Service / Precision Cooling Installation
CRAC Unit Installationand Commissioning Australia
Direct answer
A CRAC unit installation covers heat load calculation and unit selection, positioning and floor loading, refrigeration pipework brazed under nitrogen and evacuated before charging, condensate drainage, a dedicated electrical supply, controls and BMS integration, then commissioning against measured airflow, delta T, superheat and humidity. Refrigerant work must be carried out under an ARCtick licence and the electrical work certified under AS/NZS 3000.
Indigi Power and Cooling installs and commissions CRAC and CRAH precision cooling systems from 5kW to multi-megawatt across Australia, from $4,500 ex GST for a small room unit. Call 1800 046 344.
The core reason
Why a split systemwill not do this job
The single number that separates precision cooling from comfort air conditioning is sensible heat ratio. A comfort split system is designed for a room full of people, so roughly a quarter to a third of its capacity goes into removing moisture. IT equipment produces almost no moisture at all, so a CRAC unit is built with a sensible heat ratio close to 1.0, meaning nearly all of its capacity does the job you actually need.
Put a comfort unit in a server room and you buy cooling capacity you never use, while the unit strips moisture out of a space that had none to give. The room dries out, humidity drifts below the range where static discharge is safe, and the unit short cycles because it satisfies its thermostat long before it has moved enough air. Meanwhile the racks at the top of the room sit ten degrees warmer than the sensor on the wall.
The second difference is duty. Comfort systems are designed to cycle. Precision cooling runs continuously, every hour of every day, with fans and compressors rated for it and a control strategy that modulates rather than switches. The third is airflow: a CRAC unit moves far more air per kilowatt of cooling, which is what actually gets heat off a rack face rather than just chilling the ceiling.
Indigi Power and Cooling is Indigenous and Veteran-owned, Supply Nation and ICN Gateway registered. Our refrigeration work is done under ARCtick licence, our electrical work by licensed electrical workers, and every install leaves with a commissioning record showing the measured numbers rather than a tick sheet.
Which system suits the room
Direct expansionor chilled water
DX
CRAC
- Each unit has its own compressor and refrigerant circuit
- Needs an external condenser and a pipe run to reach it
- No dependence on a central plant, so it fails alone
- Simplest and fastest to install in an existing building
- Typically 5kW to around 100kW per unit
- Server rooms, comms rooms, switchrooms, smaller halls
Chilled water
CRAH
- A coil fed with chilled water from a central chiller
- No compressor in the room, so less noise and vibration
- More efficient at scale, and holds tighter tolerances
- Needs pipework, valves, balancing and plant capacity
- Scales from tens of kW to multi-megawatt halls
- Data centres, colocation halls, large hospital campuses
Configuration
Where the unit sits in the room
Airflow arrangement is decided before anything is ordered, because it drives floor construction, ceiling height, rack layout and where the pipework has to run.
| Configuration | Typical capacity | Installation requirements |
|---|---|---|
| Downflow, raised floor | 20 to 200kW | Discharges into an underfloor plenum and returns at the top. Needs a raised floor of adequate depth, clear of cable congestion, with correctly placed perforated tiles. Floor loading under the unit must be checked and a floor stand or plinth fitted |
| Upflow, ducted or free blow | 10 to 100kW | Suits rooms with no raised floor. Free blow relies on room mixing and works only in smaller spaces. Ducted upflow needs ceiling void depth and a duct route, and airflow balancing matters far more than people expect |
| In-row | 10 to 60kW per unit | Installed in the rack line and coupled to hot or cold aisle containment. Very effective for high density, but it consumes floor space in the row and the containment has to be built with it rather than added later |
| Ceiling or wall mounted | 5 to 20kW | The practical answer for small comms rooms with no floor space. Structural fixing and access for service are the constraints, along with a condensate route that will actually drain |
| Perimeter, no containment | Any | Common in older rooms. Works, but expect hot spots at the top of racks furthest from the units. Worth pairing the install with blanking panels and basic containment, which costs very little and recovers real capacity |
From site
Upflow units on an Indigi installation. Both discharge from the top into the room rather than into an underfloor plenum, which is what makes upflow the practical answer in a building with no raised floor. The trade-off is that airflow distribution now depends on room geometry and rack layout rather than on where the floor tiles are lifted, so the rack inlet survey at commissioning matters more, not less.
Note the clearance in front of both units. Service access is decided at install and is expensive to recover afterwards, because the pipework and the electrical connection are already fixed.
Commercial
CRAC installation pricing
Australian rates, ex GST, covering mechanical installation, refrigeration pipework, electrical connection and commissioning. Equipment, condenser craneage and any builder's work are quoted separately.
Ceiling or wall mounted precision unit for a comms room, with condenser, pipe run, condensate and dedicated circuit. Commissioned and handed over with the measured numbers.
Downflow or upflow unit on a floor stand, refrigeration pipework to an external condenser, electrical supply, controls and full commissioning. The most common install we do.
Hydronic connection and balancing, containment coupling, group control across multiple units, and staged installation into a live room where required.
The variables that move the price most are the length and route of the refrigerant pipe run, whether the condenser needs craneage or a roof penetration, whether a raised floor has to be opened up, and whether the room can be taken offline at all. We quote fixed price after inspection. If you are weighing a repair against a new unit, our guide to the $5,000 rule for air conditioning is the sensible starting point.
Method
The installation sequence
Heat load calculation and unit selection
We calculate the sensible heat load from the actual IT draw rather than the nameplate ratings, then add envelope gain, lighting and any non-IT load in the room. Selection follows from that number plus the redundancy you need, whether that is a single unit, N plus one, or a pair sized so either can carry the room. Oversizing is the most common and most expensive mistake, because an oversized unit short cycles and holds temperature worse than a correctly sized one.
Site survey, access and services
Delivery route, door widths, lift capacity and floor loading. Where the external condenser will sit and how the pipe run reaches it, including vertical lift, because both are limited by the manufacturer. Where the condensate will actually drain to, which is the detail most often left until the day. Whether the board has capacity and a spare way for a dedicated circuit. On raised floor rooms, what is already in the plenum.
Mechanical installation
Unit positioned on a floor stand or plinth with vibration isolation and correct service clearances, condenser mounted and secured, ductwork or plenum connections made, and the condensate route installed with a trap and either gravity fall or a pump. Where the room stays live, the work is staged and sheeted so debris never reaches the racks.
Refrigeration pipework, under ARCtick licence
Line sizing to the manufacturer's tables for the actual run length and lift, brazed under a nitrogen purge so the internal surfaces stay clean, pressure tested with dry nitrogen, then evacuated to below 500 microns and held to prove there is no moisture or leak. Refrigerant charge weighed in rather than guessed. Handling refrigerant in Australia requires an ARCtick licence under the Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas Management Regulations, and the charge is logged.
Electrical and controls
Dedicated circuit from the board sized for the unit, local isolator, interconnecting control wiring to the condenser, and the compliance certificate issued under AS/NZS 3000. Controls configured with the correct setpoints and deadbands, group or teamwork control set up where multiple units share a room so they do not fight each other, and alarm points mapped into the BMS or monitoring platform.
Commissioning and handover
The full test sequence below, run at the real load wherever possible. You receive a commissioning record with the measured values, as-installed drawings, the O and M documentation, the refrigerant charge record, and a maintenance schedule. Site staff are walked through the controls, the alarm conditions and what to do about them before we leave.
Proving it works
Commissioning tests
A unit that runs is not a unit that has been commissioned. These are the measurements that go on the record, and the ones worth asking any contractor to produce.
| Test | What it proves |
|---|---|
| Vacuum held below 500 microns | The refrigerant circuit is dry and leak free before any charge goes in. Moisture left in a circuit forms acid and kills compressors years early |
| Refrigerant charge weighed and logged | The system holds the manufacturer's charge, not an approximation, which is what makes the published capacity real |
| Superheat and subcooling at operating load | The expansion device is metering correctly and the circuit is neither starved nor flooded. The clearest early indicator of a circuit that will fail |
| Airflow and fan speed verification | The unit is moving its rated air volume. Under-airflow is the most common reason a correctly sized unit fails to hold a room |
| Supply and return temperature, delta T | Heat is genuinely being removed from the room rather than air recirculating around the unit. Low delta T usually means bypass air, not a faulty unit |
| Rack inlet temperature survey | The racks are within range at the top, middle and bottom of the face, which is the only measurement that reflects what the equipment experiences |
| Humidity control and sensor calibration | Relative humidity holds in range without the unit fighting itself between cooling and humidification |
| Condensate flow and pump operation | Water leaves the room reliably. A blocked or unfallen drain is one of the more common causes of water damage in a server room |
| Failover and redundancy test | On multi-unit rooms, the standby unit starts and carries the load when the duty unit is failed deliberately, and rotation works as configured |
| Alarm and BMS point verification | Every alarm point reports to where somebody will actually see it, tested by forcing the condition rather than assuming |
Where a consultant, head contractor or certification programme requires witnessed testing, we schedule and document accordingly. Once the system is running, it moves onto a service schedule: see CRAC unit maintenance for what that involves.
Where they go
Rooms we install into
Coverage
Installersacross Australia
Brisbane and QLD
Brisbane CBD, Tingalpa, Woolloongabba, Eight Mile Plains, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Ipswich, Townsville, Cairns
Our HQ. Humidity and ambient condenser temperature are the design constraints here, particularly north of Rockhampton.
Sydney and NSW
Sydney CBD, Parramatta, North Ryde, Macquarie Park, Western Sydney, Alexandria, Newcastle, Wollongong
The largest concentration of data halls in the country. We work to site induction, permit and change control requirements.
Melbourne and VIC
Melbourne CBD, Port Melbourne, Docklands, Dandenong, Tullamarine, Geelong, Ballarat, regional Victoria
Tenancy and base building coordination, including landlord approval for condenser locations and roof penetrations.
Perth and WA
Perth CBD, Fremantle, Kewdale, Kalgoorlie, Pilbara, regional WA
Resources and government work, including switchroom and shelter cooling on remote sites where ambient is the design case.
Canberra and ACT
Canberra CBD, Civic, Fyshwick, Mitchell, Barton, Tuggeranong, Belconnen, Queanbeyan
Departmental comms rooms and government data halls, with Supply Nation and ICN Gateway registration for Commonwealth procurement.
SA, NT and Tasmania
Adelaide, Port Adelaide, Edinburgh, Whyalla, Darwin, Palmerston, Katherine, Alice Springs, Hobart
We combine installation with maintenance on the existing fleet in a single mobilisation to keep travel cost sensible.
Questions
CRAC installFAQs
What facilities teams and consultants ask before a precision cooling install. If yours is not here, call 1800 046 344.
What does CRAC stand for?
CRAC stands for computer room air conditioner. It is a precision cooling unit built to hold temperature and humidity within tight tolerances in a room full of electronic equipment, using its own refrigerant circuit and compressor. A CRAH, computer room air handler, does the same job using a chilled water coil fed from a central plant instead of a compressor. Both are engineered for continuous duty and high airflow, which is what separates them from ordinary air conditioning.
What is the difference between a CRAC unit and a normal air conditioner?
Sensible heat ratio, duty and airflow. A comfort air conditioner is designed for a room with people in it, so a quarter to a third of its capacity goes into removing moisture. IT equipment produces almost no moisture, so a CRAC unit runs a sensible heat ratio close to 1.0 and puts nearly all its capacity into removing heat. A CRAC unit also runs continuously rather than cycling, moves substantially more air per kilowatt of cooling, and controls humidity actively rather than as a side effect.
Is a CRAC unit a chiller?
No. A chiller produces chilled water and normally sits outside the room or on the roof, serving the whole building or hall. A CRAC unit is a self contained cooling unit in the room with its own compressor and refrigerant circuit, paired with an external condenser. The unit that connects to a chiller is a CRAH, which has a chilled water coil instead of a compressor. Which one suits a site depends on whether there is central plant available and how much capacity the room needs.
How much does CRAC unit installation cost in Australia?
Indigi Power and Cooling installs precision cooling from $4,500 ex GST for a small ceiling or wall mounted room unit up to about 10kW, and from $9,500 ex GST for a perimeter DX unit in the 20 to 60kW band. Chilled water, in-row and multi-unit installations are quoted after site inspection. Those figures cover mechanical installation, refrigeration pipework, electrical connection and commissioning. Equipment, condenser craneage and builder's work are quoted separately. The largest cost variables are the pipe run length and route, condenser access, and whether the room can be taken offline.
Who is licensed to install a CRAC unit in Australia?
Two licences are involved. Handling refrigerant requires an ARCtick licence issued under the Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas Management Regulations, and it is an offence to work on a refrigerant circuit without one. The electrical connection is fixed wiring, so it must be carried out by a licensed electrical worker and certified under AS/NZS 3000. A contractor should be able to produce both, along with the refrigerant charge record for the system.
How long does a CRAC installation take?
Two to five days on site per unit is typical. A small ceiling mounted unit with a short pipe run can be done in two. A perimeter unit with a long condenser run, roof access and a raised floor to open up runs to five, and multi-unit or chilled water projects are programmed individually. The equipment placement is rarely the constraint. Condenser access, pipe routing and how many interruption windows the room can tolerate are what set the timeline.
Do CRAC units need a condensate drain?
Yes. Even in a low humidity room a CRAC unit produces condensate whenever the coil runs below dew point, and units with active humidification produce more. The install needs a trapped drain with adequate fall to a legitimate discharge point, or a condensate pump where gravity fall is not achievable. This is worth checking on any existing room, because a blocked or poorly fallen drain is one of the more common causes of water damage in a server room.
Can a CRAC unit be installed without shutting the room down?
Usually yes, with planning. Where there is existing cooling that can carry the load, or where the new unit is being added to an already redundant room, the work is staged and the space sheeted so debris never reaches the racks. Replacing the only cooling unit in a live room is the harder case: we either bring in temporary cooling for the changeover or schedule the swap out of hours. That decision is made at site inspection, because it changes both the method and the price.
What temperature should a server room be?
18 to 27 degrees Celsius measured at the rack inlet is the widely accepted range, and inlet temperature is the number that matters rather than a sensor on the wall. Running at the cooler end buys thermal ride-through time if cooling fails; running warmer saves energy. The more common problem is not the setpoint but the spread, with racks at the top of the cabinet ten degrees warmer than the bottom. That is an airflow and containment problem, not a capacity problem, and it is why we survey rack inlet temperatures at commissioning.
Related services
Equipment
Precision coolingbrands we install
We install and commission the platforms we also service, so the technician who commissions your unit is the one who will maintain it. Equipment specified by a consultant or bought elsewhere is no problem: we will quote the installation on its own.
Replacing an end of life unit? We handle the changeover including temporary cooling where the room cannot go down, recovery and lawful disposal of the old refrigerant charge, and removal of the redundant unit and condenser. Send us the existing make, model and capacity and we will quote the replacement including the method.
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