If you’re a customer browsing the aisles of a convenience store and you hear a faint whistling sound or feel a cool breeze as you pass through the cooler or freezer section, don’t be alarmed—the store isn’t haunted. What it may be, however, is highly energy inefficient, which is an even more significant concern for the site operator than the presence of a few random ghosts.
There is usually only one explanation for a cold-vault door that whistles or allows cool air to escape: the door’s gasket material has become fatigued or deformed, which means that the door does not rest properly when it is closed. This creates gaps between the gasket material and door frame, which allows air to escape, resulting in cooling equipment that needs to work harder and, by extension, higher energy usage and utility costs.
“It’s a given that traditional polyvinyl chloride (PVC) gaskets will, over time and after thousands of open-and-close cycles, experience fatigue and a decrease in flexibility that will cause the gasket to lose its shape,” said Craig Little, president and CEO of Anthony. “Recognizing the need for more forgiving gasket materials, we have developed the LifePlus Gasket, which is constructed of a thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) that is able to consistently hold its shape. The result is a superior seal, longer gasket life and reduced energy costs for the site operator.”
The LifePlus Gasket’s long-lasting TPE material possesses excellent elastic-recovery characteristics, which allows it to retain tight sealing performance throughout repeated openings and closings, and thermal changes such as anti-condensate heat cycles. This is critical not only in retaining already slim operating margins, but also because achieving energy-efficient cold-vault operation will take on added importance in March 2017. That’s when the Department of Energy’s new regulations regarding energy-efficiency standards for commercial-refrigeration equipment will go into effect. Therefore, any decrease in kilowatt hours consumed at that time will result in a more bottom-line-friendly utility bill and also help the c-store retailer attain compliance with the revised energy-consumption rates that will become the new normal early next year.
Retrofitting cooler and freezer doors with the latest gasket materials, which can increase a door’s gasket life by 100%, is just one way to improve operational reliability and energy efficiency in a store’s cold-vault section. To that end, Anthony, a leading provider of cooler and freezer doors, has produced a white paper that demonstrates how its next-generation gasket materials can work in conjunction with improved door hold-open technology and cutting-edge energy-free doors to reduce overall energy consumption, maintenance and operating costs.
Where To Start
To encourage retailers to retrofit their coolers and freezers with energy-efficient LifePlus Gaskets, which are compatible with many of Anthony’s most popular cold-vault door models, Anthony is offering a 1+1=5 sales promotion. With this promotion, any retailer who purchases one next-generation LifePlus Gasket and one Cloze Control™ door hold-open will receive five years of gasket warranty. To take advantage of the 1+1=5 promotion, please go to www.anthonystore.com/special.
This post is sponsored by Anthony