So what's with the open fridges at supermarkets?

[brblx]

i always just figured maybe the net cost of cooling was about the same. i.e. if you held all the cold air inside insulated freezer/fridges, you would be left with a shit ton of hot air inside the store that would all be the job the building's A/C.

now, winter seems a different story.

 

[Itchrelief]

i always just figured maybe the net cost of cooling was about the same. i.e. if you held all the cold air inside insulated freezer/fridges, you would be left with a shit ton of hot air inside the store that would all be the job the building's A/C.

now, winter seems a different story.

That would only be if they vented the exhaust outside. I doubt that they run ducts to all the refrigerators, but I don't actually know.

 

[wswadman]

This paper shows that doored displays reduce power usage by 30% on average: http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2153&context=iracc

The following asserts that this decrease will translate to roughly a similar increase in profits for supermarkets: https://www9.nationalgridus.com/non_html/shared_energyeff_groceries.pdf

So the reason doored displays aren't ubiquitous yet must indeed be that customers are too lazy to open those doors.

In my home country (the Netherlands) many supermarkets switched to doored displays some years ago. But, as with many things, some Scandinavian country has gone one step further already: http://www.digitaltrends.com/home/glue-smart-lock-grocery-delivery-sweden/

 

[Fanatical Meat]

At least its a moderately informative necro

 

[Exterous]

At least its a moderately informative necro

shockingly so

 

[SamQuint]

I am sure the reason they have them open is for sales. I would assume people are far more likely to grab something on impulse if they do not have to open a door to get to it.

 

[Kaido]

That's a good question.

It really is...my grocery store has a bunch of open fridges with products stacked diagonally. They just added one near the deli for pre-packaged deli-sliced cheeses & meats, so it must do a good job of keeping stuff cold. I wonder how much of that is dependent on the store being a fixed temperature, i.e., would one of those work from home? It'd be awesome to have an open fridge in your kitchen & just walk up and grab a drink & a sandwich, haha. Plus it'd contribute to keeping your house cool!

I'm always looking for weird house stuff...we're getting a starter house at the end of the year & I've already convinced my wife to go with urinals (woot woot!) & a water fountain (Elkay drinking fountain + bottle filler with a built-in filter = no more nasty tap water + no more Poland Springs bottles!). It's interesting to see how technology changes to get into residential locations...for example, the released an in-home freeze-dryer (for food) a couple years ago, started at $5k & already down to $3k. Not as cheap as a $79 ice cream machine, but it's nice to see stuff like that & freezer/fridge drawers dropping in price :thumbsup:

 

[Capt Caveman]

It really is...my grocery store has a bunch of open fridges with products stacked diagonally. They just added one near the deli for pre-packaged deli-sliced cheeses & meats, so it must do a good job of keeping stuff cold. I wonder how much of that is dependent on the store being a fixed temperature, i.e., would one of those work from home? It'd be awesome to have an open fridge in your kitchen & just walk up and grab a drink & a sandwich, haha. Plus it'd contribute to keeping your house cool!

I'm always looking for weird house stuff...we're getting a starter house at the end of the year & I've already convinced my wife to go with urinals (woot woot!) & a water fountain (Elkay drinking fountain + bottle filler with a built-in filter = no more nasty tap water + no more Poland Springs bottles!). It's interesting to see how technology changes to get into residential locations...for example, the released an in-home freeze-dryer (for food) a couple years ago, started at $5k & already down to $3k. Not as cheap as a $79 ice cream machine, but it's nice to see stuff like that & freezer/fridge drawers dropping in price :thumbsup:

Your going to install urinals in a starter home? And when you decide to sell, you're going to make it more difficult to sell?

 

[Zee]

also, with closed fridges, you have to deal with ice build up and condensation protocol

 

[Kaido]

Your going to install urinals in a starter home? And when you decide to sell, you're going to make it more difficult to sell?

They're pretty urinals. They have flowers on them :wub:

 

[Capt Caveman]

They're pretty urinals. They have flowers on them :wub:

Well, when you decide to sell, you're going to limit who's going to be interested in buying your place or you're going to have to pay to have them removed.

 

[Jeff7]

Well, when you decide to sell, you're going to limit who's going to be interested in buying your place or you're going to have to pay to have them removed.

Some people may also not place "home resale value" at the very top of their priorities list.

 

[MongGrel]

At least its a moderately informative necro

+1

Most of the freezers in the Publix we shop at most of the time have doors.

There are many open refrigeration areas, along the perimeter, but as it is Florida I would think that would just assist with the AC costs.

 

[TheGardener]

What kind of mind goes from a subject of refrigerated or frozen food to urinals? No 5 year old thread on urinals?

 

[Bacstar]

Curious...I never worked in a super-market. Do they empty those open-coolers , or do they just throw a "blanket" over everything before closing?

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Even if open-style freezers and refrigerators are more energy-intensive than the ones with doors on them, I'd guess it's probably better from the standpoint of creating an open and inviting customer experience that encourages people to buy more food.

The doors are a hassle for the hoverround crowd, and get all fogged/iced up when people stand there with the door open deciding which flavor of ice cream to buy.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I always thought it was odd too, as I'm sure they waste a lot of energy. A lot of those units have a roof top unit too though as opposed to being built in like a home fridge where it actually generates heat in the building, so I guess it helps to keep the actual store cool too, which is great in the summer months, but not so much in winter.

Though I guess since cold air is heavier, it might not be as bad as it seems since the cold air will mostly stay within the enclosure. At least for the ones that are enclosed on all sides and just have to top open. The produce ones don't tend to be designed that way so those probably waste quite a lot of energy.

 

[EvilYoda]

I saw the thread title and was thought - didn't someone post something just like this a few years ago...

Good ol' necros.

 

[TheGardener]

When picking out an item from an open refrigerator or freezer, I never take the first item in the column. I prefer going back one, two or three items. I don't know if the difference in temperature is significant, but how can I tell. So why take a chance? In a closed system, I don't think about it.

Well in a way I do. I check expiration dates. If the ones further back have a better date, I'll buy those. I do that on non-refrigerated shelves as well. Just this weekend, I found an item whose expiration date was 2015.

 

[LTC8K6]

I've never seen a store that did not have doors on the vertical coolers/freezers.

I assume they would use the "air curtain" method of keeping the products inside frozen, which works quite well.

 

[who?]

also, with closed fridges, you have to deal with ice build up and condensation protocol

The automatic defrost cycle eliminates the ice build up. Before automatic defrosting even freezers with doors would slowly fill with ice and had to be turned off and defrosted every now and then. And also freezers with no doors.

 

[feralkid]

Eggs age significantly faster at room temperature than when refrigerated. And if you're keeping eggs for months, you're eating rotten eggs.

The U.S along with a few other countries requires eggs to be immediately washed after they are laid. This removes a protective layer and henceforth the eggs must be refrigerated or they will quickly spoil.

Unwashed eggs left at room temperature last relatively long before spoilage.

It's two different philosophies, both based on fear of salmonella.

They both work.

 

[Carson Dyle]

The U.S along with a few other countries requires eggs to be immediately washed after they are laid. This removes a protective layer and henceforth the eggs must be refrigerated or they will quickly spoil.

Unwashed eggs left at room temperature last relatively long before spoilage.

It's two different philosophies, both based on fear of salmonella.

They both work.

I never refrigerate eggs. I don't leave them for months, as I simply eat them. But I know I've had eggs out in summertime temps for as long a month with no sign of spoilage.

 

[feralkid]

Are you referring to store-bought?

 

[Torn Mind]

Sodium metasilicate is the secret to preserving eggs indefinite.

Of course, this trinket of knowledge is not known to suburbia and urban peoples given the loss off knowledge of farming and bans on chickens in "cilvilized" lands of pretentiouness. And even I only learned of it after first learning that chemical was used in Cars for Clunkers to destroy engines.

Indeed, hypocritical tree huggers would do well to dump the fridge and sustain themselves off eggs and solutions of sodium metasilicate.