Category Archives: Commercial Refrigeration

A Costly Matter

Heating And Cooling Efficiently

As much as half of the energy in homes and commercial environments goes to heating and cooling the structure. When perishable items or food items requiring to be held at temperature are involved then the heating and cooling costs go up even more. So making smart decisions on your heating and cooling equipment is vital to keep overhead down. Take these steps to maintain your heating and cooling equipment in proper working order and prevent unnecessary costs.

Change Filters In Heating and Cooling Equipment Regularly

Check filters in heating and cooling equipment monthly. It’s especially vital to check filters in your heating and cooling equipment during heavy use months when they can cost you the most money. Dirty filters can slow down the air flow in the heating and cooling equipment and make it run less efficiently. A clean filter will also prevent the build up of dust or other particulates in the heating and cooling equipment which can lead to costly repairs down the road.

Perform Regular Maintenance On Your Equipment

Just like keeping your car in tip top running condition, heating and cooling equipment requires regular maintenance. Performing regular maintenance will keep your heating and cooling equipment running efficiently and help prevent unscheduled, emergency repairs when you need the equipment to be working the most.

Install Programmable Thermostats In Your Heating And Cooling Equipment

Rather than manually setting the thermostat as needed, a programmable thermostat will allow you to schedule the settings on your heating and cooling equipment. This will prevent overheating and under heating when you are away from the equipment. While a programmable thermostat may cost more on the front end, it will provide you long terms savings for operating your heating and cooling equipment.

Seal The Ducts On Your Heating And Cooling Equipment

Ducting that moves air between your heating and cooling equipment can be huge energy wasters if they have leaks. By sealing and insulating your ducts, you can save as much as 20% on your energy costs. First seal the ducts for your heating and cooling equipment and then insulate the ducting .

Ask A Professional To Provide You An Energy Audit

Replacing hold heating and cooling equipment may seem expensive on the front end, but if it is not running efficiently due to wear and tear the smart move might be to spend money on replacing it. A heating and cooling professional will be able to tell you where you’re losing money and how to improve your system. While fixing existing heating and cooling equipment might be possible you might be better off in the long run with new equipment.

Call Sacramento Refrigeration for a FREE audit of your heating and cooling systems. As professionals in the heating and cooling business we can tell you where your losing money and provide the best options for saving you money.

Frigid Hibernation Is A Myth! | Commercial Refrigeration Maintenance

Commercial Refrigeration Needs Maintenance All Year

Often times when the weather turns cold we start to think that our commercial refrigeration system is in some sort of “frigid hibernation” and won’t need to be looked at again until the weather turns warm next summer.

Actually, quite the opposite is true. Commercial refrigeration systems are set up with cold weather compensation controls. When these controls are operating correctly it helps the system run accurately while the temperatures outside drop below the temperature of the case.

In order to make sure that your commercial refrigeration system is energy efficient; your refrigeration equipment should have a yearly winter checkup, and allow things to really be cool in the cold!

Don’t just assume that your commercial refrigeration is running efficiently or more smoothly just because the ambient air temperature outside the unit is cooler in summer. This type of thinking may get you burned because your food and other perishables will spoil almost as quickly if your commercial refrigeration fails in the winter as compared to summer.

Think about the high demand for food and other perishables that occurs around the holidays. You don’t want your commercial refrigeration unit to be down when holiday shopping is at its peak. Keep your commercial refrigeration maintenance going year round by contracting a qualified company to handle scheduled maintenance.

You might be surprised at how economical your commercial refrigeration maintenance turns out to be. Most skilled technicians can find and service any problems and potential problems very quickly.

In the long run the cost of scheduled commercial refrigeration service will be much cheaper when compared to emergency service. Not only will the maintenance costs be lower for scheduled commercial refrigeration service, but you won’t lose potentially thousands of dollars in spoiled perishable goods when your commercial refrigeration unit suddenly fails.

Call Sacramento Refrigeration to discuss your commercial refrigeration maintenance requirements.

AB-32 And Your Commercial Refrigeration System

Global Warming And Commercial Refrigeration

The Global Warming Solutions Act, or AB-32, was signed into law in September 2006 by Governor Schwarzenegger as the linch-pin of his strategy to provide the state with a comprehensive program of regulatory and market based mechanisms to reduce greenhouse gas emissions within the state of California. A broad base of California’s businesses were affected by the law on January 1, 2010 because of the impact the law has on specific commercial refrigeration gases that have been categorized as greenhouse gases.

The Stationary Equipment Refrigerant Management Program covers all non-residential, fixed commercial refrigeration equipment and requires the reduction of refrigerant emissions from commercial refrigeration with high global warming potential. In other words, AB-32 limits the use of chlorofluorocarbons, hydrochlorofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and hydrofluorocarbons. While these substances were already regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) through the US Clean Air Act, the Refrigerant Management Program as it relates to commercial refrigeration expands their control within the state of California.

Commercial Refrigeration Compliance

Beginning January 1^st, 2011 all organizations within the state of California that have commercial refrigeration systems that use more than 50 pounds of high global warming refrigerant substances must be in compliance with the restrictions imposed by AB-32 and the Refrigerant Management Program. For most small businesses that have commercial refrigeration or cooling systems this won’t be an issue, but for larger organizations like supermarkets, grocery stores, food processors, warehouses and other cold storage facilities, and manufacturers that use industrial process commercial refrigeration they will most likely be affected.

All facilities (large and small) will be required on January 1^st, 2011 to initiate a leak detection, monitoring, and record keeping program for their commercial refrigeration systems. This means a continuous monitoring system must be in place that alerts the organization of a leak. The leak detection system can be a direct system that detects the presence of leaky commercial refrigeration systems or an indirect system that interprets measurements like temperature or pressure within the commercial refrigeration system. Both options require that the owner of the system contacts a certified technician when needed to fix the leak as soon as it is detected. As of January 1, 2011 all technicians involved in servicing facility equipment must be US EPA certified and must follow required service practices when determining root cause and fixing the leak in the commercial refrigeration.

Commercial Refrigeration Cost Savings Potential

Overall, the opportunity for controlling the emission of greenhouse gases from commercial refrigeration systems can present a cost saving opportunity to organizations that use them. It has been estimated that facilities that reduce their leakage of commercial refrigerants from 30% per year down to 10% can save approximately $2,200 per 1000 pounds of refrigerant per year. Additionally, the impact to the environment from this program will be a drastic reduction in the contribution of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere by California organizations that utilize commercial refrigeration systems.

To learn more about AB-32 and it’s impact on your commercial refrigeration system click here.

Contact Sacramento Refrigeration to learn more about AB-32 and your commercial refrigeration system or for any other service or installation requirements.

What To Consider When Purchasing Your Commercial Refrigeration Walk-In

Commercial Refrigeration Basics

When picking out your commercial refrigeration equipment, you need to have an idea about how much food you are going to need space for and how much food you are going to keep in your commercial refrigeration system at all times. Commercial refrigeration units come in a wide variety of storage capacities, and if you purchase a unit that is too big you will end up wasting money by keeping a larger space cold than you need. With your operating margins probably very thin, it is important to buy a commercial refrigeration unit that is just big enough. If the unit you purchase is too small, then you’ll just have to buy another commercial refrigeration unit to store all of your perishable food items.

Commercial Refrigeration Walk-ins

A walk-in commercial refrigeration unit is just what its name implies: a refrigerator big enough to walk into. It can be as small as a closet or as large as a good-size room, but its primary purpose is to provide refrigerated storage for large quantities of food in a central area. Experts recommend that your operation needs a commercial refrigeration walk-in when its cold storage needs exceed 80 cubic feet, or if you serve more than 250 meals per day. Once again, you’ll need to determine how much you need to store, what sizes of containers the commercial refrigeration storage space must accommodate, and the maximum quantity of goods you’ll want to have on hand at any time.

The most economical way to use a commercial refrigeration walk-in is to equip it with shelves, organized in sections. Exactly how much cold storage area do you need? The easiest formula is to calculate 1 to 1.5 cubic feet of commercial refrigeration walk-in storage for every meal you serve per day. To determine the cubic feet of storage area determine how much liner footage you have of shelf space (measure along the front), multiply this by the number of shelves and the depth of the shelves, then measure how much vertical space there is between each shelf. When you multiply all these numbers together you’ll have the cubic feet of commercial refrigeration storage available in your walk-in.

How Many Commercial Refrigeration Units Do You Need?

For some food service operations you might also need more than one commercial refrigeration unit if you need to store perishable items at various temperatures. For instance, you’ll need one for produce (41 degrees Fahrenheit), one for meats and fish (33 to 38 degrees Fahrenheit), and one for dairy products (32 to 41 degrees Fahrenheit). If this is your situation, then determining the commercial refrigeration storage you need is a bit more complex, but nothing that can’t be determined with a little planning.

Modern commercial refrigeration walk-ins sometimes offer a frozen-food section in addition to the regular cooler space. There are pros and cons to this concept. It may ease the load on the freezer, because it’s already located inside a chilled airspace; but it also can’t help but reduce overall usable space, because it requires a separate door. You can also order your walk-in with a separate, reach-in section that has its own door and shelves. Although this may save the cost of purchasing a separate reach-in, some critics claim that a walk-in is not designed to do a reach-in job, such as storing uncovered desserts. Do you really want them in the same environment as cartons of lettuce and other bulk storage items? There may be cleanliness or food quality factors to consider.

Smart Features of Commercial Refrigeration

Other smart features to consider besides the size of your commercial refrigeration walk-include the following: a thermometer, a monitoring and recording system that keeps a printout of refrigeration temperature or downloads to a computer, and heavy-duty plastic strip curtains inside the door. By using technology to monitor and control your commercial refrigeration unit, you’ll end up saving money in the long run because you won’t be constantly manually adjusting the commercial refrigeration equipment.

Contact Sacramento Refrigeration to discuss your options for your walk-in cold storage and all of your commercial refrigeration needs.

The Importance Of Commercial Refrigeration Service

Commercial Refrigeration Walk-In Scheduled Maintenance

Most commercial refrigeration walk-ins seem indestructible, but you can extend their life by following the manufacturer’s safety tips and maintenance schedule. Walk-in coolers and freezers are made for storing larger quantities of food. If there is lots of in and out traffic in your commercial refrigeration walk-in then there are important maintenance procedures to follow.

Some Maintenance Tricks for Commercial Refrigeration

The door gaskets are usually made of rubber. So they can break down quicker and easier if they are not cleaned regularly and get caked with food or grease. This leads to leaks in the door seals which will result in the operating efficiency of your commercial refrigeration walk-in being reduced and your energy costs going up. Door seals can be easily cleaned to extend their life with baking soda and warm water. It’s suggested that you don’t use harsh chemical cleansers as this will dry out the rubber.

Door hinges for your commercial refrigeration walk-in can be rubbed with petroleum jelly to make sure they continue to work well. If these develop a build-up of grease or grime, then their operation will not remain smooth. This means they will begin to stick resulting in your doors not closing automatically and the cold air escaping. Again this will result in lower efficiency for your commercial refrigeration walk-in and higher energy costs.

Dirty coils on the refrigeration unit will also make the commercial refrigeration walk-in run less efficiently as the transfer of heat through the coils doesn’t occur as effectively as for clean coils. This makes the compressor work overtime to maintain the desired temperature of your perishable food items which means the service life of the compressor motor will be reduced. By frequently cleaning the dust and grime off of your commercial refrigeration coils you’ll reduce the time your compressor needs to run and thereby help your commercial refrigeration run more efficiently.

Cleanliness in Your Commercial Refrigeration Unit is Important

The floors of your commercial refrigeration walk-in should also be kept clean. This is for safety reasons as well as for health concerns. If there is lots of foot traffic in and out of the unit, food and other stored items can get dropped. If they are not cleaned out regularly they can build up causing trip hazards as well as slippery floors. Not only that, they could begin to rot and develop a bacteria issue. Walk-in floors should be damp-mopped, but never hosed out. Excessive water can get into the seals between the floor panels and damage the insulation. Without proper insulation, your commercial refrigeration will not run as efficiently as it could.

Proper maintenance of your commercial refrigeration walk-in can extend its service life and reduce the operating costs. Following a regular maintenance schedule will help you keep your commercial refrigeration operating properly and keep your operating costs down.