17 December 2024
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A condenser which is just 50% blocked will typically use 43% more energy
Ultra Refrigeration’s Steve Shipp emphasises the importance of regular, planned, preventative maintenance and looks at the benefits it brings.
For operators of commercial refrigeration systems, the benefits of regular, planned, preventative maintenance may seem obvious, but are certainly worth reiterating.
- Increased efficiency, leading to lower running costs.
- Energy savings, contributing to environmental sustainability.
- Quieter operation.
- Prolonged lifespan, lowering the lifetime costs of a system.
- Fewer breakdowns, particularly during critical periods.
- Increased profit by minimising downtime and keeping food in optimum condition
- Peace of mind
Best practice and tips for ongoing maintenance
For food retail and food chain businesses, we would expect operators to take the best possible care of their refrigeration equipment on a daily and weekly basis, between scheduled maintenance visits. This would mean routine visual checks of system components, keeping condensers clean, regular product temperature measurements and any other available diagnostic monitoring. In fact, anything that could give an early warning of any potential problems or changes in the way the system is operating.
These simple checks, carried out in-house by operators with no formal refrigeration knowledge, can be a signal that it’s time to call in the experts.
If the business has access to a maintenance package with a trusted partner, then a call to the 24-hour help desk might be all that’s required to sort a problem. If not, an engineer could be requested to visit, or review diagnostic data remotely. Many maintenance packages allow for preferential service rates, unlimited call-outs and on-site labour included in the fixed monthly charge, which can provide for peace of mind.
Also included in any package should be two routine maintenance visits per year by a fully-qualified refrigeration engineer. If there are no other callouts or problems, this is when the system receives a full maintenance check-up to identify any operational problems which can be put right during the visit or a subsequent service call.
This would include a look at any diagnostic data that is available, which can be the key to identifying inefficiencies or the early signs of problems developing.
Diagnostics tools can be an important maintenance indicator
More than a maintenance partner
Here at Ultra we try to be more than just expert, ‘hands-on’, fixers of commercial refrigeration systems. Not all of our clients are refrigeration experts; after all, they have a business to run so can’t be expected to keep up with all the latest technical and legislative changes affecting their fridge system.
A more informal part of a ‘maintenance service’ is to advise clients on these matters. This informal advice can take many forms. We aim to keep our clients ahead of their legal obligations in terms of F-Gas leak checks and perhaps any issues of food safety and hygiene in relation to their fridge system. Where appropriate, we’ll have conversations about operational aspects of good cold-store management such as: keeping doors closed; minimising personnel movements; general housekeeping; defrost regimes; cleanliness etc.. In the background, as part of our own records (but frequently useful for clients as well!), we keep a detailed asset register of clients’ equipment and F-Gas records
We can help clients talk through these issues, and start to plan for any refrigerant and equipment changes.
As a trusted maintenance partner, we aim to offer peace of mind for the whole business, not just the refrigeration system.
