23 January 2024
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Institute of Refrigeration (IOR) President-Elect Lisa-Jayne Cook highlighted the importance of regular maintenance in supporting energy efficiency at the latest Cool Talk for service engineers and technicians.
Based on her experience as a design engineer, she said: “When we consider the capital expense, potential loss of revenue and the energy intensive nature of refrigeration, applying preventative maintenance measures becomes a no-brainer.”
She also noted the increasing importance of emerging technologies to help contractors and end-users maintain existing systems, adding: “Predictive maintenance leverages advances in technologies and data analytics to anticipate and address potential issues before they escalate. This approach not only enhances equipment reliability but also contributes to cost savings by minimising unplanned downtime and reducing the need for emergency repairs.”
The webinar looked at various aspects that contribute to efficiency including component operation. Fellow speaker John Broughton shared examples of good (and not so good) on-site practices and provided a series of useful and straightforward tips to improve the efficiency.
The presenters both confirmed that planned preventative maintenance is essential to ensuring a comprehensive approach to equipment care, fostering reliability, energy efficiency, and overall longevity. The advantages to be gained not only reduce the likelihood of unplanned downtime but also lead to cost savings and the sustained performance of systems.
While both speakers agreed that lack of or inadequate maintenance is the biggest culprit when it comes to inefficiencies, they also highlighted that a lack of training is one of the biggest barriers to the roll-out of technology-based efficiency measures. Cook added: “As an industry we need to invest in training, so that we have the people that can analyse the data collected.”
A recording of this and previous webinars is available here.
