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This blog post will be mainly concentrated on one of the most often received questions from our new clients: "How to build an ice rink?". We will first take a deeper look on the equipment needed to build a permanent ice rink and a second blog post will cover the construction phases.
There are 3 main and important product categories when it comes to building a permanent ice rink: the piping, the chiller and the dasher board.
1. Piping
For a permanent ice rink, depending on the needs of the project, the pipes can be installed either in sandbase (which makes them a little bit more flexible in case of relocation of the ice skating rink) or in concrete (if the location is a long term one). The main role of the pipes is to actually conduct the glycol which under normal conditions is a clear, colorless liquid used as a vehicle engine coolant due to its anti-freeze properties. This liquid is crucial in the freezing process of the water. You can find below two pictures from some of our ice rink installation sites: one with the pipes in sandbase and one with the pipes in concrete.
(Picture 1 Pipes in sand base; Picture 2 Pipes in concrete)
2. Chiller
Chillers have different capacities, depending on the size of the ice rink, but regarding the chiller types, there are mainly 2 different ones that we use for our ice rink projects: air cooled chillers and water cooled chillers. The first ones are usually preferred for small or medium installations especially in cases where the water is not enough or is very expensive. In the contrary, the water cooled chillers have a water cooled condenser connected with the cooling tower and are recommended for medium to big projects, where the amount of water available is big enough. In addition, these chillers are a better solution also when there is a constant demand of the system, no matter the ambient temperature or air conditioning facilities, because they are not influenced by these factors.
(Picture 3 Air cooled chiller; Picture 4 Water cooled chiller)
The third important part of constructing an ice rink is the dasher board. Here the question is which type of ice rink is needed. For a normal public ice skating rink, we recommend a white PE or transparent dasher board, but for ice hockey rinks it becomes a little bit more complicated since ice hockey is an extremely fast and strong sport. The right product for this is the professional ice hockey board, which has increased stability because of the strong steel pipes and it is really safe considering the protective glass panels which are resistant at immense high speeds of the puck. We have both of these dasher board types and many others (also that respect the IIHF regulations) in our product range so for further questions do not hesitate to contact us. Below you can find some pictures with the mentioned dasher board types.
(Picture 4 Transparent dasher board for public skating; Picture 5 Professional ice hockey dasher board, in accordance with the IIHF regulations)
