If you shiver every time you are in a grocery store, it is for a reason! You may be cold even when you are not standing next to the produce or freezers. This is because grocery stores use a combination of air conditioning, freezers, refrigerators, and display cases. Because of this, it can often be hard to keep a comfortable temperature for customers as well as safe for food products. The key to achieving the perfect temperature is to have each of these elements working in harmony. This aids in energy consumption and utility costs, keeping customers comfortable regardless of the temperature outside, and keeping humidity at optimal levels to prevent glass from fogging and stored goods dry. SPECS Refrigeration in Lubbock, Texas, offers commercial HVAC services as well as refrigeration services to keep grocery stores at the optimal temperature.
Refrigerated foods should be stored at 32°F to 40°F and frozen foods should be stored between 0°F and -7°F, according to the FDA. SPECS Refrigeration offers several solutions to help keep foods stored at the correct temperatures.
- Curved Glass Services Cases: These are best suited for deli apartments. They give customers an unobstructed view of the selection while keeping products at a safe temperature.
- Straight Glass Service Cases: These units typically have sliding or static glass fronts and can be a good alternative to curved glass refrigerators.
- Fish Cases: These are most often used in seafood displays.
- Reach in Wall Coolers: These normally take up the entire wall at a supermarket and are best used for storing and displaying things such as ready-made meals and prepared vegetables.
- Reach in Wall Freezers: These typically have glass doors and display prepackaged frozen foods.
- Open Merchandisers: These keep products cool but are open so they are easily accessible to customers.
- Self-Service Case: These cases keep items at proper temperatures while also providing a space for customers to put available products into takeaway containers.
- Walk-In Refrigerators/Freezers: These units are permanent installations in the back of house in a supermarket used to store large amounts of chilled or frozen foods before being placed in the glass door reach-in refrigerators located in the aisles.
Additionally, preventative maintenance and regular cleanings on these machines is essential to keeping units running properly. This includes:
- Clean the condenser coils (most important)
- Clean the interior and exterior
- Check/clean the evaporator coil
- Check/replace gaskets
- Check/replace air filters
- Clean drain pans/tubes
HVAC units also need preventative maintenance to keep running properly. This can include:
- Replace filters
- Check/replace belts
- Check refrigerant charge
- Clean condenser and evaporator coils
- Clear drain lines/pans
- Lubricate motors, bearings, other moving parts
- Inspect ignition and burner assembly
- Inspect heat exchanger
Another issue with commercial machines can be that they produce a lot of heat, which raises the temperature inside the supermarket. This will engage the air conditioning system, which consumes even more energy. When the air conditioning engages, the heat is vented into the outdoors. However, by keeping your commercial refrigerators as energy efficient as possible, they’ll produce less heat, in turn consuming less energy. It is possible with certain advanced systems to harvest the heat from commercial units to warm the air that vents into the supermarket during cold weather. Danfoss, a Danish manufacturer of refrigeration compressors says that it has helped towns near its headquarters to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions by 1/3rd through heat harvesting in supermarkets during the winter.
Finding ways to help all of the commercial systems in a supermarket maintain balance is the best way to keep your bottom line and your customers feeling great. SPECS Refrigeration in Lubbock, Texas, is here to help you keep your grocery store at the perfect temperature.
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