You can make a better decision choosing your cabinet cooling product by understanding the total cost of your investment and the operating cost associated with each style. Today we will compare EXAIR Cabinet Cooler systems and a refrigerant based enclosure air conditioning system.
How will EXAIR’s Cabinet Cooler system benefit you? I will help you understand your investment, installation, maintenance and operating costs for both EXAIR Cabinet Coolers verses a refrigerant based conditioner. The importance of understanding these costs will not only help you realize the return on your investment but will also give you the confidence knowing you made the best decision for you and your company. We will compare EXAIR’s model 4325 (NEMA 12) with a 1700 BTU capacity to a similar coolant based air conditioning unit.
The initial investment for the EXAIR model 4325, 1700 Btu/hr. Cabinet Cooler system at 2021 list pricing is $809 and will have an estimated life of 20 years ($40.45/yr). The initial cost for a refrigerant based A/C with similar Btu/hr is $3777 and an estimated life of 5 years ($751.58/yr). EXAIR’s Cabinet Cooler runs on compressed air and has no moving parts which provides a long product life . It is built for industrial, dirty, extreme temperature, heavy duty and remote locations.
Installation of the EXAIR Cabinet Cooler when installed according to manufacturers recommendation will take approximately 1 hour (estimating $65/hr) while the enclosure a/c will take up to 3 hours or more. There is no worrying about what position it was on the shipping truck, no time to allow the oil to drain back into the refrigerant compressor and no huge window to cut out of your enclosure to mount within. Again the edge goes to EXAIR Cabinet Coolers with less hassle and downtime. If we use that same operating lifetime the Cabinet Cooler system will require $3.25/yr and the refrigerant unit will require $39/yr for installation.
As mentioned earlier that EXAIR Cabinet Coolers do not have moving parts thus reducing or practically eliminating any maintenance or downtime. The refrigerant cooler will average 4 hours of downtime for cleaning and checking for refrigerant leaks. You will also experience downtime to replace filters and refill refrigerants when required. There will be drain lines to maintain for the condensate that will accumulate. EXAIR wins again having no downtime or costs for replacement parts. A refrigerant unit can require 4 hours per year of maintenance to provide its full five years of usefulness. Again using $65/hr there are zero dollars per year in Cabinet Cooler system maintenance compared to $260/yr for the refrigerant unit.
If we assume that the systems run an average of 5 hours per day, 5 days per week and 9 months per year we can calculate the cost of operating each style of cooling device. We know that it costs $0.025/1000 cu. ft of air. When put into our equation it shows that the EXAIR Cabinet Cooler system has an annual operating cost of $338. The coolant based a/c unit operated on electric at a rate of $0.0955/KWH for an annual operating cost of $56.38 giving the edge to this unit.
The total cost of your investment, installation, maintenance and operating costs for the EXAIR Cabinet Cooler is $382 per year while the coolant based a/c is $1106.96 per year giving a fast return on investment for the EXAIR 4325 Cabinet Cooler system and a very long period of keeping your electronics protected and running effectively.
EXAIR Cabinet Coolers are a low cost, reliable way to cool and purge electronic control panels. Not only is the EXAIR product more economical to purchase, maintain and install but they also provide a longer life as they incorporate a vortex tube to produce cold air. The EXAIR system also maintains NEMA 12, NEMA 4 and NEMA 4X panel integrity and are UL Listed and CE certified by independent laboratories.
EXAIR Application Engineers are ready to answer all your questions and help you determine the correct cabinet cooler size specifically for your needs.
Eric Kuhnash
Application Engineer
E-mail: EricKuhnash@exair.com
Twitter: Twitter: @EXAIR_EK
Categories: Cabinet Coolers