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SPECIAL advice from The Curling Doctor:
"IF you have the "drips," (guys) go to this URL for help: http://www.nrc.ca/irc/cbd/cbd035e.html."
One 6 sheet club now saves $12,000 per year on electrical costs with the "drip/insulation" hanging barrier/false ceiling. Their ice "frost" problem is now non-existent with great year around curling ice.

D&S. K,
Your question: "What is the proper humidity for Jet Ice?"
While this question is a bit unclear, it brings up the more important questions of:
1."Is the rising power bill one of the two causes for the ever increasing failure/closing of clubs?"
2. "What is the CCA doing about dropping membership and increased costs at the club level?"

    As a governing body, the CCA should assume a position of managed assistance to Provincial Associations and individual clubs in many disciplines affecting Canadian curlers including an immediate change in the teaching of body damaging rock delivery and back breaking brushing techniques.

    While what has gone before in the last century is important, the competition with alternate entertainment modes for all ages is changing at a rapid pace NOW and the CCA is not keeping pace with NINTENDO.
    With declining membership nationwide due in part to an aging population and the closing of hundreds of clubs, it is time for a new management venue for all curling governing bodies. Clubs need help now! The average PAYING curler could care less about who is the Pres./Vice Pres. et. al. of the CCA or any other management level. All the curler wants to do is put on the shoes and curl. Anyone, volunteer, coach or "other" must get their own self edification from themselves, because you now understand the reality of curler "appreciation of your efforts syndrome."
Now back to D&S's question.
     Jet Ice is a branded "system" of water treatment and application. I have studied the "Jet Ice System." Their process does remove water hardness and water treatment plant flocculates if the exchange tanks are rotated at the proper time.
   A water filtering system (for pebble water --carbon/activated charcoal) should be used.
You can be sure the CCA has not sponsored studies of this ice maintenance system.
    I'm not certain if they have a micron filter in the water flow process. It would be a good idea to pre-filter turbidity before tap water is processed through the Jet Ice two tank de-ionization process. There would be a savings in chemical tank exchange but the filter must receive maintenance.
    Your local plumbing contractor can probably install a similar system at a comparable cost. A water system with treated and pre-heated water storage (a tank) to permit a de-aeration agent application is essential to a good system along with the de-ionizer.
    As far as humidity itself goes, it affects all ice in the same manner. It makes rock grabbing frost. Ice/curling room relative humidity below 40% will contribute to curl-able ice. Of course, the lower the actual humidity, the less frost with better curling. In central Canada, in winter, humidity is at the "desert" level below 20% on very cold days so frost is not a major problem when outside air finds its way into the curling room.
     Depending on the size of your building -- air space --air movement -- I wonder about the useful effect one de-humidifier will have in the corner of the building or the many small de-humidifiers placed around an arena at spring time (high outside humidity) curling events when spectators are coming and going allowing an influx of moist air into the playing area.
    These hanging and portable units are being recommended by various "air conditioning " people. They are in actuality a power consuming refrigerator just as the ice sheet with an evaporator area measured in sq. inches vs. 1000's of sq.ft. for the total ice sheet.
    The ice made for the curling surface is made with 3-phase power at 1/4 the cost of the "hanging" or "sitting on the floor" refrigerator cooling units. Without specific specs as to the amount of water they wring out of the air, I can not advise of their efficiency but obviously they are very "suspect" as to power and actual water removing efficiency.
    The only effective/cost viable dehumidifier is a desiccant type. Mobil Oil Co.'s Sorbead Desiccant is a reuseable/recoverable desiccant type. By utilizing the recovered compressor heat to dry the desiccant after dry curling room air has passed, the dry air cost is "free" (after initial capital installation costs).
    The easy way to minimize frost is to keep humid air out of the curling room by providing heater/furnace burner air via ducts or concentric chimney air from the outside to the firebox/burner.

   The "waste" heat they expel is used to assist the hanging gas fired furnaces in heating the curling room.       An energy in vs. energy out plus useful water condensed gross analyses is necessary.
    MOST clubs use hanging gas fired space furnaces to heat the curling room atmosphere. Hanging furnaces can pull in a complete air exchange to the curling room in 5-10 hours IF the heaters DO NOT have a duct to supply BURNER air directly from outside the building.     Fire Code in many areas call for positive fan exhaust ejection, so those exhaust fans run continuously at most clubs bringing in moist outside air to the ice sheet for dehumidifying as frost on your curling sheet.
    The cost of re-heating the rink atmosphere every 5 hours in gas consumption alone can be hundreds of dollars per month WHILE bringing in outside humid air which causes frost on the ice.
    The cost to install DIRECT AIR ducts or Coleman type chimneys to the furnace burners will be paid for in months by gas and power savings AND you will minimize FROST buid up on the curling surface!
    Furnaces without fuel burn air ducting currently "suck in" massive amounts of "curling room" ice sheet dried air for the burning process and may "suck" air from the humid restaurant/ lounge/viewing areas as curlers pass to and from the ice sheet or from outside.     The direct supply of combustion air from outside of the curling room is essential to minimize frost if your club "curls" when the outside temperature is above 40F and never mind the $1,000 wasted per month for refrigeration and gas costs.
   Keep doors closed and sealed with weather stripping to these areas and make sure the lounge areas are not "pressurized" as moist air will be pushed into the curling room as curlers pass in and out. The cheapest way to maintain low humidity is to "VENT" the furnace burners with air from outside the building. Otherwise, they will draw a vacuum in the curling room sucking in moist air from the viewing area.
    If you are unfortunate to have very high outside humidity, (coastal areas) you are at a definite disadvantage in maintaining low growths of sheet surface frost. Some frost in itself minimizes more frost growth in that the temperature differential between ambient air above the ice surface and the ice itself becomes higher. Frost is an insulator.
      The ice sheet itself is the most efficient de-humidifier. Just look at the area vs. that little de-humidifier "refrigerator" hanging in the corner or sitting on the floor. Another thing, think also in terms of "relative" humidity vs. actual humidity. Is your relative humidity "gauge" near the ice sheet or up by your inefficient hanging refrigerator condenser?
    IF refrigeration ice "designers" would get smart, they would use the re-turn brine from the sheet ice coils to dehumidify "fresh" air that does need to be introduced to the ice arena for burning (when the furnaces are in the ice arena and not vented) and for breathing. How could they do that? By utilizing a bank of coils (heat exchanger) with re-turn brine as the de-humidifier and then you would be using 3 phase power to dry your input air. Nothing is free, so you still need to apply more power but this will be a more efficient system. No curling ice in the world uses this system, that I am aware of.
    Another possible MAJOR energy saver is to use outside air to cool the brine instead of high power consumption compressors. YES. Free ice if the outside air temperature is below -10C.
    The "OTHER" possible way to get more efficiency may be to use GAS refrigeration with excess heat used to heat the lounge and ice arena and or adjoining buildings. WHO would have figured? The initial investment is more but most ice arenas have a 40+ year life span.
    Hot compressed refrigerant could have major amounts of heat removed through a heat exchanger. The unused waste heat is removed outside to the atmosphere in most current designs. The dry air created from the brine heat exchanger (not yet designed) could be baffled through the refrigerant heat exchanger and dry warm air would be ducted to heat the curling room and lounge with the use of hanging furnaces used for standby only. Other "waste" heat can be used to heat the rink under floor and footing to prevent sheet heaving as wellas lounge areas.
    The point to be made is, it is not necessary to expend $1000 per week on electrical energy particularly in areas where it is -15C in winter. And in coastal areas, air management will greatly reduce air borne water (humidity) from impinging on the ice sheet producing frost.
Then again, we can count on the CCA do an energy study and make it available to The WEB? HOME