Performance metrics weigh heavily on the minds of coolroom and freezer installers. It’s not that the refrigeration gear causes installation headaches, but it does create a relatively heavy carbon footprint. Certainly, contemporary cool rooms are built to satisfy exacting design standards, but they still consume more energy than most appliances. That’s why we’re going to explore output criteria today and discover how temperature factors affect coolroom and freezer performance.
Compensating for Temperature Fluctuations
Wall-to-wall beverage coolers skirt convenience stores. Aisles full of slender glass-fronted units keep dairy products fresh inside busy supermarkets. Similarly, arctic temperatures freeze rows of strip steak and hooked cuts of lamb. Temperatures stay constant inside both sealed enclosures, but doors do open, especially in those supermarket cabinets. The chilled environment fluctuates when seals are momentarily breached, but the refrigeration unit compensates for the sudden breach by delivering more cold air.
Assessing Temperature Load
A large cold room requires a great deal of energy to lower the ambient temperature. This temperature loading factor is commonly found in large butcher shops and slaughterhouse storage rooms. On the road, refrigerated trucks, also known as reefers, experience similar loading issues. Fortunately, the large temperature differential quickly drops off as the room reaches its frosty equilibrium point. Small amounts of electrical energy are then required to keep the stored content cool or frozen. Still, that initial volume of ambient energy does require a very active refrigeration unit if the interior temperature is to drop rapidly.
Analysing Temperature Relationships
Thanks to the laws of thermal dynamics, a push-pull partnership exists in the refrigeration process, a relationship that’s expressed as temperature factors and performance formulas. Differential equations are used by engineers to work out where these losses propagate, but the casual observer can make his own energy leakage case by applying a little common sense to the matter. Capacity affects this performance metric, as does the rock-bottom thermal conditions desired by the client. In essence, a big freezer uses more energy than a compact coolroom. Similarly, user events are going to impact everything, so keep doors closed, check seals periodically, and consider an energy audit when the electricity bill causes your heart to skip a beat.
This technology is streamlined and compact. It’s further reinforced when advanced insulation panels, including PIR (Polyisocyanurate) and other top-of-the-line composites, are expertly installed. But the equipment does spawn an amplified set of temperature variables, factors that affect coolroom and freezer performance, so treat them with the respect they deserve.