Summerhill Group, which is representing Ice Energy’s Ice Bear product in Canada, probably wishes the system has had more traction. Basically, the Ice Bear system uses off-peak electricity to create large blocks of ice, and then uses that ice during summer peak times to provide cooling — the idea being that it offsets the need to run air conditioners at times when electricity is most expensive.

This is a great concept in California, where air conditioning is used year-round and where the gap between off-peak rates and peak rates is higher than in Ontario. This allows the user of Ice Bear to save quite a bit on electricity costs and pay off the system faster. Ontario, where hot summers are short and the time-of-use pricing isn’t as favourable presents a greater challege, but it’s obviously doable depending on the application.

Mountain Equipment Co-Op has a fairly sizable Ice Bear setup at one of its stores in Burlington. The latest project is at the Toronto Zoo, which in partnership with Toronto Hydro is using an Ice Bear system at its Tundra Trek Caribou Cafe to offset about 15-kilowatts of electricity that would otherwise be used for air conditioning. Not a big project, but interesting nonetheless.

cleanbreak.ca