Gary Franklin is chairman of the specialist industrial water chiller and cooling systems Coolmation Group, which incorporates its chillers and cooling systems hire division, Chillers4Hire, advises how m&e, a/c and fm contractors can make the right choice with chiller and air conditioning hire
Hire is an increasingly popular option for contractors to specify for their clients. Whether topping up existing cooling capacity or providing emergency cover, selecting the right supplier is a hugely important process. The company which provides a comprehensive chiller and temporary air conditioning hire fleet which can be delivered nationwide is obviously well-placed to fulfil a customer’s requirement. Increasingly, however, successful hire relationships are built on more substantial foundations than these. Yes, the first step may be choosing a company with ready availability of the right equipment, but applications and installation know-how and technical support are more in demand than ever as contractors seek to minimise downtime for their clients, keeping costs as low as possible and maximising productivity by maintaining comfortable working conditions for staff and secure ambient conditions in computer and server rooms.
With global warming causing temperatures to rise across the UK, existing chiller and air conditioning plant can struggle to cope during the summer months when it is already working to full capacity. However, installing additional capacity is not always the right answer, since increasing this can result in oversized plant that exceeds demand for the remainder of the year. Not an energy efficient solution. These days advanced energy efficient cooling systems can be hired and quickly installed to minimise the potentially harmful effects of high summer ambient conditions, topping up cooling capacity when and where required to help end-users maintain comfort, productivity and profitability at optimum levels. Hire therefore allows contractors to offer their clients an efficient and cost effective solution to high summer temperatures.
However, seasonal temperature rises are not the only drivers for hiring. Temporary chillers and cooling systems can be installed to sustain environmental conditions when existing plant has failed or is off-line because of essential maintenance, or where some additional spot cooling is required to meet short-term demands.
The need to replace ageing chiller and air conditioning plant is steadily increasing and hire equipment provides contractors with the solution to maintain the integrity of the building’s air conditioning requirements while the work is undertaken. This not only maintains comfort conditions, but the conditions for computers and servers allowing them to continue to operate safely and reliably.
In fact, whilst hiring a water chiller or air conditioning system is now relatively common place for dealing with short-term needs, it can also be a cost effective solution to a long-term requirement when capital may not be available for an outright purchase of new or replacement plant.. Special long term rates are generally available from hire companies depending on the anticipated hire period and service and maintenance will be included, fixing the outgoings for the duration of the hire.
However, once the contractor has decided that hire is the right solution for his client, the next challenge is to ensure that the most efficient and appropriate equipment for the job is selected. For this reason, it is important to go to a chiller and air conditioning company with a hire division rather than a plant hire company with a chiller fleet. The former will have a thorough understanding of the needs and the experience to properly apply the temporary plant.. The experienced supplier will be able to give sound advice on the best solution for a particular project, purely and simply because they will have many years’ of applications knowledge and space cooling experience. Significantly more than the average plant hire company.
They will also be well placed to advise you on ancillary equipment, when and where it is required to support the installation, such as, pumps, tanks and air side equipment. Coolmation’s Chillers4Hire division for example, provides a range of modern, reliable and energy efficient air conditioning equipment, and chillers with integral pumps and tanks to meet a wide range of duties, all underpinned by more than 20 years in the business.
Ease of installation and safe operation of temporary equipment is a key factor, particularly so when a rapid solution is necessary following the failure of an installed chiller or air conditioning system. High pressure hoses with quick connect couplers, stand alone pre-wired pump sets and buffer or weir tanks can aid rapid installations and flexibility of plant is a major consideration. For example our chillers and ahu’s can run as single units, or as interconnected modules to achieve the high demands of large buildings.
The fast installation can only be achieved by an experienced, knowledgeable lift and shift team. A hire company must be able to demonstrate that plant can be installed both quickly and safely and that it will continue to run as reliably as permanent plant once commissioned. Coolmation’s lift and shift crews include experienced air conditioning and chiller engineers, part of a company that ticks all the right quality assurance boxes - ISO 9000:2000 certification, Refcom refrigerant handling and management and Safe Contractor accreditations. This level of initial and ongoing support is absolutely critical to ensure that hiring a chiller or cooling system is a risk free procedure for the contractor, also providing the end-user, the contractor’s client, with real peace of mind.
Coolmation can provide customers with the most effective chillers and cooling systems for virtually any temporary need with ongoing 24/7 field and technical support. The company has developed a range of packages to suit temporary needs for comfort cooling, cooling within rooms containing heat sensitive products and equipment such as servers and computers, industrial processes, packages and solutions which can be delivered and installed fast to limit business disruption.
Providing a variety of equipment to meet a wide range of applications is key when choosing a hire company. It is important to verify that the company offers a full range of equipment to meet your needs, ideally including temporary chillers with integral pumps and tanks in capacities up to at least 300kW to save on installation time. However, it is also key for the company to offer a range of chilled water fan coils and air handling units which can be rapidly interconnected to the chillers when there is an urgent need to provide temporary cooling to maintain not just comfortable working conditions, but safe temperatures in computer and server rooms.
Chillers4Hire is a division of the Coolmation Group, the exclusive distributor for low energy Rhoss chillers and air side equipment. All Coolmation equipment available to UK customers is designed for high reliability and manufactured to internationally recognised quality standards. With offices in Lancashire, Leicestershire, Bedfordshire, Bristol and a Head Office in Ringwood, Hampshire, Coolmation operates nationwide in chiller sales, hire and technical support. For further information call freephone 0800 731 5466 or visit www.chillers4hire.co.uk.
