Cold plunge pools are a great way to treat sore and achy muscles and joints and a great way to cool off after a workout or on a scorching hot day in the tropics.
If you have ever wondered if a Cold Plunge Chiller Can Be Installed On a Yacht, wonder no more. Yes, a cold plunge chiller can be installed on a yacht if the vessel has sufficient power and space.
Yacht Chiller Installation
Nothing beats cooling off when on a yacht than a dip in a chilly cold plunge pool – that is if your yacht has one. American Chillers just completed an install of dual, 5-ton chillers in a luxury yacht while it was anchored in St. Maarten, in the Caribbean.
The yacht had initially installed a large, air-cooled chiller which just wasn’t practical. First, the salt air would destroy the coil in a short period of time. Second, it was installed in an area below deck with minimal air-flow – not allowing proper heat transfer.
American Chillers engineered two, redundant chillers to keep this 1,000-gallon cold plunge pool at temperatures down to 40F degrees (4.4C).
Why Redundant?
Everything on a luxury yacht is redundant. When something breaks on a boat, it isn’t typically convenient to get parts, especially when you are in the Bahamas, Caribbean, South Pacific or many other off-the-grid locations.
Why Water-Cooled?
The ship had a central cooling system that provided cooling water. It only made sense to use the central cooling water to cool the chiller condensers like we do on large buildings in New York City. Plus, no air-flow is required and no copper air-cooled coil to corrode from the salt air. Even though we have treatment options for sea air environments, eventually the salt air can become a factor.
Could We Have Used Sea Water?
Our water-cooled chillers could have also used sea water to cool its condensers, but the yacht already had a central chiller. In fact, the large, central chillers (using sea water to cool the condensers). It was more convenient, however, to use the central chilled water as the piping was already in place and had plenty of available capacity.
Clearance Challenges
Even though the yacht was very large, it was still a boat. The location of the chiller equipment room was down a flight of stairs, through a narrow passageway and through some tight doorways. In order to make the chillers fit, America Chillers had to ship them disassembled so they could be carried, set in place, reassembled, charged with refrigerant and commissioned.
Island Time (Hurry Up and Wait)
The yacht was only scheduled to be at anchor in St Maarten for 30 days. We had to build the chillers, time the delivery, fly down and commission within this time frame. The chillers arrived in time, our tech arrived as scheduled, the plumbers arrived in time, but their pipes and fittings were delayed. Two days of waiting for the chillers to be connected to the pool, then one day to install was not enough time. American Chillers technician, Russell Watkins, had to extend his flight one day later so that the chillers could be run tested prior to his leaving.
The “Patch” Works
The redundant cold plunge yacht chillers are located in tight quarters, on a yacht that was at anchor in the Caribbean, in July. It was hot, humid and rolly (the yacht was rolling from the waves). Worse yet, our service tech suffers from motion sickness. Fortunately, a stop to his Doctor prior to traveling to be prescribed the latest in motion sickness patches. Even more fortunate. It worked. Three days of spending 24-7 on the yacht (eating, sleeping, waiting for parts and working).
The Luxurious Mega Yacht Now Has Everything
After four days on site, Russell boarded his Delta Airlines flight back to Columbia, South Carolina. The owners of the yacht were not on-board the yacht when commissioned, but the crew enjoyed a test dip and were immediately sold on the benefits of cooling down via cold plunge. Another successful American Chillers Installation in the books!
No Pool? Consider an On-Demand Cold Shower
Space is very limited on most yachts. Unless you have a luxury mega yacht, you may not have room for a pool or even a tub. Yacht chillers can provide cooling to a small tank used for showering. Even a 15 to 30-second cold shower can provide massive benefits to quickly cool you down and provide other health benefits (ask Wim Hoff).
