Methodology
Primary sources, one link per number, a date on every row.
Where the data comes from
We read each vendor’s own product pages, brochures, spec sheets and press releases. A few rows rest on trade press where the vendor’s own page could not be read; those rows say so in their sources list. Every record lists its sources with the date we accessed them, and every number in the table links to the source it came from.
Capacity and units
Capacity is the vendor’s published cooling capacity for the chiller lines named in the Lines field. Where a vendor publishes refrigeration tons, we convert at 3.517 kW per ton and show kW. Rating conditions differ between vendors and between lines (AHRI, Eurovent, a stated ambient and water temperature), so compare ranges and read the source before you compare decimals. Multi-unit project totals and announced-only products are left out.
Supply water temperature and efficiency
Max supply water is the highest chilled-water supply (leaving) temperature a vendor states for a line. A rating point in a brochure is not an operating limit, so we do not record it there. Efficiency is shown exactly as published, with its metric name: EER, COP, SEER and IPLV are different measures and are not converted into each other.
Refrigerants and GWP
Refrigerants are the names the vendor lists. We print a GWP only when the vendor prints one, and we keep its value and its stated basis: vendors cite different IPCC assessment reports and rounding, so the numbers are not normalised or averaged. The HFO or natural refrigerant flag is set from the refrigerant names alone.
How we verify
Each row shows the date we last checked it. A field is filled only when a source states it; when a vendor does not publish a figure, the cell stays empty. An empty AI or free-cooling cell means we found no such statement on the pages we read, not that the vendor lacks the feature. Chiller prices are quoted per project and are not listed.
Corrections
Vendors and readers can send corrections to hello@chillervendors.com with a public source. We update the row and its verified date. Featured placement is paid and labelled; it never changes a row’s data or its position in the sorted table.
Field definitions
15 fields- Smallest unit kW
- Lowest published cooling capacity across the chiller lines named in the 'Lines' field, converted from refrigeration tons at 3.517 kW per ton where the vendor publishes tons. Rating conditions differ by vendor and line, so compare ranges, not decimals. Blank when no line states a lower bound.
- Largest unit kW
- Highest published cooling capacity of a single chiller across the lines named in 'Lines', converted from tons at 3.517 kW per ton where needed. Project totals, multi-unit plants and announced-only products are excluded. Blank when not published.
- Heat rejection
- How the named lines reject heat: air-cooled (condenser fans), water-cooled (cooling tower or dry cooler loop) or both. Absorption chillers run on a heat source instead of an electric compressor.
- Compressors
- Compressor technologies in the named lines, as the vendor words them: scroll, screw, centrifugal, magnetic-bearing (oil-free) centrifugal.
- Oil-free
- At least one named line uses an oil-free compressor (magnetic-bearing or Turbocor-type). Blank means the vendor's pages do not say.
- Refrigerants
- Refrigerants the vendor lists for the named lines. A refrigerant may be offered only on some sizes or markets; the record's sources say which.
- HFO or natural refrigerant
- At least one named line is offered on an HFO, HFO blend or hydrocarbon refrigerant (R-1234ze, R-1233zd, R-515B, R-513A, R-454B, R-452B or R-290). Decided from the refrigerant names the vendor publishes.
- Vendor-published GWP
- Global warming potential exactly as the vendor prints it. Vendors cite different IPCC assessment reports (AR4, AR5, AR6) and rounding, so values are not normalised. Blank when the vendor prints none.
- Free cooling
- The vendor offers integrated or optional free cooling (outside air or a water-side economiser) on at least one named line. It does not mean the compressors stay off all year.
- Max supply water °C
- Highest chilled-water supply (leaving) temperature the vendor states for a named line. A rating point is not an operating limit and is not used here. Blank when not stated.
- Full-load recovery s
- Seconds from a power interruption to full cooling output, as the vendor states it for a named line.
- Efficiency (as published)
- Efficiency figures with the metric and conditions the vendor gives (EER, SEER, IPLV, COP). The metrics are not interchangeable: SEER and IPLV are weighted part-load figures, EER and COP are single points.
- AI or high-density claim
- The vendor names AI, high-density or liquid-cooled data centers as a target of a named line, on a page cited in the record's sources. Blank means no such claim was found on the pages read.
- Data center focus
- Dedicated: the vendor names a chiller line for data centers. General: a standard chiller range that the vendor documents in data center use.
- Lines
- The chiller families this record covers. Capacity, refrigerant and temperature figures refer to these lines, not to the vendor's whole portfolio.