Air-cooled chillers, tested under load

An air-cooled chiller rejects heat straight to the outdoor air with built-in condenser fans, so it needs no cooling tower, condenser-water pumps, or water treatment. That makes it simpler and cheaper to install and maintain, and ideal where water use, tower space, or mechanical-room space is limited. We specialize in air-cooled units.

We specialize in air-cooled chillers. Water-cooled units can be more efficient at large tonnages but require a cooling tower, condenser-water pumps, and water treatment. If your project needs water-cooled, tell us and we can advise and source through our network.

It's the compressor type. Scroll compressors suit smaller tonnages, run quietly, and stage in steps, which suits light-commercial and modular setups. Screw compressors handle larger tonnages with excellent part-load efficiency and smooth capacity control. We carry both; the right choice depends on your tonnage and how your load varies.

Two smaller chillers give you redundancy (lose one and you keep partial cooling), better part-load efficiency, and easier service, at a higher install cost and footprint. One large chiller is simpler and cheaper up front but is a single point of failure. For critical process loads, most buyers prefer two.

A unit with a factory-mounted pump package includes the chilled-water pump (often with controls) on the chiller, so there's less field piping, wiring, and engineering, and it's closer to plug-and-play. Without a mounted pump, you supply and control the pump externally, which adds flexibility but more install work. Tell us your setup and we'll match it.

Both chill your water, but differently. Shell-and-tube evaporators are rugged, tolerant of less-than-perfect water, and easy to service, favored for industrial and dirtier-water applications. Brazed or welded-plate evaporators are compact and efficient but need cleaner water and steady flow. We can tell you which a given unit has.

A refrigeration circuit is an independent compressor and refrigerant loop. Single-circuit units are simpler and lower cost. Dual-circuit units add redundancy and better part-load performance. If one circuit trips, the other keeps cooling. For process or mission-critical loads, dual-circuit is the safer choice.

Yes. Standard comfort-cooling chillers make water around 44°F, but low-temp process applications need colder fluid, usually with a glycol mix. Those units are configured differently for refrigerant, controls, and freeze protection. Tell us your target leaving-fluid temperature and we'll match the right unit.