Refrigeration Upgrades For
Restaurants
and Cafes
Few things are more important to your restaurant or cafe operations than the refrigeration in your walk-in cooler. Food safety is of paramount importance, and unseen issues could be jeopardizing your product. Refrigeration upgrades for your restaurant or cafe will ensure your most critical system is always running optimally, reduce your commercial electric bill, and avoid surprise catastrophes.
NRM's mission for over 30 years has been to help businesses that rely on refrigeration improve the operation of the system in noticeable, meaningful ways. Your equipment running efficiently and free of operational issues isn't an option for your business, it's a necessity.
What kind of improvements will I see?
NRM’s unique and proven smart controls improve the operation of your refrigeration system from top to bottom. Most importantly, the smart controls adapt operations to run based on need, instead of continually. It also improves your ability to track temperatures, defrost your evaporator fans, address temperature issues, and more.
Have you ever stopped and considered why your refrigeration needs to run just as hard in the middle of January as it does in the middle of July? The short answer is: it actually doesn’t need to. NRM’s efficiency measures can reduce your system’s runtime by an average of 40-60% without jeopardizing food safety.
One of the main contributing factors to the inefficient operation of a commercial refrigeration system is old, outdated equipment components. Most systems we encounter are 10-15+ years old, which means much of the hardware can be upgraded to higher efficiency versions. This extends the overall life of the system, and improves operation.
Along with better operation and oversight, NRM delivers proven, verifiable energy savings that will lower your monthly commercial electric bill. Because the savings can be tracked and verified, the majority of our utility partners trust NRM’s results enough that they’re the exclusive vendor for refrigeration controls and measures.
"The installation was truly professional, and I give it two thumbs up. There was zero disruption to my business. I also support the idea of energy efficiency and NRM’s controls show me exactly how much better my system is performing. In the first week, it ran 58% less than before while keeping my temperatures."
— Malcolm Badger, Manager, McSheffrey’s Up North
CoolTrol® is the backbone of every zero-finger-lift solution.
CoolTrol is more than a "new" thermostat. It gives you full control over the operation of your refrigeration system right at your fingertips. Not only that, it's as user-friendly as possible, with clear descriptions of which buttons perform which functions, and an LCD screen.
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The process to get these refrigeration upgrades couldn’t be easier. It starts with a quick discussion of your basic store info such as current refrigeration layout, monthly energy costs, and what you’re looking to achieve.
From there, we’ll decide together the next best step to take. Usually, it’s a full, no-obligation refrigeration assessment to identify your actual opportunities. Then, we check if your utility provider offers any incentives for energy-efficiency projects in your area.
Everyone from managers to hourly workers to delivery drivers will love the refrigeration upgrades
Smart controls, on-demand defrost, and a safe, timed shutdown are a few of the refrigeration upgrades you'll receive. These help ensure your staff interact with your cooling system both more effectively and more safely.
Automated Temperature
Logging & Tracking
Eliminate the risk of human error in your temperature recordkeeping by having it logged automatically 24/7. Our system never needs to take a sick day.
On-Demand
Instant Defrost
Notice ice building up on your evaporator coils? Don’t wait for your ref. tech on a service call, start a defrost from your phone or on the controller.
Timed System
Shutdown Button
Safely turn off the evaporator fans for a short period of time while employees or delivery drivers are performing their duties in the walk-in cooler.
High/Low Temp. + Many More Alerts
Arm yourself with a wealth of operational alarms to stay ahead of expensive emergencies and at-risk product. Unique alerts like short cycling or amp. spikes.
Controls Bypass for Troubleshooting
A unique and beloved feature is the controls bypass. This treats our controls as if they aren't there so your tech. can troubleshoot issues in the system.
May Qualify for Utility-Funded Incentives
NRM’s energy efficiency upgrades are verifiable and proven over the last 25 years. As a result, they often qualify for generous utility-funded incentives.
High/Low Temp. + Many More Alerts
Arm yourself with a wealth of operational alarms to stay ahead of expensive emergencies and at-risk product. Unique alerts like short cycling or amp. spikes.
Controls Bypass for Troubleshooting
A unique and beloved feature is the controls bypass. This treats our controls as if they aren't there so your tech. can troubleshoot issues in the system.
May Qualify for Utility-Funded Incentives
NRM’s energy efficiency upgrades are verifiable and proven over the last 25 years. As a result, they often qualify for generous utility-funded incentives.
Automated Temperature
Logging & Tracking
Eliminate the risk of human error in your temperature recordkeeping by having it logged automatically 24/7. Our system never needs to take a sick day.
On-Demand
Instant Defrost
Notice ice building up on your evaporator coils? Don’t wait for your ref. tech on a service call, start a defrost from your phone or on the controller.
Timed System
Shutdown Button
Safely turn off the evaporator fans for a short period of time while employees or delivery drivers are performing their duties in the walk-in cooler.
“I really like the functionality of the controls, and the energy savings are obviously great. In fact, I love the controls so much that I recently signed up to get them in my second store done as well!”
— Mr. Patel, Owner, Rt. 6 Beer & Wine
We've helped thousands of small businesses just like yours
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Upgrades for your refrigeration system may be eligible for generous incentives from your utility provider that cover 50-100% of the up-front project cost.
You must act now, though, because utilities award the incentive dollars on a first-come, first-served basis!
We hear these questions most frequently
How can NRM's solution save so much energy?
Did you know commercial refrigeration systems are sized for the hottest days of the year? But the “hottest days” only happen about 20 times per year, which means all systems are oversized for the other 340~ days. The CoolTrol® smart controls take advantage of that fact to adapt your system’s cooling based on need. It also manages defrost more closely to what is required, and monitors temperatures. Along with those controls, NRM implements multiple other efficiency enhancements.
My refrigeration tech says it's not safe to turn off my evaporator fans. Is that true?
In an unsafe manner, yes. But with NRM’s solution, it is perfectly safe. Implemented in over 50,000 systems to-date, the smart controls keep fans running when refrigeration is ON and only cycles them OFF whenever refrigeration is OFF. Every running fan motor generates heat into the cold space, which requires the system to keep calling for cooling. Why keep what are essentially heaters running once temperature set point is reached?
What kind of guarantee can you provide me that these savings are real?
NRM has earned the utility’s trust and confidence, which is the greatest guarantee we can offer. In some programs, NRM has been providing solutions since 1997 with the local utility company’s backing. We would not continue to win these contracts year over year if we didn’t produce deliver the projected savings. But also, the smart controls track equipment runtimes and operational histories. You’ll see in plain numbers how much less your system runs.
Why is the utility company paying me money to use LESS energy?
Many towns, cities, and states are adopting laws and regulations to get both citizens and companies to use less energy. Considering it is more economical and practical to encourage consumers to use less energy than to build a new power plant, more areas will start to undertake similar programs.
In these programs, utilities collect a fee on your electric bill based on usage. It may be a line item shown as “public benefit charge” or “energy conservation charge”. This money accumulates and is used to fund the incentives that pay for energy-efficiency optimizations.
While the funds are only available for qualifying projects, it is there for businesses to take advantage of.
So, it’s a smart investment to participate in the programs and get incentives to upgrade your refrigeration. You’re already paying in to it, you might as well use it.
How much incentive do I qualify for?
The incentive depends on how much energy a project can save.
Think of it as the utility buying capacity from you to prevent overtaxing the energy grid. The power you save now becomes available to new customers later. To find out what you might qualify for, we recommend a no-cost assessment of your current refrigeration system. This enables us to calculate savings that we then present to your utility company, who then allots the amount they will pay for your capacity.
If your systems already are considered partially or totally energy efficient, there may be little or no opportunity for reducing energy or qualifying for an incentive.
What level of technical proficiency is required to use CoolTrol®?
CoolTrol® functions specifically for you: the end user. The smart controls are equipped with software developed by NRM and designed to intelligently operate equipment at optimum energy efficiency. It has many user-friendly features, and a superior user interface compared to traditional refrigeration thermostats that are primarily designed for technicians, not end users.