Optimization Solutions for Walk-in Coolers

OK Small Business Incentive Programs

Oklahoma utility companies want to pay you to get efficiency upgrades for your commercial refrigeration equipment, and to use less energy. Preferred partners like NRM can effortlessly help make that happen, by handling the entire process from idea to install.

COLD is the new GREEN.

With demand continuing to grow, your utility provider recognizes they need to “buy back” electricity from their commercial customers with smaller energy footprints and divert it to larger ones who really need it. And in states like Oklahoma, where there are fewer and fewer ways for the utility companies to generate new electricity, they’re looking to get creative with their strategies to solve these energy issues.

As a result, NRM can offer approved solutions as a program partner, with a unique focus on commercial and industrial refrigeration systems.

And implementing these optimizations may qualify for big incentives from the utility sponsors of the energy efficiency program. But incentives are limited on a first-come, first-serve basis, so you must act now.

Did you know your walk-in cooler is sized to withstand the single hottest day of the year?

That means for the other 364 days your refrigeration system is working harder than it needs to, wasting both kWh and costing you real dollars.

For many Oklahoma small businesses with refrigeration, this inefficient operation results in their walk-in being their biggest electricity hog month after month. But it doesn’t have to be.

NRM offers award-winning, proven optimizations that drastically reduce your operating costs, providing long-term savings, while simultaneously extending the life of the equipment and improving your capabilities to manage it.

Most common places we find upgrade opportunities:

No longer do your evaporator fan sets need to run 100% of the time 24/7/365. CoolTrol® can reduce their operation times by up to 70%, which decreases your monthly electric costs and extends the life of the equipment.

As most evaporator fans currently operate 100% of the time, the older, inefficient motors are continuously generating and rejecting heat into the cold space. New EC Motor technology are upgrades that drastically reduce the amount of heat created by over 60%, as well as improve overall performance.

Your door heaters are a significant source of savings, and CoolTrol® can reduce their runtimes by up to 95% in coolers and up to 60% in freezers.

If you have soft drinks coolers, CoolTrol can schedule them to be off while your business is closed, saving 100% energy during off-hours.

By allowing CoolTrol® to manage your electric defrost, defrosts will initiate based on algorithms in the controls software using coil temperatures and runtimes instead of a fixed schedule. This drastically decreases the amount of energy waste, as well as nuisance maintenance calls, for icing issues. CoolTrol® systems can be networked and save more energy through synchronizing defrosts.

Not only reduce energy consumption by upgrading from old, fluorescent lamps to LED, but improve your product display with a cooler, brighter appearance. If applicable, upgrades can include overhead in-cooler lamps as well as door-lined lamps for reach-in product coolers.

It couldn't be easier to get.

The quickest way to discover if your facility can benefit from our solution is to request a callback:

With some preliminary information about your business, such as current facility operations, energy costs, and most importantly your optimization goals, we can give you a general idea of how we may be able to help.

From there, we’ll decide together the next best step to take. It could be a full, no-obligation refrigeration assessment to identify your actual opportunities, or it could be checking with your utility provider if they offer any incentives for energy-efficiency projects.

"The equipment is performing very well! My fans are not running all day like they used to and I have already seen a drop in my power bill."

— Mike Lee, Owner

Frequently Asked Questions

Refrigeration and HVAC equipment are sized for THE HOTTEST DAYS of the year, and they always add a safety factor in case more is needed. But the “hottest days” only happen 20-30 times per year, which means all systems are oversized for the other 330~ days. The CoolTrol® system manages all the loads to take advantage of the oversizing, and turns off loads that don’t need to be on all the time. It also manages defrost more closely to what is needed. Some facilities have very big cold rooms so they add redundant systems meaning that capacity can sometimes be 2-4x of what is needed on average days.

In an unsafe manner, yes. But with NRM’s solution, it is perfectly safe. Implemented in over 50,000 systems to-date, the new controls keep fans running when refrigeration is ON and only cycles them OFF and whenever refrigeration is OFF. Every running fan motor generates heat and the new system run time when air movement is not necessary. Why keep the heaters running once temperature set point is reached?

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. 

Most states have adopted laws to get citizens and companies to use less energy as it is more economical to encourage consumers to use less energy through incentives than to build a new power plant which no one wants near them. Utilities are tasked with collecting a fee on your utility 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. Since it is available for all ratepayers, it is a great way to fund energy efficiency programs that give capacity back to the electrical grid while also reducing your commercial electric bill. So it’s a smart investment to participate in the programs and to take advantage of the incentives to get some of your money back through upgrades to your own equipment. The money isn’t free, but it will contribute toward qualified energy efficiency projects. It’s a great way to make a difference to your bottom line.

It really depends on how much energy a project can save… just 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. To find out what you can get, we recommend a no cost assessment of your current system that will enable us to calculate savings that we then present to your utility company who 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.

CoolTrol® is designed specifically for you, the end user. It is equipped with software developed by NRM and is designed to intelligently operate equipment at optimum energy efficiency.  It becomes your new refrigeration thermostat that takes advantage of every opportunity for saving energy. 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.

Oklahoma Success Stories

Perfect Food & Gas

With NRM's help, they are now able to save $13,500 and 120,000 kWh every year from their commercial electric bill.

Dash Inn

With NRM's help, they are now able to save $2,100 and 19,000 kWh every year from their commercial electric bill.

Batman's Good Food

With NRM's help, they are now able to save $3,300 and 30,000 kWh every year from their commercial electric bill.

Tigers Express

With NRM's help, they are now able to save $4,000 and 37,000 kWh every year from their commercial electric bill.

"Everything has been performing just as promised and my bill has dropped by a few hundred dollars. I’ve told all my friends!"

— Asif, Owner

Let's talk about your project today