Weather here in north of Toronto is too warm for a Canadian winter – +7C today for mid January. Can’t play pond hockey as we have yet to get a cold spell long enough to safely go on the ice.
So I got to thinking – build a 20’x30′ cement pad about 6″ thick (with or without rebar?) on top of 2″ foam insulation with a good 10″ sand/gravel base below that, put in a bunch of loops (lets say 5 or 6) of tubing for the coolant in the pad, run the tubes to a small leanto on the house 20′ away from the rink where there is seperate unused 40A and 20A 240V power available. The cooling equipment would be in the leanto. Then me and the kiddies can skate to our hearts content even if we get a warm spell. Use the pad in the summer for an inflatable above ground pool or to play b-ball. The power available would be enough to put in some lights for nighttime play.
Thoughts? Cost to install? My neighbour’s got an excavator, so we’d prep the pour. Biggest cost would have to be the cooling unit design and installation.
Obliged as always.
Replies
Sounds like a fun project, but I'd agree the biggest expense will probably be the cooling system (and paying the operational costs once it's done.) There's a speed skating oval here in Minnesota that was built pretty much like what you describe, except on a much larger scale - they say it's the largest outdoor refrigerated ice surface in the world. 110,000 square feet, 800 tons of refrigeration and 84 miles of underground pipe. It's supposed to be usable up to 50 degrees F. Do a google search on 'John Rose Oval', and maybe you can find some info that could be scaled down for your use.
ur killin me! you have that close to you??
God, I'd never go to work again with that near me. Cycling in the summer, speedskating in the winter, aaahhhhh!yourcontractor@aol.com
It's Never Too Late To Become What You Might Have Been
Sounds like a really fun project. Just a few quick bits of info to help with the creative juices. Most of the skating rinks I've been around use a sand base to put the tubes in and insulate under that. The lines etc. on the ice are strips on top of the sand.
The cooling system will be the most problematic. Big Ice rinks have big systems. Not many small ice rinks around that I know of. An ice rink chiller is really just a low temp process chiller on steroids.
They are expensive new. They are used in industrial settings and therefore are usually set up to run on 460v, 575v, 600v, or 13,200v 3 phase. Probably not what you have in your lean-to.
There are 1 or 2 companies out there that make a kit to mate to an existing condensing unit to make a chiller. It's really just a barrel, metering device and controls. One of these could be mated to your in-expensively acquired condensing unit to make a chiller. Add some low-ambient controls and you're off and running.
Chris
Thanks guys, good info. Maybe this should be a FHB article: "Building your client's combined tennis court and skating rink". Seriously!
Not only is the cooling system going to be expensive to buy, but the electricity to run it will be costly as well. I used to play on an outdoor rink and when the weather got warm, even the cooling system didn't help much. Simple air cooling will keep your rink cold enough to flood on most nights, and only the warmest days will turn the ice too soft to skate on. The actual temperature isn't as much of an issue as the direct sun. Save your money and buy a Zamboni!
Actually, you will probably want some mechanical way of clearing snow, both falling and from skating, off your rink. Even at 20x30, shoveling will be a pain. A garden tractor or compact utility tractor with a spinning sweeper brush would work great for smaller amounts, a blower for bigger accumulations. Flood each night with a garden hose and you are good to go.
That's the way I'll do it when my wife gives me permission- er, I mean when I decide the time is right. My daughter hasn't picked up hockey yet, but she's only 20 months old. We can work on that one next year.
Yeah, electricity would be a bugger, on top of installing/maintaining. Even an residential a/c unit is usually, what, 30A 240V? 20A maybe. Just dreaming, I guess.
Don't even know what you'd use as coolant. A quick Google search suggests brine or ammonia. I'd need an HVAC pro on permanent call.
Still - imagine having your own NHL style ice rink .....
Maybe just pour the slab instead - years ago in Fredericton, NB I lived near a 4 court outdoor tennis court, the city would flood it in the winter. They used a pickup with a blade to clean it. It would be -20C, we'd be out there and the ice would be rock hard. Good times, frozen noses.
YIKES. Guess I'll have to talk to my banker about refinancing!! He, he.
Ottawa, eh? I can think of 4 fellows there doing a lot of skating now - around various issues. Never been skating on the Rideau myself - no one probably is right now either.
You don't need the concrete portion of the plan. Poly pipe sandwiched between two layers of sand is fine. A pool liner will make a good surface to flood. As long as the surface is perfectly flat at frost time, it will be fine.
Refrigeration will be the thing that will require the banks support, the rest is basic.
Gabe
http://www.nicerink.com/index.htm
jt8
"The test is to recognize the mistake, admit it and correct it. To have tried to do something and failed is vastly better than to have tried to do nothing and succeeded."
-- Dr. Dale Turner
Have a look at some artifical rinks made of silicone.
There was someone in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario that was developing a product a couple of years ago ( I don't have a name) but here's one from a company in Florida.
No hydro or compressors required!
http://www.superglideskating.com/
I used to live in New York on the border with Ontario, about 20 miles south of Prescott, about 1° further North than Toronto. My next door neighbor had an outdoor rink. There is an occasional winter when it would not freeze long, but most years he got many good weeks of skating from the natural weather.
I think mechanical refrigeration would be expensive, and without a building over it to keep the air temperature near freezing I'm skeptical it could work. You could at least put the tubing in and do the refrigeration later.
His rink was asphalt. You'll need a curb that can be closed up when you are flooding it, but drains freely in the off season, or pack snow for a dam. Leveling is critical, my neighbor had it off a bit and had to flood a few inches to avoid a bare spot in one corner.
Don't forget the cost of some type of boards, and a door at each end unless you want to go around the long way after pucks. A tall net hung from poles behind each goal saves lots of running around. Just don't get it caught in the snowblower (don't ask why I know that).
In the summer it was used for roller hockey.
Oh, and lights are necessary, too, and a bench just outside.
Make sure you have a good well drained compacted stone base so you don't get lots of heaving. But remember, it's not the Olympics, just a cheap rink for fun.