The naming of a company is meant to invoke the service that a company intends to provide, and Active Air Rentals (AAR) had the opportunity to live up to its name recently.
At the end of 2011, AAR received an urgent call to provide a rental chiller solution for the Target retail store at the Northside Shopping Centre in Glenorchy, a Hobart suburb. In the height of summer during the prime holiday retail environment, the store’s chillers had failed and there was a fair amount of urgency to fix the situation.
According to AAR, since two of the three chillers at the Target site were beyond salvage or repair, after liaising with the client a new chilled water reticulation system was finally chosen. A solution was specified and the start date set for the first week of January 2012.
AAR then commissioned two chillers, 160kWr and 120kWr, that were fully rig-tested at the AAR Sunshine West depot in Melbourne, prior to the 850km road and sea journey.
After arriving at their destination, the chillers and associated ancillary equipment arrived on 5 January and were fully installed and commissioned by Active Air Rentals technicians just before 1pm the next day, providing immediate relief to both staff and customers – just what was required for a retail outlet in the middle of its busiest time of year.
According to Active Air Rentals business development manager Phil James, the chillers were expected to be on site for a further four weeks while the permanent chillers were being installed.
James says that southern Tasmania poses a unique set of challenges for the industry.
“Natural gas has only recently been introduced, therefore most existing chillers are reverse cycle,” James says. “On the mainland the preferred option is to replace chillers in winter, however in southern Tasmania there is no such luxury. As reverse cycle chillers are relied upon in both summer and winter this reduces the economical lifespan of chillers.”