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SuperValu is a popular convenience retailer in Richhill, County Armagh and won Independent Retailer of the Year*. Concerned about carbon emissions and energy usage the business has taken steps to optimise its cooling assets and mitigate the environmental impact by investing in energy efficient cooling and heat recovery solutions from Aermec.
As well as fresh meats, fruit and vegetables, home cooked ready meals prepared in house offering the company is also well known for its in-store delicatessen and cafés offering traditional dishes.
Challenge
SuperValu relied on a traditional refrigeration using standard packs for cooling with condenser units and a split system to provide the heating and cooling. Escalating energy costs and costly maintenance encouraged SuperValu to reassess its refrigeration systems and replacing them with more energy efficiency measures.
A key investment would involve the replacement of its aged refrigeration systems and the use of refrigerants – CO2 and propane presented and expensive option to install and efficiencies were compromised due to high electrical consumption and maintenance costs.
Investing in an energy efficient low temperature chiller would help reduce Supervalu’s environmental impact and give customers a more sustainable offering when shopping. And a system using glycol would offer better efficiencies.
Solution
Adopting a mutli-faceted approach, SuperValu collaborated with Aermec and Irish distributor Shilliday Refrigeration Air Conditioning Energy Solutions.
Choosing an Aermec low temperature chiller with total heat recovery would enable the system to produce heat as a free energy, for space heating the shop and providing hot water for kitchen use.
Replacing existing refrigeration cabinets with models that included glass doors, would delivering 50% more efficiencies than traditional open air curtain cabinets. Glycol cooling in line with F-Gas regulations, would reduce the amount of refrigerant that pack systems require to operate – Glycol is also 25% – 30% more efficient for refrigerating than a direct expansion system e.g., HFC, CFC or CO2.
Result
The ceiling cassettes at SuperValu were replaced with Aermec FCL cassettes, networked, and controlled by Aermec’s centralised VMF hydronic management system. Replacing the split system air conditioning is proving to be a substantial energy saver
By investing in a four-pipe simultaneous heating and cooling system the retailer is able to heat and cool the shop and use the recovered heat to provide 1,500 litres of domestic hot water for the kitchen and shop.
The overall changes to its cooling and refrigeration have seen the store’s power consumption reduced on average by 55%.
SuperValu won ‘Independent Retailer of the Year’ in the UK retailer industry awards 2023 following a £480,000 refit that that saw the store invest in new freezers, chillers, digital media screens and self-scan checkouts. It also extended its in-house produced own-label meals and challenged the industry norm by placing them at the front of the store so that customers see chilled food-to-go products first instead of fresh produce. The judges were very impressed describing SuperValu as “Incredible and…All in all…a cracking store.”
Energy efficient low temperature chillerSwitched to Glycol to increase efficiencies and reduce refrigerant usageRecovered heat provides hot water for shop and kitchenPower consumption reduced by 55%
Being a significant player in the European air conditioning market for over 60 years, we are dedicated to the development and testing of our products and the value they bring to our customers. Not just at install, but the lifetime value of an Aermec installation. We believe in the importance of continual research and development, with particular emphasis on rigorous testing of every chiller and heat pump after its assembly, before it is dispatched.
Registered in England Company No. 3112873
