Cooling and Refrigeration equipment is important infrastructure on many farms to remove field heat from fruit and vegetables, to cool milk and to store and prepare produce for transport. The operation of cooling equipment and cold rooms can make up a significant part of the power bill of many farms in many sectors.

Ryan Dillon from Webster’s Group has conducted a number of on-farm energy efficiency audits during QBEST and in other QFF Energy Audit programs.

In this webinar, Ryan gave a summary of some key findings of some detailed energy efficiency on-farm assessments.

Using thermal Imaging cameras and run-time counters to analyse the performance of equipment,

Ryan was able to show a number of opportunities for improving the efficiency of cold rooms and some key statistics Ryan reported were:

• The cost of leaky cold room door seals being around $18 per metre annually;
• The cost of cold rooms walls and doors being exposed to direct sun being $19 per m² per year; and
• The cost of opening doors being between $7 to $15 per hour.

Also, with the Thermal Imagery camera, he was able to show that poor ventilation of outdoor condenser units raises their ambient temperature and reduces their efficiency.

Ryan also gives his top tips for setting up a new cold room:

1. Put it in a shed.
2. If you already have a cold room, install the new one adjoining it.
3. Have good shading and air flow for the condenser units.
4. Design for efficiency (understand the life time cost).
5. Quality installation and commissioning.

QFF delivered Type 2 and 3 energy audits at 35 large electricity users throughout Queensland as part of the The Queensland Business Energy Savers Transformation (QBEST) initiative. QFF delivered the QBEST Program with funding from the Queensland Government.

There are over 100 energy efficiency case studies from recent energy audits on the ag energy hub Ag Energy Hub - An energy resource hub for Queensland farmers and landholders.