‘Why is our chiller running all day, but the plant still feels warm?’ If you have asked this question recently, you are not alone. Across Pakistan, many plants are quietly losing money through inefficient chiller plants. The system is still ‘running,’ but it is no longer performing the way it did in year one. As engineers, we have seen this pattern repeat itself across industries: textiles, food and beverage, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, packaging, and more.

The good news is that chiller plants rarely fail overnight. They usually whisper before they scream. If you know what to listen for, you can catch inefficiency early, protect production, and avoid painful capex decisions.

Let us walk you through the three big red flags: high kWh per ton, unstable temperatures, and frequent trips.

1) High kWh per ton: When your energy bill tells you something is wrong

One of the most reliable early warning signs is rising kWh per ton of cooling. In simple terms, your chiller is consuming more electricity to deliver the same (or even less) cooling.

You might notice:

• Electricity bills creeping up even when production is stable
• Operators increasing set-points to ‘help’ the system cope
• Chillers running longer hours to reach the same load

In Pakistan’s energy environment, this hurts fast. Every extra kWh directly hits your operating cost and, in many cases, your competitiveness.

From our experience, common causes include:

• Fouled or scaled heat exchangers
• Poor condenser performance due to dust, pollution, or high ambient temperatures
• Incorrect flow rates or poor hydronic balance
• Aging controls that do not optimize part-load operation

A simple discipline that separates efficient plants from inefficient ones is this: regularly measure and trend kWh per ton against design values. Once that gap widens and stays wide, it is a clear signal to investigate.

2) Unstable temperatures: The ‘never quite right’ cooling problem

Another classic symptom is unstable or inconsistent cooling. The system is ‘on,’ yet people still complain. You may hear:

• “The hall was fine in the morning, but by afternoon it was too warm.”
• “Process temperature drifts during peak hours.”
• “We hit the set-point but cannot hold it.”

In our climate, where summer stretches long and hard, this is more than a comfort issue. Unstable chilled water temperatures can lead to:

• Product quality variations in process cooling
• More rejects or rework in temperature-sensitive processes
• Stress on equipment that depends on stable cooling

Root causes often include:

• Oversized or undersized chillers fighting the load
• Improper staging and sequencing of multiple chillers
• Weak control strategies that do not coordinate pumps, valves, and chillers
• Poor water quality leading to fouling and loss of heat transfer

When we walk into a plant like this, we usually start by looking at trend logs: chilled water supply and return temperatures, load profile, and how often the set-point is missed. Very often, the fix is not ‘buy a new chiller,’ but ‘get the system working as a system.’

3) Frequent trips: Your chiller is trying to protect itself

Frequent trips are the chiller plant’s way of shouting. By the time you reach this stage, the risk is no longer just inefficiency. It is reliability.

You might see:

• Chillers tripping on high temperature or high pressure during peak hours
• Repeated alarms that operators learn to ‘live with’
• Forced manual resets becoming part of daily routine

Each trip increases the risk of unplanned downtime. In industries like pharma or food, a sudden loss of cooling can mean damaged batches, compliance issues, and serious financial loss.

From what we have seen in Pakistani plants, common contributors include:

• Poor condenser airflow or water flow under high ambient conditions
• Incorrect set-points or control parameters
• Blocked strainers, clogged filters, or poor water chemistry
• Power quality issues that stress compressors and controls

Frequent trips are a sign that the system is running at the edge of its operating envelope. If not addressed, they can shorten equipment life and push you into major capex earlier than necessary.

A Short, Real-World Style Scenario

Consider a mid-sized manufacturing plant running two chillers in parallel. For years, the system worked ‘well enough.’ Then, energy bills started climbing. Cooling complaints increased in summer. Trips became more frequent during peak shifts.

When the data was finally reviewed, kWh per ton had increased significantly from the original design. Heat exchangers were fouled, pump control was manual, and the staging logic was no longer aligned with actual load patterns.

After proper diagnosis, cleaning, set-point optimization, and control adjustments, the plant reduced specific energy consumption, stabilized process temperatures, and almost eliminated nuisance trips. The chillers were the same. The way they were operated and maintained changed.

We have seen variations of this story repeat across Pakistan. The pattern is consistent. So are the gains when issues are addressed early.

Where Encom Fits in as your Long Term Partner

At Encom Pakistan, we have spent over 20 years working on industrial heating, power, and cooling plants across the country. Our teams are OEM trained and used to dealing with real world conditions: high ambient temperatures, dust, water quality challenges, and power fluctuations.

When we look at a chiller plant, we do not see just ‘a machine.’ We see an energy asset that must deliver reliable cooling, protect production, and stay compliant with evolving efficiency and environmental requirements.

That is why our approach covers the full lifecycle:

• Helping you identify early warning signs like rising kWh per ton, unstable temperatures, and frequent trips
• Auditing and optimizing existing plants before you commit to new equipment
• Designing and delivering efficient, future ready systems where required
• Providing certified after sales service so that performance does not degrade quietly over time

If any of the symptoms we discussed sound familiar in your plant, it might be time to take a closer look at your chiller performance. A focused diagnosis today can save significant energy cost, reduce risk, and extend the life of your assets.

And when you are ready to evaluate your options, Encom Pakistan is here as a trusted engineering partner to walk that journey with you.