8 Effective Ways to Cut Refrigeration Costs In Your Business

If your business relies on the refrigeration unit's round-the-clock cooling abilities, it's essential to maintain its efficiency and keep running costs in check. A refrigerator's efficiency promotes a cleaner environment and also boosts your business reputation. An inefficient unit consumes a lot of energy which means you spend more to keep it running.

So how can you cut commercial refrigeration costs? Read on to find out.

1. Upgrade to a Modern Refrigeration Equipment

While a commercial refrigerator can run for a long time, it doesn't mean that you should run it until it dies. Old refrigerators usually need more energy to keep running, which translates to less money in your pockets - not forgetting the piling repair costs.

Although you have to spend more to acquire an energy-efficient unit, the investment pays off with low energy costs.

2. Improve Defrost Controls

You can significantly lower the commercial refrigerator costs by installing better defrost controls. Instead of defrosting with simple timer clocks, opt for advanced controls with sensors that measure how much humidity and frost has accumulated before adjusting the temperatures accordingly.

3. Keep the Evaporator and Condenser Coils in Good Shape

The evaporator and condenser coils are two critical refrigerator components that you must keep clean always. If grease, dust, and other debris accumulate on these parts, the unit has to work harder than needed to maintain a cool environment. Fortunately, you can clean these parts without involving a professional.

Make it a habit to clean the parts every time you do routine maintenance on the unit, and the refrigerator will run efficiently, use less energy, and last longer.

4. Install New Lighting

The type of lighting you have in your refrigerator can make all the difference in refrigeration costs. Old fashioned lighting draws too much energy from the system and strains the compressor. To raise the unit's efficiency, replace the old lighting with efficient fluorescent lamps or LED bulbs.

This step reduces the compressor load and significantly lowers the energy required to keep the refrigerator running.

5. Load Cold Items Immediately

The refrigerator uses less energy to keep cold items cold and more energy to cool down warm items. So load cold items as soon as you can to maintain their good quality and put less strain on the cooling system.

6. Check the Seals

The compressor has to work harder every time warm air enters the refrigerated space. For that reason, don't keep the doors open for long so that the unit doesn't have to use excess energy to resume set-point temperature.

Also, inspect the doors occasionally to ensure no gaps, warps, or tears exist as they may cause air leaks and loss of efficiency and ultimately drive up the refrigeration costs. Keep all door seals on coolers, freezers, and refrigerated displays in good shape to give cool air no room to escape. Replace all worn-out seals immediately.

7. Ensure Regular Maintenance of the Refrigeration Unit

When you consider the complexity of modern refrigerators, preventive maintenance is best performed by a skilled technician. If you choose the DIY route, you might damage the unit or even void your warranty if things go wrong. It's less risky and easier to hire a pro to maintain the refrigerators.

8. Set the Refrigerator and the Freezer to the Right Temperatures

According to the Food and Drug Administration regulations, you should store food below 40 F, as higher temperatures can cause bacteria growth and damage the food. While a lower temperature level is better, you will damage certain foods if you go below 32F. Ideally, a temperature of around 38 F is safe and will not strain the refrigerator.

Follow the above tips to cut your commercial refrigeration costs and potentially boost the bottom line. For help on professional refrigerator maintenance, contact Hawkins Commercial Appliance. We are your go-to commercial refrigerator professionals.