Dublin-based energy saving company One Call Maintenance has launched a new refrigeration technology on the Irish market that it claims will slash both energy costs and greenhouse emissions by impressive amounts. Invented by UK engineers, the eCube is little bigger than an MP3 player and is simple and economical to fit.
The eCube cuts the energy used by fridges and freezers by up to 33%, according to One Call Maintenance. When you consider that refrigeration can cost anywhere between 20% and 60% of a business’ overall energy bill these are claims not to be ignored.
All refrigeration (freezer or fridge) units measure air temperature within the cabinet – this tells them when to switch on and off the compressor. Unfortunately, when the cabinet is opened and closed during normal use, hotter air from outside comes in contact with the sensor and the compressor is switched on unnecessarily when the temperature of the product has not actually changed. So you end up paying to cool the air in the cabinet when you really want the refrigeration unit to concentrate on maintaining the temperature of the product only. This problem is even more acute with open refrigeration units like dairy walls.
By corresponding with the actual temperature of the product eCube prevents fridge and freezer compressors from activating unnecessarily and wasting energy.
Over 60,000 eCubes have been sold in the UK, and Christian Sheridan of One Call Maintenance says eCube is generating immense interest here among Irish supermarket chains, convenience store owners, hoteliers and publicans and anyone who is operating commercial refrigeration.