Heat waves are no longer an exception in Brazil, and when the temperature stays high for consecutive days, air conditioning, cold rooms, refrigeration, and ventilation work harder, and energy consumption follows.
The relationship between heat waves and energy consumption appears in two ways: the bill increases and the grid becomes more prone to failures when its operation needs it most. Follow along to see the risks and how to prepare for the next heat peak.
Why does extreme heat increase energy consumption?
A refrigeration unit removes heat from inside and expels it outside, and the hotter it is outside, the harder this task becomes.
An air conditioner that keeps the room at 22 degrees with 28 outside works comfortably. With 38 degrees outside, the same unit cycles on more often, cycles off less, and draws more current each cycle.
The same effect appears throughout the entire air conditioning and refrigeration line:
- Office air conditioning, technical room, and production area
- Cold rooms and preservation systems
- Chillers and chilled water systems
- Exhaust and forced ventilation systems
- Cooling of equipment and industrial processes
The heatwave also affects the entire city, and buildings, residences, businesses, and industries increase consumption at the same times, creating a peak energy demand that pushes the grid close to its limit.
What are the risks of heatwaves for businesses?
Power outages are the most visible outcome, but before that, the grid shows signs, and each one already takes a toll on your operation.
Electrical grid overload and shutdown
When the region’s demand peak exceeds what the local grid can handle, protection shuts down entire sections, and the electrical grid overload leaves your company without power along with the neighborhood, whether it consumes a lot or a little.
This is how power outages in the industry usually occur in the summer, with the failure coming from the region’s grid, saturated by the consumption peak.
Voltage fluctuation
Before shutting down, the grid fluctuates, and the voltage drops, rises, and drops again. For sensitive electronics, this is often worse than a clean outage because it silently eats away at boards and inverters.
Unexpected energy bill
If your company has contracted demand, exceeding the agreed value during the peak incurs a penalty, and the heat charges twice, in consumption and penalty.
Production stoppage
A line that stops in the middle of the process rarely resumes where it left off: it loses material, wastes time restarting, and reschedules shifts, and sometimes the delay reaches the customer.
Equipment damage
Motors and compressors working at their limit for consecutive days wear out faster, and the failure appears weeks later, when the heat has passed and no one connects the two.
How to prepare operations for heat peaks?
No company controls the city’s temperature, but you can significantly reduce your operation’s exposure before summer.
Know the actual load of the operation
Before deciding, you need to know how much your company consumes and at what time, or the sizing becomes a guess. Telemetry monitors consumption in real-time and shows the peaks.
Strengthen industrial cooling before the peak
A tight cooling system runs at the limit all year and breaks in summer, and a temporary industrial cooling reinforcement covers the critical period without your company buying idle infrastructure for the other nine months. Chiller, rooftop, and fan coil are the equipment used in this reinforcement.
Have reserve energy sized
The standby generator takes over the load when the grid fails and keeps your operation running until the supply returns, as long as it’s well-sized: too small, it shuts down too, and too large, it costs more than necessary.
Put the energy contingency on paper
Equipment without a plan helps little in the event of a failure, and it’s the energy contingency plan that defines which loads are priorities, who activates what, and in what order.
Consider hybrid solutions
Systems that combine generator with battery storage respond faster to short fluctuations, consume less fuel, and serve operations that suffer more from instability than from long outages.
How does this appear in practice?
The reinforcement of air conditioning by period appears in very different operations. In a pulp industry, Tecnogera provided industrial chillers for the inauguration deadline of a new plant, and in a pharmaceutical company, temporary air conditioning kept critical processes running during the maintenance of their own equipment.
There is also the case of Danone’s largest cooled distribution center in Brazil, served with a supplementary power source, and that of a megastore with inefficient air conditioning. All four are described on the case studies page.
Test before you need it
Without testing, no one knows if the emergency equipment can handle your operation, and the load bank test checks if the set takes on the real load, in addition to confirming that it starts.
Tecnogera sizes the solution based on the real consumption of each operation, with standby generator, industrial air conditioning reinforcement by rental, and hybrid systems with storage, focusing on operational continuity.
If your operation cannot stop during the next heat waves, talk to our technical team and request an evaluation of your company’s load.
Frequently asked questions about heat waves and energy consumption
Why does the energy bill increase so much in the heat?
Because cooling equipment works longer and harder to maintain the same temperature, and the greater the difference between the external and desired temperature, the higher the consumption in each cycle.
Can heat waves cause power outages?
They can, because when a region’s consumption rises together and exceeds what the local grid supports, protection shuts down sections of the distribution to prevent greater damage. This is how power outages occur in the industry on extremely hot days, even without a defect in the internal installation.
Which equipment increases consumption the most during this period?
Air conditioning, cold rooms, chillers, exhaust systems, and any process that depends on cooling. In an industrial environment, machine cooling tends to weigh as much as thermal comfort.
Is voltage fluctuation more dangerous than a power outage?
For sensitive electronic equipment, it usually is, because a clean drop only turns off the device, and the fluctuation makes it operate outside the correct range, potentially damaging components without anyone noticing.
How do I know if my company needs backup power?
The criterion is how much an hour of downtime costs: if the interruption causes material loss, safety risk, contract breach, or production line stoppage, backup power is no longer optional.
Can cooling be reinforced only in the summer?
Yes, renting temperature control equipment meets the critical period without investment in fixed infrastructure, and the equipment is removed when the demand passes.
What is the difference between an emergency generator and a standby generator?
In practice, both cover power outages from the grid, but the standby mode assumes equipment already installed, ready to take on the load alone and tested periodically.
How long does it take to install a temporary generator?
It depends on the power, access to the site, and electrical infrastructure, and if your operation already has a prepared connection point, you receive the equipment faster than those starting from scratch.
Does Tecnogera meet peak summer demand?
Yes, Tecnogera offers generator rentals, temperature control systems, and hybrid energy solutions, with sizing based on the actual load of each operation.
How do I request an assessment for my company?
Just contact us through the quote form, providing the type of operation, approximate load, and period of need, and our technical team will evaluate and present the appropriate solution for your company.
