Low-cost ways to save money with coolrooms and freezer rooms
Validate the integrity of the room
Check for damage (inside and outside) to insulation or vapour barriers. Gaps between panels or around door seals all allow warm air to infiltrate and cold air to escape, wasting energy.
Regularly inspect the rooms from inside with the lights off to see if external light can penetrate, showing any gaps, damage, worn seals or door misalignment. Hire a thermal imaging camera to identify hot spots due to gaps or inadequate, failed or compromised insulation in walls, floors and ceilings.
Lighting systems
Sometimes lighting levels in these rooms are unnecessarily high for the actual use. Owners can consider de-lamping (removing some lights from use) or retrofit existing light fittings with low-power LED lights or compact fluorescent bulbs.
Check the airflow to evaporators and condensers
Both the evaporators in the room and the condensers outside of the room need good unrestricted airflow. Lack of good air circulation makes the system work harder and longer; remove obstructions such as stock (inside) and vegetation or decorative covers (outside). Straighten bent fins.
Temperature and defrost management
Check the accuracy of the thermometer/thermostat/controller by regularly calibrating gauges, thermostats and thermometers against independently tested and approved instruments.
Check timer settings on any automatic electric defrost – is the defrost on for too long or too often? There are also some low-cost adjustments that should only be carried out by qualified technicians.
Install a power meter
This is the first step to managing your energy use and saving your cash. Upgrade controls – often a reasonably sized system with a significant power bill is controlled by a 10-year-old mechanical thermostat. Upgrade system controls and controllability using direct digital control (DDC) panels.
Replacing your existing coolroom or freezer room
Where systems are old, dilapidated or based on out-of-date technology, replacement with a modern energy efficient solution is often the best long-term option.
This is particularly true for older CFC (R12) and HCFC (R22, R502) based systems.
Tip Top (Wholesale) Butchers, VIC
Even with a tenfold increase in refrigeration demands after a move to larger premises, Tip Top Butchers saved 30% on energy by using expert refrigeration consultants for the design of advanced, fully-controlled and monitored refrigeration systems for their facility.[1]