Among all the components of any commercial HVAC installation, centrifugal pumps are one of the most vital. They support cooling towers, boilers, water systems, hydronic systems, and chillers. The centrifugal pump efficiency of a commercial HVAC system depends on how well the pump is controlled, how well the pump and motor work, and how well maintained the pump and the other heating and air conditioning components are.

Though pumps have made minor changes over the years, they are still essentially the same as they originally were. Nearly every major component of any commercial HVAC installation has been greatly modified to be energy efficient and more effective. Centrifugal pumps, however, have only made small changes in design, structure, and material.

It is only recently that the issue of centrifugal pump efficiency has been raised. Now that changes are being made by way of high efficiency pumps and drive motors, less energy is required to use them. In addition to these recent upgrades, more advanced and precise pump controls are being introduced into the marketplace which are giving newer commercial HVAC systems an advantage over the old systems. Though the energy consumption for the pump is low, it is used constantly, meaning that even minor improvements in design and efficiency can have significant impacts on energy costs.

The newer controls on centrifugal pump designs can help dictate the flow of water in air conditioning and heating appliances. Variable frequency drives are now able to control pumps for a variety of situations arising from the use of a commercial HVAC. For an average commercial HVAC installation, an upgraded centrifugal pump with variable frequency drives saves anywhere from twenty to fifty percent on energy consumption over the course of a year.

Intelligent pump controllers are a new upgraded version of pumps for commercial HVAC applications. Intelligent controllers can be hooked up to monitors the function of the pump and can alert to malfunctioning parts or a damaged centrifugal pump. They can be programmed in advance to overcome common problems and self regulate themselves without halting heating or air conditioning functions.