16 Oct 20 Ways to Reduce Ice Rink Costs | REALice Canada
20 ways to reduce ice rink costs
Operators ask us this constantly, and the answer is rarely one big purchase. With gas and electricity prices rising and carbon taxes on top, most of the saving in an arena comes from a dozen small things done consistently. Here are the twenty that make the most difference, grouped by what they cost you to try.
- Keep your ice between 1¼″ and 1½″
- Start a dry-shave morning routine
- Resurface at a steady pace
- Change ice temperature with usage
- Keep humidity at optimal levels
- Shut doors and dasher boards
- Keep a sharp blade and a clean towel
- Regulate inside air temperature
- Cover the ice during downtimes
- Wash the slab before installing ice
- Use thermally conductive paint
- Remove micro air bubbles from floodwater
- Install an automatic resurfacer water fill
- Switch to LED lights
- Go electric on the resurfacer
- Replace boilers with on-demand heaters
- Install a low-e ceiling
- Use a snowmelt pit
- Recycle water from the snowmelt pit
- Improve the arena insulation
Costs nothing but attention
1Keep your ice between 1¼″ and 1½″
The thicker the ice, the harder the plant works to hold the surface temperature. Every additional inch of ice adds roughly 10,000 kWh a year. Ice and concrete both act as insulators between the surface and the refrigeration system, so thick ice raises compressor load and makes the surface feel soft at the same time. Monitor it; don't judge by eye. More on thickness →
2Start a dry-shave morning routine
A dry shave before the day starts cuts the ruts out, improves clarity and uses no water at all. It also keeps thickness in range, which means the plant isn't working against an extra layer of ice for the rest of the season.
3Resurface at a steady pace
Drive at a consistent speed and don't slow down or speed up partway. Too much water along the boards builds the ice up high there; going over creases, turn the water off and raise the blade, then turn it back on past the crease. Allow 8–10 minutes for an NHL sheet, 10–12 for an Olympic one, and leave a five-minute window before the next group is on the ice.
4Change ice temperature with usage
Many rinks run different set points for unoccupied hours, practices and games. Raising the set point reduces the load on the plant, and how much that's worth varies from building to building; some sources suggest up to 2% per 1°F. The warmer the ice, the lower the potential for heat transfer into it. More on ice temperature →
5Keep humidity at optimal levels
Humid air condenses on the ice and releases a lot of heat into the surface, which the chiller then has to remove. It also produces a rugged surface that makes snow under skates, permeates building insulation, rusts structural steel and rots wood. Aim for 50–55%, and plan for crowds, outside weather and game times. More on humidity →
6Shut doors and dasher boards
An ice sheet is a refrigerator with the door open every time a dasher board is. Heat comes in, the plant works harder, and the ice softens. Outside doors do the same and make humidity much harder to control; fast-opening loading doors limit how much cold air escapes.
7Keep a sharp blade and a clean towel
Shave the ice at every resurfacing rather than just collecting the snow, and keep the blade sharp. Use wash water on every ice make if the machine has it. And check the towel: if you wouldn't wash your car with it, it shouldn't be on your ice.
8Regulate inside air temperature
Many arenas hold 55–60°F for spectator comfort, and the ice melts faster at higher ambient temperatures. Dropping the inside air temperature has a significant effect on plant load, though it has to be balanced against who's in the building and for how long.
9Cover the ice during downtimes
Thermal blankets are not cheap, but they take about thirty minutes to lay and cut compressor run-time significantly over a shutdown. Many are made from recycled materials.
Worth doing at the next ice-in
10Wash the slab before installing ice
New ice has to bond to the slab for good heat transfer, so the floor needs a thorough clean first. Oil and dirt affect the bond; other impurities change the freezing point and leave zones that freeze unevenly. Energy is wasted whenever the whole sheet has to be kept colder than necessary because of a few bad areas.
11Use thermally conductive paint
Ice paints designed to be thermally conductive reduce heat transfer through the ice. A reflective white surface bounces radiant heat away from the skating surface rather than absorbing it the way grey concrete or dark sand would, and it reflects light back into the arena, so fewer fixtures are needed for the same illumination.
Capital projects that pay back
12Remove micro air bubbles from floodwater
Floodwater is heated mainly to drive the air out of it, because air makes cloudy, soft ice. A rink de-aerator takes the micro air bubbles out mechanically instead, using line pressure, so the water can go on the ice cold.
The FortisBC ice rink resurfacing efficiency pilot measured a 79% reduction in floodwater natural gas across ten rinks, averaging 330 GJ each. Because cold floods put far less heat into the slab, and the resulting ice is harder, rinks can also run a warmer brine set point; across our own installations that has been worth a further 10–12% of refrigeration energy, and the independently metered rinks saved more. How de-aeration works →
13Install an automatic resurfacer water fill
An unattended fill can overflow, wasting water and, if it's hot, gas. An automatic system programmed for your tank size, with a sensor on the resurfacer, a solenoid valve and a control unit, stops that happening.
14Switch to LED lights
LEDs produce far less heat than the fixtures they replace and light the sheet better, so the ice stays harder and the chillers work less.
15Go electric on the resurfacer
Electric resurfacers remove the carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide a combustion machine puts into the building. They cost more up front, and lower running costs offset that over time. Conversions are available for existing propane and natural gas machines.
16Replace boilers with on-demand heaters
Once floodwater no longer needs heating, the demand for stored hot water drops sharply, and a tankless heater becomes viable for whatever warm water is still needed around the fill station. Tankless units only produce heat while it's being drawn, and shut off when it isn't.
17Install a low-e ceiling
Close to 30% of the total refrigeration load in a heated rink radiates down from the ceiling. Reducing the ceiling's emissivity cuts that load substantially and improves ice conditions at the same time.
18Use a snowmelt pit
An indoor snowmelt pit means the snow from each resurfacing is melted without opening an outside door and letting heat in, so the refrigeration system runs less during the melt.
19Recycle water from the snowmelt pit
Scott Seaman Sports Arena in the M.D. of Foothills #31, Alberta, treats and stores the melted shavings in an outside retention tank and puts the water straight back into the resurfacer. They save 60% of their water, 300,000 gallons out of 500,000, and $40,000 in hauling fees. Recycled grey water can also serve toilets, urinals and irrigation.
20Improve the arena insulation
Insulated ceilings and walls are what let you control the indoor climate regardless of what the weather is doing outside. In an older barn this is often the single change that makes every other measure on this list work better.
More from the Ice Academy: lower the rink's carbon footprint · energy use in ice arenas · ice rink maintenance
