Ice Bear® 30 Unit Overview
Ice Bear
®
30 Unit Overview
The Ice Bear
®
30 unit is an off-the-shelf hybrid condensing unit for use with direct expansion air
conditioning systems. The Ice Bear unit is designed to store energy at night and then shift the on-peak
electrical energy of a condensing unit common to packaged rooftop, split, and mini-split systems. A
typical application will shift the electrical energy consumed by a 5-ton scroll compressor and its
associated condensing unit fans operating under full load conditions for 6 hours continuously.
Electrically, the Ice Bear unit shifts approximately 30 kW-hours of energy to the off-peak, thus reducing
the on-peak demand by about 6 kW for six hours.
The Ice Bear unit runs its integral condensing unit for about 10 hours continuously, during the coolest
part of the night, to store energy in the form of ice (30 latent ton-hours). The control signal from the
thermostat or building management system is received by the Ice Bear unit’s CoolData
®
controller.
Based on the time-of-day, or upon a command to shed electrical demand initiated by the utility, the
controller determines if the Ice Bear hybrid condensing unit or the electrically operated condensing unit
will operate. In the case of the Ice Bear unit, it pumps enough oil free R-410A refrigerant to an Ice-Coil
evaporator to provide effective cooling for up to 5 tons of continuous load for six hours, using less than
300 watts of power. A unique and important design feature is the Ice Bear unit’s cooling performance
independent of outdoor ambient or rooftop temperature; in other words, it can be 75 °F or 140 °F and the
Ice Bear unit and its associated Ice-Coil’s cooling performance (5-ton rating) is unchanged.
Definitions of Terms
Base System
: A refrigerant based, direct expansion (DX) air conditioning system, commonly referred to
as a packaged rooftop unit, split system, or mini-split system. A typical base system includes a
condensing unit, an evaporator, a blower, and controls.
Ice-Coil™ Kit
: An Ice-Coil and ancillary equipment needed to convert a packaged rooftop unit into an
Ice-Ready Rooftop Unit.
Ice-Coil™
: A flooded evaporator coil provided by Ice Energy, or modified to Ice Energy’s
specifications. The Ice-Coil is dedicated to the Ice Bear unit and is sometimes referred to as a liquid
overfeed evaporator coil.
Ice-Cooling
:
The process whereby the Ice Bear unit’s stored ice cools the refrigerant used to provide
cooling to a building space during peak energy hours (typically noon to 6pm).
Ice-Make
:
The nighttime process by which the Ice Bear unit converts its tank of water into a tank of ice
to be used for cooling the next day during the peak energy hours (typically noon to 6pm).
Ice-Ready™ Rooftop Unit
: A packaged rooftop unit modified to include an Ice-Coil.
Multi-Stage System
: A packaged rooftop unit, typically greater than 5 tons, that includes multiple
independent refrigeration circuits, for example a 10-ton unit with two 5-ton circuits.
Peak Shifting
: Shifting electric load from the utility defined on-peak period to the off-peak period. On-
Peak hours are typically noon through 6 pm.
Redundant Coil
: The addition of an Ice-Coil to a packaged rooftop unit or split system.
Summer Mode:
The CoolData
®
controller’s programming is optimized to ensure that stored cooling is
available during peak energy hours.
Standard Circuit
: A common DX refrigeration circuit that includes an evaporator coil, expansion
device, and condensing unit.
2 Ice
Bear
®
30 Unit Application Guide