3 Energy-Saving Retrofits for Your Commercial Refrigeration Equipment
Many food retailers find that the costs associated with running commercial refrigeration systems can eat up a large fraction of the company budget. The following retrofits can help to make your existing commercial refrigeration equipment use less energy, which means they can help your business save money.
1. Cooler Doors
Many food retail businesses display their products in open coolers. This is inefficient because the cold air generated by the refrigeration equipment leaks out, making the refrigeration system work harder to keep products cool. Retrofitting glass doors onto the coolers traps air in the display case, which means that less energy is wasted.
Cooler doors also help to keep the store at a higher temperature, which might make it a more pleasant place for customers to spend time. Customers who are willing to spend time browsing in the store might find additional products that they want to purchase.
2. Smart Refrigeration Technology
Smart technology can help commercial refrigeration systems to detect changes in temperature and automatically adjust their cooling power. Some smart systems can even detect ice building up inside the cooler and run a defrost program automatically. This is much more efficient than waiting for an employee to realise that the coolers require defrosting.
Modern coolers often come with smart control systems built in, but you can also retrofit them onto existing coolers. This can help your business to save money on cooling without making a large upfront investment on new coolers.
3. Suction Line Insulation
The final retrofit that can help to make your commercial refrigeration equipment more efficient is also the most straightforward. Simply by adding insulation to the suction lines of your coolers, you could significantly reduce the amount of energy that the system wastes.
Older refrigeration systems often have no suction line insulation at all, which leads to a huge loss of energy. Modern systems typically do have some insulation, but it might not be sufficient to adequately reduce heat transfer. Take a look at the suction lines for your commercial refrigeration equipment. If they are not insulated, or if the insulation is broken or showing signs of wear and tear, consider replacing it with suction line insulation that uses the latest high-performance materials.
All three of these energy-saving retrofits could help lower cooling bills for your company. To find out how you can upgrade your coolers to make them more efficient, contact a commercial refrigeration contractor today.