Sizing Your Condenser Unit: A Common Mistake
Most facility managers discover their condenser unit is undersized only after problems start appearing. Your compressor runs constantly. Energy bills spike. Temperature control becomes unpredictable. By then, you're managing a crisis instead of preventing one. Here's what typically happens: Someone calculates cooling capacity based on a rough estimate or copies specifications from similar facilities without accounting for actual load requirements. The equipment works—barely—until a heat wave hits or production demands increase unexpectedly. That's when you realize your unit can't keep pace. The mistake isn't always about poor math. Often, it's about incomplete information. Facility operators overlook heat sources they should have counted: equipment discharge, occupancy levels during peak hours, solar gain through windows, or the thermal impact of processes running simultaneously. Each one adds to the total load your condenser needs to handle. Miss one significan...