Pools and ski resorts: snowmaking and pool halls eat energy
Snowmaking and indoor pools use large amounts of energy on tight budgets. How planning with forecasts and plant control can be checked from your data.
Book a free 30-minute callControl and optimisation since 2007: CERN helium cooling · IAV wind turbines · SkySails airborne wind
Snowmaking runs by the thermometer, not by a plan
What happens. Snow guns start when the temperature allows and stop when it does not. The crew decides at night how many lines to run, with a reservoir that has only a limited amount of water and a temperature window that can close within hours.
What it costs. Snowmaking is a large share of a ski resort’s power bill, and the best hours are often at night, when the guns also work best. Water that is spent in bad hours, or a reservoir that is empty when the cold nights arrive, costs both snow and money.
Why the usual fix fails. A simple rule on air temperature ignores the humidity, which decides how much snow a gun produces. A fixed schedule per slope is unable to use a cold night or a cheap hour.
How a fixed-price remote diagnosis checks it. From the weather records, gun power logs, reservoir levels and the power tariff I check how a snowmaking schedule based on the forecast wet-bulb temperature, price and reservoir would have run. The fixed-price remote diagnosis tells you what such a plan could achieve on your slopes and which data it needs.
Background: Economic predictive control
Indoor pools: energy cost, an investment backlog and too few staff
What happens. A municipal indoor pool heats the water and the hall, ventilates against humidity, treats the water and recovers heat from the exhaust air. All of this is usually set once by the installer and left running.
What it costs. High energy bills for an operator with little money, and a technical team too small to optimise anything. Many pools are old and have a backlog of investment.
Why the usual fix fails. Replacing the plant is the real fix but the budget is not there. Lowering the water temperature is limited, because the guests notice and because the pool cannot be cooled by more than a little.
How a fixed-price remote diagnosis checks it. From meter data, temperature and humidity logs, ventilation and pump records I check how heat recovery, humidity-led ventilation and water treatment could be run for less energy. The fixed-price remote diagnosis shows what savings are possible without rebuilding the plant.
Background: Predictive control of process plants
Check it on your plant first: a fixed-price remote diagnosis
EUR 4,500 net · 5 working days · remote · availability on request · freelance or through temporary agency work
Within a fixed scope and at a fixed price, I review your data, control structure and measurements remotely and tell you whether the problem on this page is behind your symptoms and what fixing it would take. You get a short summary for decision-makers and a technical report for your engineers.