Smartcool ECO3

[steveski]

We are asked by a municipal utility to evaluate a vendor’s energy savings claims with this “Smartcool ECO3”. Smartcool’s website appears more fluff than substance. Sometimes a good litmus test of black box technologies is whether other (especially larger) utilities incentivize it. (I’m not suggesting this would be conclusive, but it can be helpful to know whether any utilities are incentivizing something. For example, I am not aware of any utilities incentivizing PFC.)

Do any of you have experience with this particular device, or do you know of any utilities incentivizing it?

Thank you very much.

 

[willard3]

Just a small programmable chip. The inefficiency in cooling is the carnot cycle, not on/off control.

 

[DRWeig]

Another litmus test is: if the thing is so great, why aren't the A/C manufacturers already using it. They're judged in buying decisions by their efficiency.

Best to you,

Goober Dave

Haven't see the forum policies? Do so now: Forum Policies

 

[urgross]

Explanation I read is that the idea is to maximuize suction pressure to minimize work input, which increases COP. I'm going to have to bounce this off of some of my HVAC tech heads.

 

[IRstuff]

Another possibility is that the systems are designed for the cycles they are designed for, and altering the cycle imapcts reliability, efficiency, wear, etc. So, efficiency is ostensibly improved, but did you lose something along the way?

TTFN
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[EnergyProfessional]

their graphic doesn't' show it to cycle less. and they claim to operate within manufacturers recommended conditions. how does that thing know if I have a 2 ton Carrier or 5 ton Trane unit and what those recommendations are?

Snake oil at best. Don't you think manufacturers would take the 15% savings and maybe decrease the costly heat exchanger to make them cheaper?

You may as well install a box that does nothing at all... no one will be able to tell the difference and you charge a lot of money for a box that does noting.

 

[IRstuff]

Again, that's assuming there are no tradeoffs. If reliability dropped 50% to get 10% efficiency improvement, that might be a bad deal.

TTFN
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Of course I can. I can do anything. I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!

 

[Cbruce]

My role is Smartcool Engineering support for the Americas. In this role I travel extensively training personnel in sales, technical operation, installation, and demonstrating different applications of the Smartcool technology. Previously, I spent 20 years as an Engineer with Pratt & Whitney and 5 years with Carrier. I've been involved with energy conservation technologies for about 10 years.

Firstly, Smartcool has nothing to do with power factor correction. I've applied PFC many times successfully and it works well within certain limitations. The Wikipedia article on it is quite good and all power and electrical engineers should be conversant on the topic.

Smartcool technology has been around since the mid-eighties and was originally developed in Australia. It is used extensively down under and in Europe, and with some markets in Asia. US introduction was in 2006 and is continuing. The technology has been independently tested and validated, but it isn't really anything new. We certainly knew about it at Carrier, but didn't pursue it because it was pretty advanced predictive software (read RISKY) and we built steel boxes.

Fundamentally it is a cycle optimizer. Thermodynamically, it takes advantage of the higher COP during periods of high suction pressure. The trick is to keep track of the cycles in order to predict the next minimum run period. The savings percentage is dependent on the amount of reserve capacity and the pattern of loading. For DX cycles, typical AC/Heat pump numbers are 15-30%. Rfrigeration numbers can be better due to the more predictable nature of the load pattern.

The Smartcool algorithm is learning and dynamic which is necessary because the thermal load is dynamic, wildly nonlinear, and changes each cycle. Additionally, each system has a unique reserve capacity that is interacting with the thermal load. We have been asked before to provide an analytical predictive model for the Smartcool performance. This has proved impractical since these are multi-variable systems. A least squares curve fitting approach only works for one specific installation. Regression analysis works pretty well, but only in comparing optimizing and non-optimizing periods on a specific installation and significantly dependent on OAT. Analytically, given the precise equations of a system and environment, it would probably be possible to numerically iterate a 365 day performance model vs. suction pressure. That sounds like a good graduate project.

Practically speaking, for DX systems we encourage our distributors to base savings calculations on 15% of the utilization rate. That is a "safe" minimum value. From there, add the RLA and FLA of the condenser times the voltage, and adjust for 3 phase (1.73) and real power as desired. Of course, we have spreadsheets for those calculations.

Thank you for the input regarding our web site. We are always looking to improve and welcome backhanded comments. In my experience, it is a mistake to ever think utilities are public service philanthropic entities. They are regulated monopolies and behave accordingly.

 

[steveski]

Cbruce, thank you for your post.

Please let me/us know if any utilities offer incentives to customers who install your products.

Also, have your products been evaluated for inclusion in the “DEER” Database? (Database for Energy Efficient Resources,

http://www.energy.ca.gov/deer/)

Thanks.

 

[Cbruce]

Hi Steve,

I don't track that info and frankly have little interest in it.

Cheers