Optimization Solutions for Walk-in Coolers
MD Small Business Incentive Programs
Maryland utility companies want to pay you to get efficiency upgrades for your commercial refrigeration equipment, and to use less energy. Preferred partners like NRM can effortlessly help make that happen, by handling the entire process from idea to install.
COLD is the new GREEN.
With demand continuing to grow, your utility provider recognizes they need to “buy back” electricity from their commercial customers with smaller energy footprints and divert it to larger ones who really need it. And in states like Maryland, where there are fewer and fewer ways for the utility companies to generate new electricity, they’re looking to get creative with their strategies to solve these energy issues.
As a result, NRM can offer approved solutions as a program partner, with a unique focus on commercial and industrial refrigeration systems.
And implementing these optimizations may qualify for big incentives from the utility sponsors of the energy efficiency program. But incentives are limited on a first-come, first-serve basis, so you must act now.
Did you know your walk-in cooler is sized to withstand the single hottest day of the year?
That means for the other 364 days your refrigeration system is working harder than it needs to, wasting both kWh and costing you real dollars.
For many Maryland small businesses with refrigeration, this inefficient operation results in their walk-in being their biggest electricity hog month after month. But it doesn’t have to be.
NRM offers award-winning, proven optimizations that drastically reduce your operating costs, providing long-term savings, while simultaneously extending the life of the equipment and improving your capabilities to manage it.
Most common places we find upgrade opportunities:
Evaporator Fan Operation
Evaporator Fan Motors
As most evaporator fans currently operate 100% of the time, the older, inefficient motors are continuously generating and rejecting heat into the cold space. New EC Motor technology are upgrades that drastically reduce the amount of heat created by over 60%, as well as improve overall performance.
Anti-Sweat Door Heaters
Novelty Cooler Runtimes
If you have soft drinks coolers, CoolTrol can schedule them to be off while your business is closed, saving 100% energy during off-hours.
Evaporator Coil Defrost
In-Cooler Lighting Upgrades
Not only reduce energy consumption by upgrading from old, fluorescent lamps to LED, but improve your product display with a cooler, brighter appearance. If applicable, upgrades can include overhead in-cooler lamps as well as door-lined lamps for reach-in product coolers.
It couldn't be easier to get.
The quickest way to discover if your facility can benefit from our solution is to request a callback:
With some preliminary information about your business, such as current facility operations, energy costs, and most importantly your optimization goals, we can give you a general idea of how we may be able to help.
From there, we’ll decide together the next best step to take. It could be a full, no-obligation refrigeration assessment to identify your actual opportunities, or it could be checking with your utility provider if they offer any incentives for energy-efficiency projects.
"The energy savings have definitely been noticeable! Our electric bill has decreased about 25% since NRM optimized our coolers. But the biggest benefit has been Remote Site Manager. It’s great to be made aware of mechanical issues that might otherwise go unnoticed in between the quarterly preventative maintenance calls. And the visual diagnostics on the dashboard are a great help in explaining to the technicians exactly what’s going on when they do need to come out."
— Adria, Facilities Manager
Frequently Asked Questions
In an unsafe manner, yes. But with NRM’s solution, it is perfectly safe. Implemented in over 50,000 systems to-date, the new controls keep fans running when refrigeration is ON and only cycles them OFF and whenever refrigeration is OFF. Every running fan motor generates heat and the new system run time when air movement is not necessary. Why keep the heaters running once temperature set point is reached?
NRM has earned the utility’s trust and confidence, which is the greatest guarantee we can offer. In some programs, NRM has been providing solutions since 1997 with the local utility company’s backing. We would not continue to win these contracts year over year if we didn’t produce deliver the projected savings.
Most states have adopted laws to get citizens and companies to use less energy as it is more economical to encourage consumers to use less energy through incentives than to build a new power plant which no one wants near them. Utilities are tasked with collecting a fee on your utility bill based on usage. It may be a line item shown as “public benefit charge” or “energy conservation charge”. This money accumulates and is used to fund the incentives that pay for energy efficiency optimizations. Since it is available for all ratepayers, it is a great way to fund energy efficiency programs that give capacity back to the electrical grid while also reducing your commercial electric bill. So it’s a smart investment to participate in the programs and to take advantage of the incentives to get some of your money back through upgrades to your own equipment. The money isn’t free, but it will contribute toward qualified energy efficiency projects. It’s a great way to make a difference to your bottom line.
It really depends on how much energy a project can save… just think of it as the utility buying capacity from you to prevent overtaxing the energy grid. The power you save now becomes available to new customers. To find out what you can get, we recommend a no cost assessment of your current system that will enable us to calculate savings that we then present to your utility company who allots the amount they will pay for your capacity. If your systems already are considered partially or totally energy efficient, there may be little or no opportunity for reducing energy or qualifying for an incentive.
Mid-Atlantic Success Stories
MD Food Bank
Salerno's Seafood
Shop N' Bag Chain
Domino's Pizza Chain
"NRM has been outstanding through this whole program. Your technicians were very professional, and during the last project, even took the time to answer questions from my refrigeration guy so he could properly interact with the controls moving forward. And the energy savings help everyone’s bottom line. If the utility companies can’t find new ways to generate electricity, our costs are going to go up substantially, so this is a way we all can help."
— Bruce Reamer, Owner
