Food service businesses like C Stores, Grocery Stores, Service Stations, Restaurants & Liquor Stores spend around $4 per square foot on energy. Up to half of that amount is spent on refrigeration alone. There are several steps that can be taken to improve the efficiency of older commercial refrigeration equipment and realize refrigeration energy savings.
It’s possible to significantly reduce electrical consumption by upgrading older refrigeration equipment with high efficiency parts. The following are examples of energy saving refrigeration retrofits available.
- LED Lighting – Convert refrigeration lighting to LED & see significant electrical savings.
- Electronically Commutated Evaporator Fan Motors (EC Motors) – These high efficiency motors can replace older shaded pole motors in walk in coolers, freezers & reach in refrigeration. These new EC motors run 60-90% more efficiently than conventional shaded pole motors. Considering most refrigeration coils run the fans 24/7 it makes sense to use the most efficient motor possible.
- EC Motor Control – This control lets the evaporator fans run at low speed when the refrigerated space is cold enough & the compressor has stopped. This means that around half the time the fans will switch to low speed instead of running at high speed all the time. At high speed EC motors are over 60% more efficient than conventional shaded pole motors. At low speed EC motors are over 90% more efficient than shaded pole motors.
- Door Curtains for walk in coolers & walk in freezers – Plastic door curtains help keep cold air within the conditioned space. This helps all the time & especially during loading & when door is not closed properly.
- Door Closers for walk in coolers & freezers – Automatic door closers ensure that the door is fully closed. They prevent the door from being left ajar.
- Night Covers for open display refrigeration – Open air produce & display cases are very inefficient. Adding night covers to close up cases while store is closed can reduce electrical expenditure by over 50%.
Reasons to consider these refrigeration energy savings projects
- Refrigeration is the largest source of power consumption in the Food Service Industry (20% or more of total energy expenses)
- Increase profit by decreasing expenses
- Green up your business & help the environment
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