4 Questions to Ask Your Cooling System Vendor

A Practical Checklist for Smarter, More Sustainable Cooling

Choosing or upgrading a cooling system is a big investment—with long-term impacts on your water use, energy consumption, emissions, and operating costs. But not all vendors offer the same level of visibility, innovation, or sustainability.

Whether you’re building new or retrofitting existing infrastructure, here are four essential questions to ask any cooling tower vendor—and what to look for in their answers.

1. How do you help us reduce water losses beyond blowdown controls?

Most vendors stop at standard drift eliminators or basic cycle-of-concentration adjustments. But plume losses can account for up to 20% of total water use.

Look for: Solutions like WaterPanel™, which captures evaporated water from the plume and recycles it directly back into the system—reducing makeup demand and supporting ESG goals.

2. Can we monitor real-time performance across water, energy, and production impact?

Many systems offer limited instrumentation or one-time commissioning data. In 2025, that’s not enough.

Look for: A vendor who offers real-time monitoring tools like TowerPulse™, providing visibility into water use, pump/fan energy use, cooling efficiency, and process efficiency.

3. What’s the ROI of your system beyond equipment specs?

Cooling towers shouldn’t just be CapEx decisions—they should be strategic assets for operational savings.

Look for: Data on total cost of ownership (TCO), water and energy savings, avoided chemical usage, and productivity gains from lower process temperatures.

Vendors who can’t help you build an ROI case may not understand your full value chain.

4. How do you handle plume visibility and community impact?

Plume isn’t a safety or permitting issue—until it is. Visible water vapor can trigger permitting delays, icing risks, and community complaints.

Look for: Vendors who proactively address this with plume modeling tools, visibility mitigation strategies, or technologies like WaterPanel™ that reduce visible plume and water loss.

Final Thoughts: The Right Questions = The Right Partner

Cooling systems are mission-critical, but often overlooked in long-term sustainability and efficiency planning. By asking better questions up front, you’ll avoid hidden costs, outdated tech, and performance blind spots.

Need help benchmarking vendors or planning a retrofit?

Reach out to Infinite Cooling for a free checklist, sample RFP language, or data-driven savings models.