Walk-in Freezers Used to Heat Water?

At U.S. Cooler, we strive to bring more value to our customers. One of the ways we accomplish that is by keeping informed on opportunities to improve your bottom line.

Did you know your walk-in coolers and freezers are potentially capable of doing double-duty?  It’s a well kept secret you may wish to consider.  Depending upon your existing (or hopefully new, from U.S. Cooler) equipment, you may be able to save thousands of dollars annually by capturing the heat rejected from air-cooled condensing units and using it to preheat hot water.

Consultant, Eugene Kanning, from Milwaukee, WI has been employing this strategy for many years.  Kanning has used this application in restaurants, schools and recently in a larger project for the Salvation Army in southern Wisconsin.  According to Kanning the systems have repeatedly netted thousands in document-able savings in the cost of heating hot water.  As a general rule of thumb, if the combined horsepower of the condensing systems is between three and five horsepower, and the operation requires hot water for ware washing and general use, then it makes sense to explore.

A conservative estimate would net a payback of $5000 per year in energy cost which in an average installation would be a 1 – 2 year payback.  According to Kanning “It’s not a complicated process and it can be retrofit to existing locations in most cases.”

If you would like to explore and evaluate the potential payback here are some questions you will need to be prepared to answer:

• Operating Hours per day and per week
• Hours of peak hot water usage
• Estimated hot water usage per day/week
• Obtain a copy of your energy bill during one peak month and one slow month
• Water heater size
• Water heater energy
• Recovery rate
• What temperature are you holding water at
• What are the ambient conditions for the geographic region

If you would like more information on this process contact Gene Kanning contact Gene via email at Kanning@sbcglobal.net