Energy efficiency can bring down bills
Refrigaration is vital to the ‘perfect serve’ that sets pubs apart from drinking at home, but keeping drinks at the optimum temperature comes at an energy cost.
Fortunately, there have been some major advances in refrigeration over the years, and firms have told SLTN that the latest pieces of kit can cut both the carbon footprint and the energy bill of an outlet.
Mike Simmons, national sales manager for Hoshizaki UK, said that once a decision has been made on the size of machine that best fits the outlet operators should “choose machines that are designed to save energy”.
Simmons highlighted machines which use hydrocarbon-based coolants in place of CFCs and HFCs as particularly strong options when it comes to energy efficiency.
“Hydrocarbon refrigerated units will make a big difference to energy usage and are environmentally friendly as well,” he said.
“Hoshizaki’s latest ECO Standard range of refrigeration is hydrocarbon refrigerated and reduces energy consumption by about 20%.”
Glenn Roberts, managing director of Gram UK, agreed that operators should consider their energy output when purchasing equipment for their venue.
“In the current climate, energy efficiency and environmental sustainability are high on the list of priorities for operators,” said Roberts.
“This has led to a decrease in the use of CFCs and HFCs in refrigeration technology, and has pushed hydrocarbons to the forefront of use as they have a Global Warming Potential of just three and zero Ozone Depletion Potential compared with more damaging HFCs.”
For further energy savings beyond the raw materials at the heart of refrigeration, Malcolm Harling, sales and marketing director at Williams Refrigeration, suggested operators look to models with modern control systems.
“Refrigeration with ‘intelligent’ control systems, such as Williams’ CoolSmart Controllers, minimise the cabinet’s energy consumption through processes such as fan and heater pulsing, intelligent defrost and independent management of evaporator and condenser fans,” said Harling.
Operators should also look to their refrigerator’s insulation, Harling said, to ensure maximum efficiency is being achieved as well as some other door ceilings and gaskets.
“Check out the insulation,” he said.
“The better the insulation, the more thermally efficient the cabinet will be.
“In other words, it will maintain temperature more easily, so the refrigeration system won’t need to work so hard, saving energy.
“Other energy saving features to look for include self-closing doors and magnetic gaskets which will provide 100% seal, and ensure that heat ingress is kept to a minimum.”