Twilight River Cruises

METUS is involved with projects all over the country whether they be big or small, a retrofit or new construction! In an effort to share more unique and high-performance applications, we bring you Case Study Shorts: detailed project overviews with information on performance, equipment and team insights.

Modeled after Victorian-era steamboats, the Riverboat Twilight (Twilight) offers one- and two-day cruises on the upper Mississippi River. Passengers enjoy guided views of the natural scenery, landscapes and wildlife, which includes eagles and hundreds of bird species. They also see storied river towns, modern tugboats and the historic, but still functional, locks and dams that make river travel possible. But it’s the ornate, all-wood, gingerbread interior and overall aesthetic of the Twilight that transforms the site-seeing into an authentic Mississippi River experience. The riverboat’s style allows passengers to imagine they’re riding on a vintage steamboat like they’ve seen in books and movies, but with a significant exception: thermal comfort.

With design and engineering support from Meier Electric, the Twilight replaced its 36-ton chiller with Zoned Comfort Solutions® from Mitsubishi Electric. The combination of ductless and ducted Mitsubishi Electric units reduced hundreds of comfort complaints per year down to zero. In addition to meeting the challenges of heating and cooling a vessel with large glass windows, the system’s EZ FIT™ Recessed Ceiling Cassettes fit precisely into the riverboat’s existing ceiling joists, which eliminated the need for structural changes during installation. The Twilight was able to preserve the beautiful, gingerbread interior that attracts its passengers.

The multi-zone Mitsubishi Electric heat pumps require only a quarter of the electricity consumed by the old chiller system. The chiller would cycle through starts and stops throughout the day and use enough energy to dim lights whenever it would activate. In contrast, INVERTER-driven heat pumps run continuously, varying capacity to meet the load of each zone.