Slowdowns in today’s economy have drawn attention to the need for making our use of energy more efficient, using energy more wisely and conserving energy wherever possible. This transcends to the retail industry where the streamlining of food storage and display methods plays a key role in achieving exactly this.

You may already have gone green with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design and have your entire store operation and merchandise housed in an energy efficient building. The new energy efficient appliances are humming quietly, and you are saving money from having installed energy efficient windows and well sealed doors. And you may want to reduce your consumption of energy even more. If you have not been able to move to LEED store design or just not upgraded your store design in recent years with new equipment, what do you do? You still feel the need to make cost effective improvements and effectively reduce energy waste at the store level. What can you do? Even more, what can you afford?

The worldwide food distribution industry is facing economic pressure to cut energy costs. You may already be feeling the pressure to analyze your own store. The first question you need to ask yourself is:

Are you refrigerating the aisles with inefficient coolers that stay open to consumers during the day and just keep on running overnight?

Are your compressors working overtime?

Storage of fresh produce without refrigeration is not an option for most supermarkets and fresh food outlets. If your supermarket or retail food store has open display coolers, you are paying a lot to refrigerate the valuable contents 24 hours a day, using up a major proportion of your grocery store’s operating expenses to refrigerate perishable produce and fresh foods for optimal freshness and shelf life. There is a cost to keeping fresh food items in uncovered cabinets for easy visibility and better access for consumers, and it comes at the expense of your refrigeration bill and level of product discard. Ambient heat that constantly seeps into the coolers from the aisle challenges the cooling equipment to work overtime and can compromise the quality of your refrigerated and perishable goods.

Sometimes a simple cost-effective change is not so obvious but can significantly improve the efficiency of refrigerated coolers and reduce your operating costs. By installing Econofrost night curtains, you can save up to half your overnight refrigeration costs while your store is closed. You simply pull down the energy efficient, durable thermal barrier over the coolers while the store is closed, reducing the overall expenditure of energy needed to keep the refrigeration units operating. The refrigeration system runs more efficiently and there is less stress on the compressor. The product inside the cooler retains the cooler temperatures for a longer period (even when the night covers are up) and your customers benefit from warmer more comfortable store aisles.

Benefits of Installing Econofrost Night Curtains

Join the many food retailers who are discovering that Econofrost night curtains are a trouble-free and durable investment for supermarkets and food stores. Econofrost allows refrigerated food displays to be chilled properly overnight. The beneficial effects of proper nighttime cooling can last well into the daytime hours up to 15 hours after the store opens.

Econofrost night covers help reduce running time of your supermarket’s heating and air conditioning units monitor energy consumed by the refrigerator compressors, equipment maintenance overall refrigeration costs. loss of valuable refrigerated air, costs of heating the store, food spoilage and shortened shelf life.

Return on Investment in Today’s Economy

Econofrost heat reflective night curtains help protect your refrigeration systems and save 37% to 50% of refrigeration and heating costs during the hours when your supermarket is closed. Commercial refrigeration compressors and store heating systems typically turn on less frequently and for shorter periods, operate more efficiently, and require less energy.

Econofrost thermal barriers typically pay for themselves over periods of three to 18 months, depending on local energy costs, how long the store is closed at night, the efficiency of your commercial refrigeration equipment, and the retail store environment. Payback periods can be calculated from savings in energy, the significantly reduced damage to perishable goods, and less shrinkage of fresh produce and trim required. The most noticeable and quickest payback comes from extended shelf life and increased product integrity. Valuable merchandise that was once exposed to heat and UV radiation during the supermarket’s closed hours are now protected and can be sold safely to the consumer.

Econofrost thermal blinds can be customized and easily installed in existing refrigerated supermarket merchandisers and are available on new equipment from most refrigerated display equipment manufacturers including Tyler/Carrier, Hill Phoenix, Hussmann, Master-Bilt, Barker, and Southern Stores Fixtures.

Econofrost has been serving the supermarket industry since 1975 and has made over 250,000 thermal shield installations in nearly 30 countries.

Market Group Ventures, Inc, the parent corporation for Econofrost and Promolux Lighting International, is a world leader in providing retail technology solutions for merchandisers. Request more information today.