Fridge technology exceeds energy standards
USA: Emerson says it has retrofitted a glass door reach-in cabinet that far exceeds proposed new US energy efficiency standards for commercial refrigeration equipment.
Faced with stiffer new US DOE standards for commercial refrigeration equipment, which take effect in 2017, OEMs are busy evaluating design options in order to meet those standards.
Design Services Network (DSN), the engineering and testing services business of Emerson Climate Services, claims to have retrofitted a 24ft³, glass door reach-in cabinet which exceeds the new standards without increasing the size of the equipment. Emerson says the results include technology capable of exceeding regulatory compliance through 2020 and energy savings for end users of up to 49% annually.
“One of our primary initiatives is to design our products so that they can easily work together with existing equipment to deliver reliable, energy-efficient solutions to the end user,” said Suresh Shivashankar, manager, business development, DSN. “This new reach-in technology represents an entire solution that OEMs should consider when designing refrigeration systems.”
Features of the new reach-in technology include variable-capacity hermetic compressor and inverter control, EC fan motors, smart controls and anti-condensate heater control.
The smart controls offer predictive algorithms to reduce energy consumption and optimise the operations of the compressor, fans, lights and defrost heaters. The anti-condensate heater control is said to use a patented closed-loop algorithm for continuous monitoring of door frame temperature in conjunction with the surrounding dew point.
The technology also provides compatibility with Emerson’s ecoSYS Site Supervisor, a system that combines energy management with the ability to monitor various facility systems and provide alerts when issues need attention
DSN provides testing, design and system engineering for residential and commercial air conditioning and refrigeration systems. The division is an EPA-approved test lab for the US Energy Star programme.
Related news:
Fridge manufacturers challenge standards – June 25, 2014
USA: A manufacturers’ association is the latest group to challenge the US government’s new commercial refrigeration energy efficiency rules. Read more…
DOE faces court over impossible standards – May 30, 2014
USA: The Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute claims that the Department of Energy’s new energy conservation standards for commercial refrigeration equipment may be impossible to meet. Read more…
