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Remember A Cool Idea?
Well, here's another cool idea.
An ice-cooling system in the Credit Suisse offices at the historic Metropolitan Life tower in Manhattan is as good for the environment as taking 223 cars off the streets or planting 1.9 million acres of trees to absorb the carbon dioxide caused by electrical usage for one year.
Such a reduction in pollution is valuable in a city where the majority of emissions come from the operation of buildings. State officials say there are at least 3,000 ice-cooling systems worldwide.
Same principle--use cheaper off-peak electricity to generate "cold storage" for daytime use. By leveling the load distributions this takes expensive peak-time strain off of the power grid while also lowering energy costs AND increasing energy efficiency.
It save money, lowers energy usage, distributes system loads, and reduces pollution. What's not to love? WIN-WIN.
Work smart, not hard.
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I quibble with the details of the language...
It doesn't actually "save energy." It time shifts the energy usage. This is certainly beneficial, as it lessens the peak power demand and thus helps reduce the need for new generators.
Ok, that last bit goes for the original cool idea. The article for this Credit Suisse system asserts that it actually does cut overall total energy usage. That suggests that it's more efficient to create a whole bunch of very cold stuff all at once (the ice) than to create moderately cold stuff throughout the day (traditional a/c-cooled air).
I'd be interested in seeing the details explaining the energy savings.
In both cases it does indeed
In both cases it does indeed save energy, not only for the reason you suggest (you can generate your cold at the most efficient cooling rate and store it instead of generating it continuously at a less efficient rate) but also because it takes less energy to generate an intense "cold sink" in the first place when it's cooler outside than it does to produce the same cooling distributed through the day when it's warmer outside.
Remember that generating a "cold sink" means transferring heat out of the storage medium, be it the building itself or just the ice/water tanks in the basement. Which requires energy. It requires much less energy to do this when it's 70-75F and dark, than when it's 90-95F and full sun because you're generating your cold-sink in a lower ambient-temperature environment. Look at it this way: You keep a freezer on your porch where the sun hits it. Does it require more energy to make ice cubes at 5am in the summer, or 5pm?
That power is cheaper off-peak is a cost/pricing bonus, but there is indeed real energy savings both ways. Even if energy were same-cost 24/7, you would have efficiency savings.
This has actually existed in
This has actually existed in Chicago for a good while; there is a facility in Chicago which has made ice at night to chill Chicago buildings for at least 5 years, and I think it is much older than that.
MUCH older. Our ancestors
MUCH older. Our ancestors carved ice out of the lakes in the winter and stored it in caves...seriously, the idea itself really is old. How many of us can recall seeing frozen jugs of water in chest freezers being used as "ballast" to hold down the energy usage? I think the rise in energy prices is what's driving the "discovery." Makes sense to me.
The icebox, redux.
I have been using the jug in
I have been using the jug in the freezer for the last year since my freezer is never full. It is effective at reducing the amount of energy needed. It also works as a good backup system when six hour power failures occur after afternoon thunderstorms knock tree limbs over on the power lines. ;)
I use washed-out plastic
I use washed-out plastic milk jugs in my chest freezer too. Another benefit is that when you go camping, you can grab a jug or two for the cooler. Then your clean bag ice lasts a LOT longer and you needn't buy as much of it. And when you get home, you just re-freeze the jugs.
In a total power failure, you're much better off with that ballast. In a real disaster, you've got food cooling for a while and then some cool clean water to drink--providing you cleaned out the jugs properly before filling and freezing.
Absolutely true for a
Absolutely true for a disaster. The spare jugs of ice managed to help use keep the food at a safe temp for an extra 12 hours after Hurricane Charley trashed the area and gave me a chance to save bunch of food from going bad. We had already cooked all the meat a few hours before the hurricane hit so we could store it in the fridge. Then we filled the freezer up with milk jugs of water to be frozen. Once the power was out 12 hours, we shifted the food to 8 coolers with a jug of ice. Since we never opened the freezer, they were still almost fully frozen. That bought us enough time to obtain a generator to run the fridge. Also gave us cool water in the miserable post-hurricane humidity fest.
LOL. Smart fella. Exactly
LOL. Smart fella. Exactly how I figured it out. Been there, done that. And if you're caught by surprise it gives you enough time to cook the food for preservation if you have to, if you've the propane and such.
That power is cheaper
How many places have actually implemented peak and off-peak pricing? I guess it is out there. I have just never seen it in use. I would actually think such programs would be a good thing. For the most part, the actual cost of generation does not change. It has been a number of years since I have see anything about it, but it was my understanding that the turbines either operate or not. The only control was if the turbine was online or not. Power generated that is not needed is usually sold on the grid. The advantage of reducing peak load is to reduce the total amount of power needed on the grid and avoiding overloads. So power generated off-peak is really not any less expensive than on-peak.
However, the advantage of using less energy at night to create the cold sink is a major benefit. Not to mention it does help avoid overloads on the grid when it is stressed by heavy load.
Yep yep
How many places have actually implemented peak and off-peak pricing?
Quite a few. I don't know that I've ever lived anywhere that didn't use peak pricing for commercial accounts, at least. The price differential can be enormous, as much as five times or more difference in $/kWh between peak and off-peak, sometimes with intermediate pricing for the in-betweens.
The thing is that required generating capacity is determined by peak loading, so everyone pays for the peak generating capacity that is unused most of the time. Even then, when demand meets and exceeds utility capacity, the utility has to buy extra juice from the national grid. But the rolling peak-time window is larger than the time-zone spread across the nation, so you hit spots where almost EVERYONE wants extra power from the grid, and almost NO ONE is selling spare juice to the grid. Supply and demand--buying that extra juice at peak times is expen$ive because of demand. Demand-driven pricing, seller's market.
In the middle of the night the utility has plenty of extra juice to sell to the grid--but so does everyone else. Low demand, low return. Supply-driven pricing, buyer's market.
So anything that allows you to grab the juice at low-cost off-peak prices and "store" it in some form for peak-time high-price usage can be a BIG cost-saver.
Brain infarction. I
Brain infarction. I completely forgot that commercial power usage was metered that way.
Some places offer pricing
Some places offer pricing plans to residential, too. Discounts if you keep your usage low during peak times.