Chilled Water Plant Costs Estimated
Water chillers (with starters) Pumps (not including VFD or starter) $200/HP - $300/HP
Centrifugal: Cooling Tower
300 to 600 tons $250/ton Normal $20/gpm - $40/gpm
600 to 1400 tons $240/ton Permanent $40/gpm - $75/gpm
1500 to 2500 tons $230/ton Piping see chart
Absorption Controls $30/ton - $60/ton
1 stage 90 to 1600 tons $350/ton Electrical $130/kW - $360/kW
2 stage 350 to 1000 tons $500/ton Plate and Frame Heat exchanger
direct-fired 100 to 1100 tons $525/ton unit only $30/ton - $60/ton
Rotary Screw complete installation with piping
water cooled 70 to 130 tons $300/ton and simple auto control $80/ton - $140/ton
water cooled 150 to 450 tons $240/ton
air cooled 70 to 400 tons $420/ton Note: These prices are typical construction costs for normal access applications.
Setting, rigging, installation $60/ton For total project cost, add fees, testing and contingiencies.
Add 4160 volt motor $25/kW
Add 0.035 tubes $7/ton
Add Gas Engine $450/kW - $500/kW
Useful Formulas Specification Bid Form
Pump Hp = (GPM x Total Head in ft. water ) / (Pump Eff.x 3960) Energy cost savings of a high efficiency chiller can be accredited to the chiller in the
bid process. The lifetime (or any other span of time) can be used to calculate cost
kW/ton = 3.516/COP savings for every 0.01 kW/ton better than the base bid chiller.
kW/ton = 12/EER
kW/ton Purchase Price Cost Savings Comparative Cost
.60 kW/Ton From vendor none base bid
1 Ton = 12,000 BTU/HR .59 kW/Ton “ $ savings (base bid) - ($ savings) Choose
Tons = (GPM x D T x specific heat* x specific gravity*) / 24 .58 kW/Ton “ 2 x $ savings (base bid) - (2 x $ savings) the
* for fluids other than water .57 kW/Ton “ 3 x $ savings (base bid) - (3 x $ savings) Best
* “ * *
Value
GPM µ RPM * “ * *
Head µ RPM2 .50 kW/Ton From vendor 9 x $ savings (base bid) - (9 x $ savings)
Power µ RPM3 µ GPM3
Energy Cost Savings = 0.01 kW/ton x Chiller Tons x $ / kWh
Example: x Equivalent Full Load Hours (per year) x Chiller Lifetime (years)
Pump HP @ 5,000 gpm = 26.1 HP* x (5,000GPM / 4,000GPM)3
* pump hp @ 4,000 gpm from water piping capacity chart
CTV-TRT001-EN
Revised May 2000
Quick Reference
for Efficient
Chiller System Design
Water Piping Capacity (Tons)
Chilled Water
Pipe GPM 20°DT 18°DT 16°DT 14°DT 12°DT 10°DT
Size Price* Pump** 1.2 GPM/Ton 1.33 GPM/Ton 1.5 GPM/Ton 1.7 GPM/Ton 2 GPM/Ton 2.4 GPM/Ton
60,000 GPM 50,000 45,000 40,000 35,000 30,000 25,000
48
$450/ft 195 HP 40,000 36,000 32,000 28,000 24,000 20,000
40,000 GPM 33,300 30,000 26,600 23,300 20,000 16,600
42
$400/ft 115 HP 26,600 24,000 21,300 18,600 16,000 13,300
30,000 GPM 25,000 22,500 20,000 17,500 15,000 12,500
36
$350/ft 110 HP 20,000 18,000 16,000 14,000 12,000 10,000
20,000 GPM 16,600 15,000 13,300 11,600 10,000 8,300
30 $300/ft 80 HP 13,300 12,000 10,650 9,300 8,000 6,600
12,000 GPM 10,000 9,000 8,000 7,000 6,000 5,000
24 $250/ft 45 HP 8,000 7,200 6,400 5,600 4,800 4,000
8,000 GPM 6,650 6,000 5,300 4,650 4,000 3,300
20 $225/ft 32.2 HP 5,300 4,800 4,250 3,700 3,200 2,650
7,000 GPM 5,800 5,250 4,650 4,050 3,500 2,900
18 $200/ft 37.6 HP 4,650 4,200 3,700 3,250 2,800 2,300
6,000 GPM 5,000 4,500 4,000 3,500 3,000 2,500
16 $175/ft 43.5 HP 4,000 3,600 3,200 2,800 2,400 2,000
4,000 GPM 3,300 3,000 2,650 2,300 2,000 1,650
14 $150/ft 26.1 HP 2,650 2,400 2,100 1,860 1,600 1,300
3,600 GPM 3,000 2,700 2,400 2,100 1,800 1,500
12 $125/ft 29.4 HP 2,400 2,160 1,920 1,680 1,440 1,200
2,400 GPM 2,000 1,800 1,600 1,400 1,200 1,000
10 $115/ft 22.8 HP 1,600 1,440 1,280 1,120 960 800
1,500 GPM 1,250 1,125 1,000 875 750 625
8 $100/ft 18.3 HP 1,000 900 800 700 600 500
700 GPM 585 525 460 400 350 290
6 $90/ft 7.9 HP 465 420 375 325 280 230
460 GPM 385 345 300 270 230 190
5 $80/ft 5.9 HP 305 275 245 215 185 150
260 GPM 215 200 175 150 130 100
4 $75/ft 3.5 HP 175 155 140 120 105 85
130 GPM 110 100 85 75 65 50
3 $70/ft 1.9 HP 85 80 70 60 50 40
Pipe Price* Pump** 20°DT 18°DT 16°DT 14°DT 12°DT 10°DT
Size GPM 1.5 GPM/Ton 1.66 GPM/Ton 1.88 GPM/Ton 2.14 GPM/Ton 2.5 GPM/Ton 3 GPM/Ton
Condenser Water
Pipe sizes in inches.
GPMs were selected to maintain water velocities below 10 fps for pipe size 8 inch and larger.
Smaller size pipes were selected to maintain water velocities below 7 fps.
*Total estimated installed cost per linear ft of piping (buried) for typical applications. Brochure concept inspired by:
Price includes trenching, insulation, fittings, backfill and moderate amounts of surfacing repairs.
** HP values to pump water through 1000' of pipe calculated using; HP = (GPM x Pump Head) / 3960 x .70
For chiller capacity when given chilled water pipe size, GPM or D T, read chart down in dark blue.
For chiller capacity when given condenser water pipe size, GPM or D T, read chart up in light blue.
Tucson, Arizona
©American Standard Inc. 2000 www.glhn.com
