GREEN GUIDE PART TWO
Variable over fixed = green
John Prall, technical support engineer at Nidec Global Appliance discusses how Variable Speed Compressors provide significant environmental and financial advantages compared to fixed speed compressors.
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educing environmental impact is an important part of doing business today. Companies are no longer waiting for government - or industry - mandated
regulations to lead the way in becoming more energy efficient and environmentally responsible. Yet, positively impacting the environment shouldn’t negatively impact your bottom line. Doing good needs to also be good for business.
That’s why the light commercial refrigeration market has started to switch to variable speed compressors (VCCs) using R-290 natural refrigerant. VCCs are a much more environmentally responsible option that also provides significant savings and smart business benefits compared to traditional on-off compressors. There’s no denying the substantial upfront financial
investment required to phase out and upgrade legacy cooling systems with these more efficient solutions, so it’s important to carefully weigh the differences. To see the significant return of investment (ROI) and other advantages your business can realize from VCCs, there are five areas of comparison that matter most.
Variable vs. Fixed Speed A traditional fixed speed (on-off) compressor operates at a constant speed, continuously switching on and off to
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meet your equipment’s energy demand. This operational pattern requires abrupt power loads when starting and can lead to wasted energy after the target temperature is reached but the motor has not yet turned off. VCCs are able to recover from door openings much faster, reducing the time the system spends removing the heat infiltration. During stabilized conditions, the compressor can operate at a lower, more efficient speed to match the equipment’s energy demand, helping you to more quickly realize significant ROI. In fact, the switch from on-off compressors to VCCs
in vertical freezer equipment can pay for itself in just six months. That’s because VCCs reach target temperature up to 70% faster, saving up to 33% energy consumption (sure it also depends on proper VCC compressor model selection).
Soft vs. Hard Start VCCs “soft start,” meaning the compressor starts at a lower speed, ramps up to full speed within a few minutes and continually adjusts current to provide needed power depending on the system’s conditions.
This slower ramp up time compared to the “hard start”
of on-off compressors dramatically reduces the starting current of the motor.
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