Don’t make the mist-take of ignoring your ice rink’s humidity!
With ice rinks across the state looking to reopen towards the end of August and through September pending updated recommendations from the CDC and state officials, it is important to maintain proper humidity at your rink for when your skaters return to the ice. Without the proper dehumidifying equipment, you could be damaging the quality of your rink and putting your skaters at risk. Dehumidifying your ice rink has been shown to have many benefits, including:
Safer and more optimal skating conditions
Less condensation and corrosion on building structures
A better-maintained indoor climate for everyone in the arena & more
Ice rinks lacking up-to-date dehumidifiers can get foggy very quickly! Imagine trying to see the puck in these conditions!
But it’s not just enough to reduce the humidity of your ice rink. Without the proper dehumidifying equipment, you could be leaving a lot of money on the table. Let’s take a closer look at some of the options...
The Old Method - Mechanical Dehumidifiers:
Mechanical dehumidifiers were, for a long time, the standard way to remove excess humidity from your ice rink. They work by drawing air through a refrigerated coil held at a temperature below the temperature of the air. This would cause the moisture in the air to condense on the cold coils, in a similar manner to a standard air conditioner. The primary drawback of these systems is that because of their design and how they operate, they become drastically less effective the colder the air gets, resulting in higher operating costs and less efficient over time.
The Case For Desiccant Wheels:
Desiccant wheels are a more modern, and quite popular way to dehumidify ice rinks. This system uses a rotary dehumidifier to soak up the moisture from the air, keeping the humidity at a level where condensation is reduced. They are generally cost-effective and energy-efficient means of dehumidifying ice rinks but aren’t ideal in all cases.
Two of the primary drawbacks of this technology are air leakage occurring between the supply and return air, resulting in reduced performance as well as an increased burden on utility usage which is furthered by heat carryover during operation—which can create the need for additional cooling.
Desiccant humidifiers like the one above are common sights in ice rinks.
Our Recommendation - Thermoplus Rink Dehumidifiers:
Thermoplus rink dehumidifiers run on a small refrigeration circuit, which removes moisture from ice rinks. They are a single-package dehumidifying solution, and as such, are far less expensive than their alternatives. As an added bonus, they use far fewer utilities and have a lower operating cost over time while remaining effective in reducing the ambient humidity of ice rinks.
