Challenge
Thousands of ice skaters all over Romania have their winter-time fun thanks to Trane Rental Services which supplies chillers to the owners of nearly 20 ice rinks. The very first ice rink installation was in 2011 in the stunning ski resort of Sinaia and Trane Rental continues to supply this iconic ice rink every year.
Sinaia is one of the most popular ski resorts in Romania and is known as the “Pearl of the Carpathian Mountains”. With over 20 km of slopes and 5 km of ski routes, it is the closest ski resort to Bucharest and attracts tourists from all over Europe.
Solution
The success of the first rental project in Sinaia in 2011 has led to a highly successful and ongoing relationship with the ice rink operator. In the first years, a chiller was selected to secure the ice.
For the 2022/2023 season, an air-to-water heat pump was installed. This air-cooled liquid reversible heat pump provides 190 kW of cooling capacity and delivers the exact temperature and performance needed during the winter season. The unit also has significantly lower noise levels than the previous scroll compressor chillers and offers industry-leading full- and part-load efficiency in both cooling and heating mode, providing economical operation and reduced CO2 emissions.
For the customer, the use of a Trane Rental heat pump also has the huge, additional benefit of enabling them to melt the ice more rapidly at the end of the season thereby keeping their overall rental costs to a minimum.
Results
The Sinaia ice rink contract is already in place for the 2023/2024 season. The client is delighted with the Trane Rental solution which also provides significant flexibility regarding rental duration. Rental is typically for two months but this can be extended to fit in with school holidays if necessary. The ice rink also tends to be busier when there is less snow on the mountain slopes so rental can be extended accordingly.
For the initial ice rink project in 2011, Trane Rental overcame a number of technical challenges to provide the correct cooling capacity for the rink and ensure that it was sufficiently chilled during the entire winter season. The 2011 ice rink installation – located in Sinaia’s Dimitrie Ghica Park – was only the second chiller rental provided by Trane and marked the beginning of Trane Rental’s European activities. Trane Rental now has offices in 24 countries across the continent, providing quick and reliable cooling and heating services to a wide range of businesses, from single-day events to multi-year industrial cooling applications.
