality ice that is harder and clearer than traditionally treated ice surfaces
- Reduces GHG emissions
- Reducing humidity in the rink because hot water is not applied to the ice surface
- Can be retrofitted to current equipment
- Likely utility incentives available
Savings:
- Electricity savings approx. 10% – 12% (through raising the ice slab temperature)
- Natural gas savings for not having to heat the resurfacing water by 80% and up
- CO2 emissions approx. 20t per sheet of ice per year
Web Resources:
- Enbridge Gas Case study George Bell Arena, Toronto
- Green Technology Initiatives at the University of Alberta
- Tacoma Public Utilities Video
- FortisBC Commercial video
- REALice Canada
