By: Adrian Thibault | Arena Stream Representative
Heat and Humidity: The Opponents That Never Leave the Ice In winter, your refrigeration system coasts. It’s in summer where it earns its keep. Maintaining ice surface temperatures when outdoor air is pushing 30°C means your plant is running near peak load every single day, with limited margin for anything to go wrong. And something always goes wrong. But temperature is only half the fight. Humidity, that warm, moisture-laden air condenses on a cold ice surface turning your sheet into something closer to a Slurpee. Dew point management becomes as important as refrigeration setpoints. Push the conditions far enough and you get fog. A spectacular scene that is absolutely terrible for your 6 p.m. adult league drop-in. It’s the last week of June, the thermometer outside reads 29°C, a thunderstorm is building on the western horizon, and inside your arena, a seven-year-old in a tank top and flip flops skips towards the dressing room and stop in their tracks. They shiver. Summer hockey is officially in session. Good luck out there! For facilities that carry ice through June, into July or straight through to Labour Day. Summer is a full operational season with a completely different set of rules and limitations.
As the building is still busy, the schedule is still packed but the environment is now working against you, which is vastly different from October to April. Heat, humidity, unpredictable weather, and a workforce that is suddenly half the size it was in February, all combine to make summer ice operations a character-building experience in Alberta recreation.
It’s the last week of June, the thermometer outside reads 29°C, a thunderstorm is building on the western horizon, and inside your arena, a seven-year-old in a tank top and flip flops skips towards the dressing room and stop in their tracks. They shiver. Summer hockey is officially in session. Good luck out there!
Thunderstorms: Nature’s Unscheduled Ice Events
Summer in Alberta means thunderstorms, and thunderstorms mean rapid, dramatic swings in temperature and humidity that your building has to absorb in real time. A fast-moving storm can drop the outdoor temperature ten degrees in twenty minutes while simultaneously spiking relative humidity through the roof.
Your refrigeration system, which had found a reasonable equilibrium on a hot afternoon, is suddenly chasing a moving target. “In summer, your building is the first line of defence against everything trying to melt your ice.” Your last line of defense is your dehumidification system. Like your star goalie, it needs care and attention. Consistent replacing old with clean filters, changed belts, proper set points and sensors and blower fans that run smoothly. Without this, the rink will seem more like a swamp.