site.openhandstore.org Blog

Small Change = Big Impact

April 21, 2010 on 4:16 pm | In Sustainability | No Comments

The Operations Department at Project Open Hand always has it’s collective ear to the ground to find ways to save money and energy and we have just completed a small job that could help in both of those arenas.

 A recent development in refrigeration technology is the ECM motor.  This stands for Electrically Commutated Motor.  ECM motors are microprocessor controlled, requiring less current for the same effect and therefore resulting in greater efficiency.  ECM motors are also brushless causing them to have a minimal amount of resistance (friction) which translates into less heat in the coolers and freezers  from the motors themselves.  Refrigeration in it’s most basic form is getting rid of heat, rather than cooling air, so reducing heat from the fan motors is a great first step.  

We were able to have Bay Area Refrigeration install these ECM’s in our freezers and coolers at a minimal cost to POH.  We will be tracking our electrical usage over the next year to see how much of a difference these motors make, but my first impression is that they are already having an impact.

 I have observed over the last few days that the compressors,  which are outside of the boxes at various locations are simply not turning on as frequently as they were, but still maintaining the same temperature in the boxes.   Bingo, energy savings!  We will have some data within the next 6 months to indicate what kind of savings we are generating.  We are hoping to pay off the cost of the installation in energy savings in that amount of time. 

Every small increment of energy savings translates to more resources we can dedicate to our clients.

Posted by Steve