Chiller or condensing unit: which to choose

A modular chiller cools a secondary refrigerant and lends itself to distributed loads and to redundancy. A condensing unit works directly on the refrigeration circuit and is simpler to install on its own.

A chiller wins on large sites with several cooling loads and a redundancy requirement. A condensing unit wins on compact, standalone jobs where price and simplicity matter most.

The choice comes down to the refrigerant, the redundancy requirements, the space available and the service strategy.