Methods to assess energy usage in food cold stores

A mathematical model was applied to predict energy used by cold stores. This was compared with actual energy consumption data collected in a survey of cold stores. The model was used to investigate different usage scenarios and varied ambient conditions around the chilled and frozen cold stores. This indicated that many chilled and frozen stores had very high usage and/or inefficient refrigeration systems. Less than 13% of chilled and 12% of frozen stores used less energy than an efficiently used store with an efficient refrigeration system. The model indicated that smaller stores of less than 25,000 m3 tended to use more energy than the model predicted, even at the least efficient, highest usage scenario. With further validation the model could be used to benchmark the energy usage of cold stores and help identify where energy savings could be best achieved.