How can natural refrigerants help to reduce your energy bills?
There are a number of major companies who are backing the switch towards energy efficient natural refrigerants. All of them distribute point-of-sale refrigerant units to small retail outlets.
The Coca-Cola Company, PepsiCo, Red Bull and Unilever have all joined forces to create the ‘Refrigerants, Naturally!’ initiative. They have been getting strong results.
The Coca-Cola Company: Since 2009, the Coca-Cola Company has rolled out 1.1 million HFC-free refrigeration units – 75% of these are more energy efficient than their HFC counterparts.[1]
Unilever: Unilever has purchased 1.5 million freezer cabinets that use natural hydrocarbon refrigerants. These are about 10% more energy efficient than the previous refrigerant.[2]
What’s in it for your business?
If a small retailer gets one of these energy-efficient point-of-sale units, their energy costs will go down.
Get someone who knows what they’re doing!
If your business uses refrigeration, try to find a refrigeration engineer who understands natural refrigerant-based technology or energy efficient synthetic refrigerants. It could well save you money.
If your business is offered ice cream freezers and other point-of-sale refrigeration units by third parties, ask them if they are using energy efficient natural refrigerants. If they are, it could result in lower energy bills for your business.
As natural refrigerants make more headway in the marketplace, keep a look out for how they can be used in your HVAC and refrigeration. It may help to bring down your energy costs in these areas.
Natural refrigerants are the way of the future
There are currently 700 million domestic refrigerators around the world that use natural refrigerants.[3]
HCFC and CFC refrigerants will be banned in industrialised countries by 2020 and non-industrialised countries by 2030.[4]
Australia has also committed to phasing down HFC refrigerants that have a high GWP.[5] As a result, the usage of energy efficient natural refrigerants and HFO refrigerants[6] will become far more commonplace in Australia. If you’re thinking of purchasing refrigeration equipment, investigate natural refrigerant options.
For more information
RefrigerantsNaturally.com has more details about the above initiative.
The Australian Refrigeration Association: The ARA is a strong advocate for energy efficiency and natural refrigerants here in Australia.
They represent organisations that utilise natural refrigerants in air conditioning and refrigeration equipment. As part of their outreach work, their website has a lot of information about the energy efficiency benefits of natural refrigerants and other sources of energy efficiency.
You can visit their site and find out about their work at www.ausref.org.au
If you want to find out more about natural refrigerants and their energy efficiency potential, you can also visit:
- 1. EnergyCut.info/natural-refrigerants
- 2. Source: EnergyCut.info/unilever-refrigeration
- 3. EnergyCut.info/hydrocarbons21
- 4. EnergyCut.info/ipcc-report
- 5. GWP stands for Global Warming Potential.
- 6. HFO stands for Hydrofluoroolefin.