Friday 14 June 2019

Waitrose cuts energy use in its stores by 40% with new fridge tech

Waitrose cuts energy use in its stores by 40% with new fridge tech

Waitrose is cutting energy use in its stores by 40% by using new refrigeration technologies in its chilled food aisles.

The supermarket giant is making the saving by having introduced new open-fronted fridge technology from Wirth Research.

Standard open-fronted supermarket refrigerators lose cold air into the aisle, wasting energy - Wirth Research’s Next Generation Refrigeration (NGR) uses technology from the motorsport industry to redirect airflow and keep as much cold air inside the cabinet as possible.

This means significantly less energy is used, bringing down both emissions and bills.

Waitrose previously made a 25% energy saving with the company's retrofit devices; the new NGR technology is built into the initial design of the fridge, making it much more effective.

The creator of the device claims the 40% energy reduction exceeds that from putting doors onto the front of fridges, which many shops are reluctant to do as they believe this can act as a deterrent to customers.

Waitrose stores in Chesham, Evesham, Dorchester and Worthing have already been equipped with the technology, with plans for the equipment to eventually replace existing refrigeration across the retailer’s entire estate.

Jim Burnett, Senior Manager of Technical Services for Waitrose & Partners, said: "This new technology takes the energy efficiency of our refrigeration to another level, delivering significant environmental benefits while helping to create warmer, more comfortable surroundings for our customers and Partners."

Written by

Bruna Pinhoni

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