Do I switch off chillers or keep them running overnight?

[Neeps]

Hi sorry if this is the wrong place to ask... I wasn't sure.

I work for a shop where we have 2 large open faced remote chillers that we use to chill beer and wine. The shop is closed between 9.30 pm and 7 am. What I need to know is should these refridgerators be switched off overnight to conserve electricity? Someone said that it wasn't worth it because of the power required to bring the temperature back down in the morning was greater than that required to keep it cool overnight. Any thoughts?

Thanks In Advance

Neeps

[p_p]

Leave them on and pull down the night blinds if fitted.


regards

PP

[Neeps]

That surprises me a lot i was sure i was going to be told to turn them off!!

Thanks
Neeps

[chillin out]

Pull the blind down and switch them off.

Chillin

[Neeps]

Didn't both your posts say the opposite yesterday!! I'm losing my marbles. Anyone got a definitive answer on this one?

[taz24]

Didn't both your posts say the opposite yesterday!! I'm losing my marbles. Anyone got a definitive answer on this one?

You are keeping wine and beer cool Yes?

So beer going off is not the problem you just want it cold for the customer.

If you have blinds on the fridge and you pull the blinds down at night, the fridge
will reach the correct temp and then cut in and out to maintain that temp.
Yes it will use electricity.

If you pull the blinds down and turn it off, the product will slowly warm up.
The speed it warms up will depend on the temp of the shop and how much
product there is in the fridge.

If the shop is very cold at night then the product will not warm up very quickley
and the more there is of the product the colder it will stay.

So you have a lot of factors to think about.

Leave the thing running and it will use the same rate of electricity day in day out,
if you turn the fridge off for the night the fridge will have to reach the correct
temp before cutting out so the electricity drawn during the day will be higher than at night.

No real easy answer. Fridges are meant to be turned on and left running. By turning it
off regulary you may interrupt the normal function like defrost (if on a time clock the
correct time will be lost so you could turn it on and then it go into defrost)

You will have to run it for a month, turnning it off at night and then compare your electricity
meter reading and see if it proves to be cheaper. Remember the colder the shop at night the
colder the product, but that goes for if the fridge is running or not and if you cool the shop
at night you do have to heat it during the day.

No easy solution I'm affraid.

Cheers taz.

[icecube51]

in Belgium we have special price for electricity at night.
is it not possible to make some kind of clock so it switch to night tariff??

Ice

[750 Valve]

You can look at a "night setback". Leaving it running 24 hrs a day but when you pull the blinds down overnight you can look at running a slightly higher case temp.

By shutting the blind alone you are reducing the load on the case and thereby reducing comressor cycles and in turn saving energy. This combined with a night setback of say 2 to 3°C should reap some rewards without sacrificing stock temp to a point that you have to run the case for the first 4 hours flat out to chill the product back down again.

If you want real savings though get a cabinet with doors on it and ditch the open case.

[icecube51]

or mount doors to the existing cabinets

and set the rest like 750Valve recommend ??
Ice

[Tapas K Mitra]

You have to keep the chiller on and pull the blin down. This is the only answer.