Currently, except for
a handful of states, walk-in coolers and freezers aren’t
subject to energy efficiency standards. That’s all about to
change, however, come January 1, 2009. On that date
efficiency requirements originally signed into law in
December 2007 become effective. New walk-in coolers and
freezers installed in the U.S. and occupying less than 3000
square feet in floor space will have to meet a new set of
rules.
A recent
fesmag.com article entitled
"Energy Aware: Federal Law to Set the Standard on Walk-In
Refrigerators and Freezers" offers the following
information:
Rather than
specifying the daily energy consumption of a walk-in per
unit volume as efficiency standards for other types of
refrigerators and freezers do, the standard for walk-ins
specifies that they utilize a variety of
efficiency-boosting design elements.
...The new federal
standard requires a number of design elements,
including:
-
Automatic closers
on exterior doors to minimize the amount ofwarm ambient
air entering the walk-in.
-
Interior strip
curtains or swinging doors.
-
Wall, ceiling and
door insulation of at least R-25 for refrigerators and
R-32 for freezers.
-
Floor insulation
of at least R-28.
-
Higher-efficiency
motors for the evaporator and condenser fans.
-
Higher-efficiency
lighting or occupancy sensors that turn lights off
within 15 minutes if the walk- in is unoccupied.
-
Double-pane (for
refrigerators) or triple-pane (for freezers) glazing for
walk-ins with any transparent doors or windows.
-
Efficient
anti-sweat (defrosting) systems for walk-ins that also
have transparent reach-in doors.
Since Master-Bilt
manufactures four-, five- and six-inch thick panels
insulated with polyurethane foam, the new R-factor
requirements are already met (see chart below on this page). The other features listed are also available for
Master-Bilt walk-in coolers and freezers.
These requirements are
just the beginning. In fact, according to the same
fesmag.com article:
No later than Jan.
1, 2012, the Secretary of Energy is required to publish
a performance-based efficiency standard (presumably in
the form of so many kilowatt-hours per day per cubic
foot of refrigerator or freezer volume) for walk-ins.
This standard would then become effective either three
or five years later, at the Secretary of Energy’s
discretion.
'