WiFi Monitors of ULT Freezers for Commissioning and Energy Conservation

Allen Doyle, University of California

Ultra low temperature (ULT) freezers are complex, use a lot of energy, and contain precious samples. Wireless monitoring of cabinet temperature and amperage has been proposed to identify older freezers nearing failure, and to detect needed maintenance before failure occurs. Unlike failure relay alarms, monitors continuously report current and cabinet temperature which is then compared to similar models by analytic software. A monitor installation at UC Davis on 27 new water-cooled ULT freezers served for energy conservation, and also as a commissioning tool to evaluate start-up performance. The continuous data provided a record for energy managers to assess savings using the water cooling, validating HVAC cooling sizing, and recording warmer set point savings for utility rebates. [Data and Results were not available at the time of writing this abstract. ] This is one of the first major installations of WiFi monitors in higher education, and may reveal enhanced preventative maintenance and total cost of ownership reduction. Information Technology (IT) project management included setting up a virtual server and maintenance, a stand-alone virtual local area network (LAN), security, and client management within a research department, and network bandwidth. A preliminary assessment of WiFi monitors will be made, and it's potential for expansion to hundreds of other freezers at UC Davis.

Biography:

After 20 years of ocean chemistry, soil and permafrost research, the urgency of climate disruption and environmental degradation compelled Allen to leave the lab and work with scientists on conservation in their workplace. He brings an occupant focus to lab energy conservation: Co-founder LabRATS; developing a nine-module green lab program; moderator of Labs21 appliance WiKi; organizer of 100+ member national network; reducing plug load through cold storage management and the Freezer Challenge contest; and HVAC optimization through temperature relaxation and control banding. As sustainability manager at UC Davis he interacts at all levels of campus and hopes that research labs and their stakeholders will reach ambitious standards of quality with dramatic improvements in resource consumption. He collaborates with laboratory trade groups (NELAC, APHL) and federal agencies (DOE, NIH, CDC) and private sector laboratories.

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