Gratnells

Gratnells blasts energy costs by 40%

 

Gratnells

Leading manufacturer of plastic tray storage systems, Gratnells is on track to reduce the annual operating costs of its chilled water system by 40% thanks to a free cooling solution from IsoCool. This will equate to savings of approximately £18,000 per year.

From its manufacturing plant in Harlow Essex, Gratnells runs its injection mould operation 24 hours per day in order to meet demand for the company’s award-winning storage tray products, which are currently exported to 68 countries worldwide. Historically the plant equipment was cooled by a Piovan chiller, however annual running costs of over £44,000 prompted Gratnells to look for a more efficient solution, as Steve Cadman, Injection Mould Manager at Gratnells explains:

“We were asked to look out for investments that would benefit the company, and IsoCool, who run the maintenance contract on our chilled water system, suggested that an air blast cooler would provide an excellent ROI by lowering costs. Nigel took me to another site where they’d installed free cooling and the company were kind enough to print off their energy savings for me, which were phenomenal. Considering our chiller had been working really hard throughout the previous winter, it was really a no brainer to invest in an air blast cooler” he said.

IsoCool retro-fitted an RFC air blast cooler to Gratnells’ existing chiller last year with an installation that was “well planned, on time and required minimal shutdown” according to Mr Cadman. The air blast cooler works by providing the cooling source during times of the year when the ambient is below 16oC to allow partial and up to 100% direct air cooling. As the temperature drops, intelligent controls reduce the load on the compressors, switching them off altogether when the ambient reaches 100C. The result is that the inherent high operating costs of the chiller are reduced and its life span greatly extended.

For Gratnells, the energy savings have been significant:

“IsoCool predicted a two and a half to three year payback for the solution, but we think it will be much quicker than that. The bad weather meant that the air blast cooler kicked in properly last October. In fact between December and March the total hour usage of our chiller was under two days, and over the past month or so the air blast cooler has been doing the majority of the work, so we’re really reaping the rewards” said Mr Cadman.

He continued: “IsoCool were not the cheapest quote we had, but they’re one of the best. IsoCool’s kit offers exceptional quality and their installation is really professional. You get what you pay for, and we’re in it for the long term, so I’d recommend IsoCool to anyone who’s serious about savings”.

For more information about IsoCool’s range of energy-efficient cooling systems, visit www.isocool.ltd.uk or call 01376 328455.

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Posted on

March 21, 2014

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