Manage your rooftop units more efficiently

An Advanced Rooftop Unit Control (ARC) is an energy-saving retrofit solution for constant volume, single-zone packaged rooftop equipment. These controls work with various rooftop unit (RTU) manufacturers, have the ability to control and monitor RTUs via the Internet, and can reduce heating and cooling expenses by more than 50 percent. For more details about the ARCs, please download our ARC fact sheet.

What you get

PSE, Seattle City Light, Snohomish County PUD and Tacoma Power offer energy rebates, up to 100% of the total cost, for adding Advanced Rooftop Controls to constant volume rooftop units.

5 tons to <10 tons

$1,500 per unit

10 tons to 20 tons

$2,500 per unit

>20 tons

$4,500 per unit

5 tons to <10 tons

$800 per unit

10 tons to 20 tons

$1,000 per unit

>20 tons

$2,000 per unit

<5 tons

$500 per unit

Please refer to the full rebate application for further details. Rebate cannot exceed the pre-tax purchase price of any rebated product.

Your project may be eligible for an additional $200 bonus for qualified connected thermostats.

How you qualify

Project requirements

To be eligible for PSE’s ARC retrofit incentives:

• Your heating fuel may be electric or gas, but you must be a PSE electric customer.
• Your rebate application must be submitted within 60 days of equipment installation.
• Your rebate application must include a rebate form, a final invoice that includes itemized ARC equipment, and proof of ARC installation (pictures of ARC device and condenser data plate).
• You must submit a completed W-9 Taxpayer Identification Form for your business.

Projects that do not meet requirements may be eligible for a custom incentive. For more information, contact a PSE Energy Advisor or call 1-800-562-1482.

Equipment requirements

The existing RTU must have the following characteristics:

• Be packaged unitary equipment (no split systems).
• Have greater than five tons of cooling capacity, except for ARC Single Phase equipment.
• Constant speed supply fan (RTUs with variable speed fans are not eligible).
• Less than or equal to 20 years old and in good working order.

When planning your ARC retrofit, please verify that you’re using a qualifying product that is eligible for an incentive.

Qualifying products must have the following components for each incentive category:

For help verifying your qualifications, send an email to commercialrebates@pse.com.

How you apply

Eligible projects can receive a mail-in rebate directly from PSE by completing the following steps:

• Fill out the application.
• Make a copy of your equipment invoice.
• Take pictures of the installed ARC system and RTU condenser plate.

Submit all of the above via email to commercialrebates@pse.com.

Additional information

Efficient Fan Motors and Controls

RTUs use fans to move air across the condenser and evaporator. The system typically uses the airflow across the evaporator as the supply air for the building. Although fans draw less power than compressors, fans can account for approximately 45% of annual energy use because they operate for many more hours than the compressor does.

Advanced RTU retrofit controllers save as much as 70% of cooling energy in field demonstrations but cost less than full equipment replacement. With demonstrated two-year simple payback periods in commercial applications, advanced RTU retrofit controllers have become a very attractive option for saving cooling energy.

Retrofit controls

Retrofit control devices are another way to improve the efficiency of your RTU. Most of the energy savings from these devices come from variable-speed fan controls. Some models allow for different set points of fan power including 40%, 75%, and 90% of full-load fan speed. Demonstrated energy savings range from 25% to 70%, depending on how efficient the original system was. The demonstrated simple payback period for this technology is about two years.

Economizers

An economizer is an opening in the RTU that draws in air from outdoors when the outside air is cooler than the temperature inside the building. Because the economizer uses cool outside air instead of conditioning warm air, it provides cooling cheaply and efficiently. You can save 15% to 80% of cooling energy by using economizers, depending on local weather conditions.