Ever think about open refrigeration at grocery store?

[zanemoseley]

I'm not an enviro-nut but occasionally I wonder how inefficient and costly it is for grocery stores to run hundreds of feet worth of refrigerators and even freezers open to the store, not to mention in the winter when you're already battling the cold. That's gotta cost a pretty penny to keep running 24/7/365. Most people start getting pissy if their kid leaves the door open for over 10 seconds at their house but not a second thought at the grocery store.

 

[IronWing]

In winter, the waste heat from the refrigerators helps heat the store. In summer, yeah, it's wasteful.

 

[MtnMan]

They are designed to keep the cold on the shelves, and most stores have covers they put on at night. More and more stores are going to glass doors.

There are many other first world problems that need solving first.

 

[Jeff7]

Depending on the product, some of the doors might be opened and closed with sufficient frequency that the increased convection would significantly diminish the benefit of the insulated glass doors.

And you can do nifty things with properly-designed air curtains.


</semi-educated guess>

 

[Newbian]

I can't remember the last time I have seen a open freezer like they used to have when I was a kid as they were fun to scrap the ice off and to drop down your brothers shirt but most of fridges that are open are unique layouts compared to a normal stand up ones.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I've always wondered about those too. Most of the freezers are closed doors now but there are still lot of open refrigerators. I believe these type of units the compressors are outside too, so in summer they actually help keep the store cooler but in winter, which is the majority of the year, they are basically fighting with the heat.

 

[Spacehead]

I don't think I have seen open refrigerators in a grocery store for a very long time and most of the time the freezers have glass tops in the decent stores or normal stand up freezers with doors and only the ghetto ones have those old open top freezers.

You must be living in the future :biggrin:

I'm trying to think... yeah i guess the one store i go to has all the ice cream/frozen foods behind glass doors. Everything else is open.

Another store i go to everything is open... frozen foods and all.

 

[K7SN]

They are designed to keep the cold on the shelves, and most stores have covers they put on at night. More and more stores are going to glass doors.

There are many other first world problems that need solving first.

+1

Typical Food refrigeration cost in a supermarket iis much less expensive than air conditioning the same store; food refrigeration is what 5% of the store size and at least 3 sides and the roof are far better insulated. As MtnMan pointed out they are designed to keep the shelves cold.
They are also designed to keep the front (less insulated side) outside air from entering except of course your hand and arm reaching for a six-pack disrupts the directed layer of cool air used to keep heat out and cold in when the doors are open (older units often don't have that feature and older in refrigeration of air conditioning is another way of saying less-efficient).

Cynical remarks follows: The grocery stores will just pass the cost on to the consumer. Cool customers stay longer when it is hot outside and cool customers stay longer when it is colder outside for the same reason. There are very few places where it is nicer outside than in.

 

[Newbian]

You must be living in the future :biggrin:

I'm trying to think... yeah i guess the one store i go to has all the ice cream/frozen foods behind glass doors. Everything else is open.

Another store i go to everything is open... frozen foods and all.

Most around here are the stand up freezers with doors and the few that are the ones that you can look in from the top have decent slide tops.

Really only the specialized fridges for a few items are open completely and even then it's as someone else mentioned with the use of a air curtain.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Cold air also sits at the bottom so while a lot if it probably still escapes from general ambient air movement a lot of it probably just stays inside.

 

[mikeford]

Commercial refrigeration is about 2/3 of consumer stuff to start with, the L shape controls the air flow pretty well and people buy more when they don't have to open a door.

 

[eelw]

How about Costco and their giant refrigerator rooms? How can those be efficient?

 

[DesiPower]

Yeah, those drive me nuts every time... wtf...

 

[GagHalfrunt]

+1

Typical Food refrigeration cost in a supermarket iis much less expensive than air conditioning the same store; food refrigeration is what 5% of the store size and at least 3 sides and the roof are far better insulated. As MtnMan pointed out they are designed to keep the shelves cold.
They are also designed to keep the front (less insulated side) outside air from entering except of course your hand and arm reaching for a six-pack disrupts the directed layer of cool air used to keep heat out and cold in when the doors are open (older units often don't have that feature and older in refrigeration of air conditioning is another way of saying less-efficient).

Cynical remarks follows: The grocery stores will just pass the cost on to the consumer. Cool customers stay longer when it is hot outside and cool customers stay longer when it is colder outside for the same reason. There are very few places where it is nicer outside than in.

Way wrong.

Typical store refrigeration is anywhere from 45-65% of the total electricity usage and in a cut-throat industry where the margins are slim and there's a different competitor on every corner simply jacking up prices to pass the cost along to the consumer is a sure way to go out of business. If your competitors are killing you on refrigeration costs they're going to kill you period.

It's a double-edged sword because whatever method you choose creates problems. Keeping your cases open wastes electricity and enclosing them blows sales. Doors are not shopper-friendly and installing them takes a big toll on the department. The harder it is to browse and select items the easier it is for a customer to say "screw it" and move on. That's why most stores choose to enclose the frozen foods and keep the dairy department open. Frozen almost has to be be enclosed, if you don't do it that's a giant hit on the energy bill. But for dairy it's better in the long run for the store to keep the cases open, waste the energy and make shopping easier to generate the extra sales.

 

[gorobei]

there was some news story several decades ago, back when they had thick transparent plastic strips in a vertical blinds/curtain layout in front of open refrigeration displays that it saved a ton of energy and kept the cold localized.

naturally they stopped using it because customers didnt like the way it looked and the inconvenience of reaching through the curtain.

 

[K7SN]

Way wrong.

Typical store refrigeration is anywhere from 45-65% of the total electricity usage and in a cut-throat industry where the margins are slim and there's a different competitor on every corner simply jacking up prices to pass the cost along to the consumer is a sure way to go out of business. If your competitors are killing you on refrigeration costs they're going to kill you period.

It's a double-edged sword because whatever method you choose creates problems. Keeping your cases open wastes electricity and enclosing them blows sales. Doors are not shopper-friendly and installing them takes a big toll on the department. The harder it is to browse and select items the easier it is for a customer to say "screw it" and move on. That's why most stores choose to enclose the frozen foods and keep the dairy department open. Frozen almost has to be be enclosed, if you don't do it that's a giant hit on the energy bill. But for dairy it's better in the long run for the store to keep the cases open, waste the energy and make shopping easier to generate the extra sales.

if you say so. it wasn't that way 45 years ago when I last worked in the A/C trade doing mostly commercial food refrigeration. Electricity costs weren't that much then and some of the old slow speed compressors were more efficient and cheaper to work on. I also live in Nevada where this week we dropped below 100 for the first time since June. Heat lose in even the best insulated building is a significant cost.

1965 to 1972 was when I last worked A/C so I only worked with Ammonia based large systems; R12 and R22. Things have changed but I could see room air conditioning be 50% of the costs; not food refrigeration fror freezer units or keeping meat, beer and lettuce cold enough.

Here typical A/C costs double between April and July, food refrigeration remain about the same winter or summer. But I haven't researched enough to dispute your claims.

If you pay $160 a month in April and $390 a month in July a 34% to 65% difference. I'd like to see a breakout of todays different kinds of refrigeration task; room; beer cooler and freezer but my initial quick search yield me little evidence to rebut.

 

[John Connor]

Marketing is a fascinating subject. Placement of products, top shelf, bottom shelf, end stand you name it. It's all a monkeys paradise.

Casino's have their traits too. Like pumping oxygen into the place to make you feel more relaxed. No clocks, placement of lose slots, etc.

That product code you enter online. Shit... you're categorized and easily tracked now. You have to always think, what's in it for them?

Politicians can be the same way. LMAO!

My store has infra-red sensors that detect how many people are in line. If it detects more than x number they bring in another checker. One day they'll just bring in another drone. Already have self-checkout FFS.

 

[Howard]

Air curtains.