Summary
Walk-in Cooler
20’ x 12’ x 8’ glass door walk-in cooler
- 19.2% energy savings
- Reduced carbon emmissions by 11,748 lbs. annually
1.6 years
1.05 years after rebate
Summary
Walk-in Freezer
15’ x 8’ x 8’ walk-in cooler
- 52.1% energy savings
- Revealed system issues that were taxing the equipment
- Reduced carbon emmissions by 20,086 lbs. annually
.94 years
0.6 years after rebate
$.0885/kWh
The hub of Krakow, Missouri for decades, Krakow Store is a convenience store, restaurant, deli and gas station all wrapped in one. “Busy” doesn’t begin to describe the amount of traffic the store experiences on a daily basis.
One of the hardest working pieces of equipment is the store’s walk-in beer cooler. The cooler is set to 35°F, and is restocked with an average of 300 cases of beer per week. In addition to steady foot traffic in and out of the cooler, the new inventory coming into the cooler is generally 47°F, adding significant heat load to the refrigerated space.
Using KE2 Therm’s ROI Calculator (found at www. ke2therm.com), the estimated payback of retrofitting the case with a KE2 Evaporator Efficiency (KE2 Evap) controller was a quick 1.74 years. Owner, Greg Maune agreed to the project, commenting, We were financially motivated to install the controller, and the kick back from Ameren* made it a no brainer.
In addition to the cooler install, the Krakow Store freezer was also fitted with a KE2 Evap controller. While not subjected to the heavy traffic of the beer cooler, the freezer was nonetheless working hard. The equipment was relatively new, and showing no obvious signs of trouble, however once the KE2 Evap was installed on the freezer the controllers data logging capability revealed several system issues.
The system data made it apparent that the compressor was running almost continually, head pressure was too high, and the superheat needed to be adjusted to feed more refrigerant to the evaporator.
With the KE2 Evap installed and the system issues corrected, the compressor is running 53% less than before, and the freezer is experiencing 2 defrosts every 5 days, compared to the previous time clock setting of 15 defrosts every 5 days – an 87% reduction. Energy savings for the freezer is 52.1%.
* Ameren Missouri local utility
Conclusion
The results were even more gratifying than expected. The walk-in cooler experienced a 74% reduction in defrosts, resulting in 19.2% energy savings, for a payback of 1.6 years before the rebate, and a remarkable 1.05 years after the rebate.
The walk-in freezer saw a 52.1% reduction in energy consumption, for a payback of .94 years before the rebate, and 0.6 years after the rebate.
BEFORE using standard time clock – 16 defrosts in 5 days
AFTER with the KE2 Evap controllers installed – 2 defrosts in 5 days (87% reduction in defrosts)
