Appropriate cold room maintenance is crucial when your operations in Eugene, OR involve cold storage. Failure to keep up with cold room maintenance can result in spoiled product, asset loss, customer dissatisfaction and other costly damages. To properly maintain your cold room, use the following guide.
Key components
A cold room typically includes several common components. Each of these should be carefully maintained to ensure the ongoing function of the cold room:
Compressor: This component is responsible for the compression of the refrigerant gas, which is key to keeping the cold room cold.
Condenser: This piece cools the gas to create a cold liquid.
Expansive valve: This valve regulates the flow of gas and turns the liquid gas into a vapor.
Evaporator coils: These coils absorb energy to cool the coils. They also boil and expand the liquid gas.
Refrigerator fans: These components cool the room by circulating the air over the coils.
Cold room door: This specialized door features cold room insulation and seals to maintain the temperature inside the storage area.
Temperature
One way to know if all of the above components are working properly or if they require maintenance is the temperature of the cold room. The appropriate temperature for your cold room depends on what you are storing in the space. The options vary from freezer to fridge to ambient.
If the good you are storing must remain frozen, you must maintain a cold room temperature of 15℃ or colder. For refrigeration of products, the standard cold room temperature is between 2℃ and 8℃. For ambient or room temperature storage, you should set your cold room storage between 8℃ and 25℃. For proper cold room maintenance in Eugene, OR make sure you are using the appropriate setting based on your stored products. Keep in mind that the ambient temperature range is large and should be narrowed down based on your storage needs.
Regular maintenance
To prevent problems with your cold storage, perform regular cold room maintenance in Eugene, OR. Partner with a local refrigeration company to complete this maintenance. Your cold room should be inspected once each season to check for potential problems. When this is done regularly, technicians can spot minor issues before they become major repairs. For example, if the seal on your door is starting to wear, you should replace it before it fails and you risk losing products due to spoilage.
To choose a refrigeration company, look for one that is established in the industry and has a track record of success. Find a business that can respond to your needs with emergency service if necessary, and that stands behind its work with a warranty.
Partner with the pros
For effective cold room maintenance in Eugene, OR, contact the team at American Refrigeration Inc. Established in 1995, we have been the area’s go-to source for commercial heating and cooling for decades. Emergency repair is available 24/7, and we honor manufacturer rebates and warranties. Call us today at 541-688-0939 for expert cold room maintenance in Eugene, OR.
Do you feel like you’re wasting too much money on the operating costs with your walk-in cooler or freezer in Eugene, OR? You always have the option to replace the system with a more energy-efficient unit, but you might not have the money to spend on such an upgrade at the moment, or it may not be practical for you to do so given the age of the system or other projects that take precedence.
The good news is that there are some simpler steps you can take to lower the operating costs of your walk-in without having to take on massive, expensive projects. Your focus should be cutting down on energy usage and waste, which will, in turn, have a positive impact on the amount of money you’re spending.
Here’s a quick overview of some of the strategies you can employ at your facility in Eugene, OR:
Inspect the door: Regularly check the condition of the door, focusing on the door gaskets and sweeps. If you see evident signs of wear, you’ll want to replace those parts as soon as possible, as damaged gaskets or sweeps could prevent the door from getting a proper seal. This significantly increases the likelihood of air leaks that could result in wasted energy, as cold air will be able to escape and warm air will be able to enter.
Look for signs of light: Once a month, walk into the unit and check around for any signs of light entering from around the door, electrical connections, refrigeration systems or panels. If you see light entering through any of those areas, get a service technician out to the property as soon as you can. Light penetrating the system is a sign that there’s a crack or leak that needs to be addressed. A failure to do so will result in cold air escaping and warm air getting in, both of which will result in an increased strain on the system as it struggles to maintain the desired temperature setting.
Add strip curtains: Strip curtains can help to lower heat gain into the walk-in when loading items in, or simply when walking into the unit. You’ll be surprised just how big of a difference these plastic curtains can make in terms of temperature retention.
Insulation: Consider adding more insulation to the unit. The better your air retention, the less you’ll have to worry about the unit overworking itself to get to your desired temperature.
Get a maintenance schedule going: It’s important to have a strong ongoing relationship with a team of maintenance professionals you can trust with your commercial refrigeration equipment. Work with those technicians to develop a maintenance schedule, and actually stick to it. Over time, your system is going to develop some issues and vulnerabilities. Staying on top of maintenance allows you to catch those issues while they’re small so you can repair them before they get expensive and keep your system operating as efficiently as possible.
One of the most common questions we receive from clients in Eugene, OR is how much they can expect to pay in their monthly energy bills to run a walk-in cooler or freezer. One reason people ask this is that they want to know if their system is running as efficiently as it should be, or if they’re paying too much for what it should take to run the system effectively.
The operational costs you can expect to incur for running a walk-in cooler or freezer will depend on a variety of factors, the biggest of which is the size of the unit.
For example, a 6’ x 6’ cooler will likely cost you around $66 per month, while a 10’ x 10’ unit will likely cost you around $140. A 6’ x 6’ freezer typically costs around $228, while a 10’ x 10’ will usually be close to $350. These numbers are based on a $.0999 kilowatt hour cost, the average cost of commercial electricity in the United States according to the Energy Information Administration.
But again, there are a number of factors that will go into determining how much you can expect to pay. Some of these factors include:
Insulation: Walk-in units that have higher quality insulation will not cost quite as much to run, because better air retention means a lower need to have to constantly run the unit. This cuts down on the amount of energy expended on cooling.
Inside and outside temperature: The lower you set the temperature, the more energy will be required to keep it at that temperature. In addition, if the walk-in is located in an area with a higher temperature, it’s likely the unit will need to run more frequently to stay cool on the inside.
Frequency of doors opening: The more often doors need to open, the more air will leak out, causing the unit to run more and expend more energy. It’s important to be as efficient as possible with trips in and out of the unit and to make sure the door is closed as often as possible to avoid wasted energy.
Cost of electricity: The cost of electricity varies from region to region. Keep in mind that the above estimates are national averages—your experience could vary widely depending on where your business is located.
The age of the unit: The older a walk-in cooler or freezer gets, the less efficient it will become. In addition, older units simply weren’t designed in the first place to the same standards of efficiency that newer units are able to achieve.
Products: The types of products stored in the unit can also make a difference. What are the weights and temperatures of those products? Heavier products or products that enter warm are going to take more energy to get cold.
These are just a few examples of the issues to consider when determining the costs of running a walk-in cooler or freezer in Eugene, OR. Contact American Refrigeration Inc. for more information or to schedule service.
R22 was once a common refrigerant, used for ice makers, chillers and a number of other commercial and residential appliances. Unfortunately, R22 is not as good for the environment as scientists once thought. In fact, R22 has been phased out since 2010, and it will be completely illegal by 2030.
If you have an ice maker or chiller that uses R22, you probably don’t want to scrap the whole thing and buy a new one—but you may need to. There are a few alternative refrigerant possibilities for R22 ice makers and chillers in Eugene, OR. However, these alternatives need to be safer for the environment, cost effective and efficient. Read on to learn more about the process for finding alternative refrigerants that will work in R22 ice makers and chillers.
Working pressure
The maximum allowable working pressure (MAWP) has proven to be the first challenge in finding alternative refrigerants. Most ice makers and chillers have an MAWP between 150 to 200psi on the low end, which can vary depending on the specific brand, appliance and date of manufacture. Unfortunately, two of the most common R22 alternatives, R404a and R507, have a low-end MAWP of 250psi.
Glide
Glide is the next factor to consider. The glide needs to be near zero in order to work properly in commercial ice makers and chillers. While R404a and R507 have the right glide to work, their working pressure restrictions make them unsuitable for ice makers and chillers.
Other readily available alternatives like R407c, R40f and R410 have glides that are higher than R22. This is a problem because the high glide causes them to fractionalize and segregate in service. Instead of working as a volatile fluid, which is necessary for the heat transfer process, these refrigerants’ evaporator fluid chemistry changes. That causes a reduction in capacity as well as erratic operation—neither of which you want when you’re working with commercial machinery.
Volumetric efficiency
Finally, volumetric efficiency plays a role in how well these alternatives will work in R22 ice makers and chillers inn Eugene, OR. R134a uses a lower working pressure than R22, and its glide is near zero. However, it has a significantly lower volumetric efficiency, which means its capacity is not nearly high enough for what commercial machines require.
Finding the right alternative coolant
Depending on your specific machine and capacity, you might wish to upgrade to commercial ice makers and chillers that were not designed to use R22. The challenges of finding a functional, safe and environmentally-friendly coolant for R22 machines can make upgrading worth the investment. Since R22 is extremely difficult to source now, and will be illegal in less than ten years, it’s probably wise to move on to a new machine.
If you’re not quite ready to say goodbye to your old machinery, reach out to American Refrigeration Inc. We’ll do our best to recommend alternative refrigerant possibilities for R22 ice makers and chillers in Eugene, OR, or help you find new machines to do the job.
When you own a bar or restaurant in Eugene, OR, your commercial ice machine gets a lot of use. The FDA requires that ice be treated like food, which means that ice machines need regular cleaning and maintenance. Believe it or not, one bad batch of ice can sicken your customers. Since restaurants rarely use an entire bin of ice before the ice machine makes more, that contamination can spread easily. That’s why it’s so important to keep your machines clean and well maintained—not to mention the fact that you could face up to $500,000 in fines.
Here’s an overview of commercial ice machine cleaning and maintenance.
Cleaning your commercial ice machine
Commercial ice machines in Eugene, OR should be thoroughly cleaned two to four times each year. Check your manufacturer’s recommendations for their suggestions, but keep in mind that if your ice machine produces large volumes of ice, or your water quality is less than stellar, you may need to clean it even more frequently. If your ice machine is placed near a cooking line, it will probably need to be cleaned once per month. When it comes to health and safety, you can’t be too careful.
The FDA has a number of regulations in place for handling ice and ensuring that it is as sanitary as possible. Keep in mind that contaminated ice will not only expose you to fines from the FDA, but your business may be held liable if it’s responsible for making people sick.
Cleaning commercial ice machines involves thoroughly sanitizing each part. You’ll need to unplug it and pull out all of the removable components, sanitize them and remove any mineral buildup in the machine. You should also clean the outside. Once you’re finished with the cleaning process, run a normal cycle at least once to get rid of any residual cleaning agents.
Ice machine maintenance
In addition to cleaning your machine, you’ll need to replace the filter at least once every six months, or as needed. You may need to change it more often if the filter has a hard time keeping up with the water quality or volume of ice produced. The filter helps prevent mineral scale and removes sediment, odors and unpleasant flavors from the water. If you don’t replace the filter in time, your ice will start looking cloudy and taste unpleasant.
It’s also smart to schedule general ice machine maintenance one to two times per year. Working with refrigeration professionals like American Refrigeration Inc. makes it easy. Our maintenance contractors will check and repair all of your commercial ice machine’s components, including machinery, hoses, valves, seals and other parts. If anything looks like it’s worn out or is about to malfunction, we can fix it. After all, your bar or restaurant can’t afford to be without ice for long.
Taking care of your commercial ice machine in Eugene, OR is simple: just call American Refrigeration Inc. today. We’re happy to help you repair and maintain all of your commercial refrigeration products, whether preventative or on an emergency basis.
