Global Update
USA
UK
THE ULTIMATE FRIDGIE BEER?
CAMOUFLAGED CONDENSERS
San Diego-based craft brewery Ballast Point is using condensate from air conditioning systems to make beer.
Daikin UK has come up with a new concept for home-owners who want to “hide” their outdoor air conditioning units: photographic wrapping.
Ballast Point has teamed up with San Diego International Airport to use waste water for the new SAN Test Pilot beer. The airport has been collecting the condensate from the AC units on jet bridges for several years as part of its conservation efforts, capturing about 375,000 litres per year. Previously this had only been used for cleaning, and for the facility’s cooling towers. Now, people are paying for the pleasure of drinking it!
The service allows a unit to be merged with its background by wrapping it in a high‑quality vinyl film based on a photograph provided by the customer. Each panel is removed, wrapped and carefully replaced. The unit is then delivered to site. The service is covered by warranty, and it does not interfere with servicing. Daikin says the wrap also prevents abrasion, extends colour fastness, and offers easier handling.
“Through the years, our R&D brewery has experimented with water reclamation as part of our commitment to sustainability,” says Aaron Justus, Ballast Point’s director of research and development.
Prices range from £589 (Au$1,143) for a single-fan condenser to £1,097 (Au$2,129) for a VRV type.
We can certainly drink to that. Although be warned, at 5.8 per cent alcohol, the Test Pilot will get you flying pretty quickly. ■
At the moment, Daikin Australia has not announced plans to offer the service here, but it could prove popular based on the number of photos we receive of condensers in boxes! ■
BRAZIL
INDIA
AC MARKET HEATING UP
SET AND FORGET
Brazil is experiencing strong sales for air conditioning units, partly due to record temperatures during 2019. According to the Japan Air Conditioning, Heating & Refrigeration News (JARN), the year-on-year growth rate for the first 10 months of last year was 20 per cent, and market demand was expected to exceed 3.5 million units for the whole year. The high demand applied not only to single split systems, but also to multi-split systems, which increased by 9.4 per cent. The figures mark a major recovery from the slump in 2016, when the market dropped by 34.6 per cent. Now, local sales staff are predicting that the national market for single-split units should reach six to seven million. The market is also becoming more tightly regulated. New rules on energy efficiency and a new energy-saving standard were introduced in 2019. ■
The Indian government has announced that 24°C will be the new default temperature for air conditioners (AC). This includes all air conditioners that are labelled under the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE)-star program. The default setting is the setting at which a machine comes from the factory. Apparently, very few people in India adjust their AC settings – most let it run on the default. This is the reasoning behind changing the default setting, although users are still able to change the settings as needed. India’s Ministry of Power estimates that by increasing the temperature of a room by 1°C, about 6 per cent of electricity is also saved. The standard room temperature is set to 20–21°C, so this solution will save approximately 24 per cent of electricity. There is no similar rule for default air conditioner settings in Australia. ■
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HVAC&R Nation
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www.airah.org.au/nation
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March 2020
