Uniformat D3030

Air-cooled chiller

An air-cooled chiller lasts about 20 years, the median of 3 published sources, which state 20–23 years.

Also listed as Chiller, air-cooled, air cooled chiller

• Confidence B
• Version 0.5.0 (permanent link)
• Reviewed 2026-10-23

Service life

Years in service. The band runs from the shortest to the longest life the sources state, so it shows how much they disagree, not how long 80% of units last. The line is the median of the stated lives.

Work out when yours is due for replacement

Basis

• 20 years · CNA e-Tool Estimated Useful Life Table, p11 · HUD CNA 3.4.2.1.17 “Chilling plant” — U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (planning life)
  Same life for family and elderly properties. US multifamily housing. HUD's row is a chilling plant, without the condenser type.
• 20 years · Updated Buildings Sector Appliance and Equipment Costs and Efficiencies (March 2023), Appendix A: EIA - Technology Forecast Updates - Residential and Commercial Building Technologies - Reference Case (Guidehouse and Leidos, March 3, 2023), p135 · Commercial Scroll Chillers (Air-Cooled Only) “Average Life (y) 20 (all years, typical and high efficiency)” — U.S. Energy Information Administration; Appendix A prepared by Guidehouse and Leidos (planning life)
  Printed page 131 (Appendix A). Air-cooled scroll chiller, typical capacity 50 tons. Data-source sheet (PDF p.236, A-56) gives the life source as 'Manufacturers' (Guidehouse for 2030-2050 projections). Scroll only; screw and reciprocating air-cooled chiller lives in the same report are ASHRAE/FacilitiesNet-sourced and were not used.
• 23 years · Purchasing Energy-Efficient Electric Chillers (web page, modified 2025-11-12) · Tables 4 and 5 assumptions “Assumed chillers operate for 2,000 hours per year and have a lifetime of 23 years.” — U.S. Department of Energy, Federal Energy Management Program (planning life)
  One assumption for both the 175-ton air-cooled (Table 4) and 300-ton water-cooled centrifugal (Table 5) examples. Source of the value not stated by FEMP.

How sources are chosen and recorded: sourcing policy.

Preventive maintenance

19 tasks in 4 work orders. Intervals that fall due together are one visit: the annual visit also covers the semi-annual tasks.

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
5. 5
6. 6Semi
7. 7
8. 8
9. 9
10. 10
11. 11
12. 12Annual

Months from the schedule start. Daily and weekly rounds run in between. Download the tasks as CSV for a CMMS, or ask the MCP tool get_pm_schedule for dated visits.

Frequencies are ISO 8601 durations in the data (P3M = every 3 months).

Open questions

• Every source here is a published planning, design or accounting life. None is observed replacement data.

Know the answer? Send it with a source to [email protected].

Cite this

Citation

unfinished.one (2026). Chiller, air-cooled, v0.5.0. https://unfinished.one/c/chiller-air-cooled/v/0.5.0

BibTeX

@misc{unfinished_chiller_air_cooled_0_5_0,
  title = {Chiller, air-cooled},
  author = {{unfinished.one}},
  year = {2026},
  version = {0.5.0},
  url = {https://unfinished.one/c/chiller-air-cooled/v/0.5.0},
  note = {CC BY 4.0}
}

Licence CC BY 4.0 · How to cite · JSON · Versions: 0.5.0, 0.3.0, 0.2.0, 0.1.0