New Website walkincoolerparts.com

Has your walk-in cooler or freezer seen a lot of use and abuse over the years? Door parts on walk-ins are particularly susceptible due to heavy traffic and may become worn or break. In the past we have exclusively provided walk-in parts for our units by calling our parts line 866-261-2797 (8-5PM CST). U.S. Cooler is proud to announce the launch of our new parts website walkincoolerparts.com. The site will allow you to create an account and save items in your cart to be purchased at a later date. It also offers the convenience of 24/7 ordering, free shipping, secure checkout and no minimum purchase amounts.

Currently, our online catalog only offers parts that are standard on U.S. Cooler walk-ins. These include cam locks, closers, gaskets, handles, hinges, light fixtures, screeding and more. In the coming months, we will begin adding additional items to our catalog encompassing parts that require specific sizing or aren’t found on U.S. Cooler manufactured units.

Walk-in Cooler Parts accepts Visa, Discover, and Mastercard. Appropriate sales taxes will be charged for shipments to Georgia, Illinois, Missouri, Michigan, Tennessee and Texas.

False Information about Extruded Polystyrene

Recently, there has been a document circulating in the industry that has a lot of misinformation concerning the use of extruded polystyrene insulation and its compliance with the Energy Independence Security Act of 2007.

We normally ignore incorrect information that is generated with the sole purpose of discrediting a competitor but the severity of this document begs to be clarified.

The document can be found by clicking the pdf icon.

Extruded Polystyrene Panels

First, there are presently two types of foam insulations being used in the manufacture of walk-in coolers and freezers in the United States.  These insulations are Extruded Polystyrene and Foamed –in –Place Polyurethane insulation.  Many companies in North America have the ability to use both types of these insulations.  Both insulations have benefits that can be used to provide a quality walk-in cooler or freezer. Companies that use both types of insulation can apply each of these insulations in parts of a walk-in that they perform best and therefore bring the best designed quality walk-in cooler or freezer to the marketplace.  Some companies do not have the capability and therefore turn to attacking the insulations they do not have the ability to use with misleading information to compensate for this deficiency.   This situation seems to be one of them.  There are six points that need to be addressed. Read the rest of this entry »

Hard to Open Doors and Pressure Differences in Your Walk-in Box

Improper fixes to hard-to-open doors can cause ice and frost build-up, water dripping on
floors, freezing around door seals and unusual icing patterns in and around the refrigeration equipment.

Nature’s Basics

The physical nature of air causes a cooler or freezer to have a negative pressure compared to the
outside air. This is due to the contraction of the air as the temperature drops. The pressure of the air in a
sealed box will decrease by 0.3 psi for every drop in temperature of 10 degrees Fahrenheit.
Note: This negative pressure is not caused by the refrigeration equipment removing air. The evaporator fans just cool the air and push it around the box. They don’t have any exhaust venting or “makeup air” being brought in from the outside (like they do in air conditioning systems).

Check it Yourself

The most dramatic pressure change happens when the door is closed. Warm air that entered a cold
freezer will be cooled within seconds by contact with the ceiling, walls and product. If the average air
temperature quickly drops from 40 to 30 degrees, the pressure drops by 0.3 psi. That’s 43 pounds per square
foot, over 800 pounds of force on a normal size door. The door will be impossible to re-open until the
pressure is equalized.
Note: The bigger the size of the door and the more airtight the box, the more dramatic it will be. Read the rest of this entry »

Proposed Rulemaking for Walk-in Coolers and Freezers

Proposed Rulemaking for Walk-in Coolers and Freezers

Since EISA was passed January 1, 2009, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has been working to mandate a standardized energy efficiency test for walk-in coolers and freezers.  The first step was taken with an informal meeting on February 4, 2009 to discuss comments and suggestions from industry professionals on determining a testing procedure. After nearly a year’s worth of research, DOE has published their proposed testing procedure for walk-in coolers and freezers. A follow-up meeting was scheduled to discuss these proposed rulings, but due to winter weather the meeting was canceled and has not been rescheduled at this time.

In accordance with section 312 of the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA), DOE published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) for the test procedure on walk-in coolers and freezers. The NOPR is the first published document for the test procedure rulemaking process for walk-ins. DOE proposes the procedures explained in the NOPR be used to test walk-in equipment. Once performance standards are accepted, manufacturers will be required to use the accepted test to determine compliance and for all representations regarding the energy use of the product.

DOE proposes to adopt a test procedure that contains two separate testing methods; one for the insulated box and the other for the refrigeration equipment. Each of the two components, the insulated box and the refrigeration system, will be tested separately. The manufacturer will be responsible for testing their product respectively and must provide compliance with all testing standards.  Read the rest of this entry »

New! Copeland Scroll Outdoor Condensing Unit

Copeland now carries outdoor condensing units for the food service industry. There new light weight, slim shaped units are available in medium and low temperatures ranging from 2 – 6 horsepower.

Copeland Scroll Outdoor Condensing Units are perfectly suited for walk-in cooler and freezer applications. All units integrate the many benefits of the Copeland Scroll compressor technology, fan speed control and Copeland Performance Alert™ diagnostic controls, and are available in 208/230 single-phase and 208/230 three-phase voltage applications.

Scroll compressors offer the highest energy efficiency levels to lower energy bills. With integrated controls that optimize fan motor speed to maximize the heat transfer through over-sized condenser coils, additional energy savings are achieved. The average energy savings for end-users is $350 per year for a 3HP medium temperature unit, however this number could be greater depending on the application.

Read the rest of this entry »

New Mobile Site uscooler.mobi

U.S. Cooler now offers a mobile site http://uscooler.mobi for our dealers and customers on the go with smartphones. This site will allow you to check the status of your order from the main page (all you need is the job number and dealer phone number). As you’re completing a job you can easily pull up installation instructions or our troubleshooting guide. You can also find dealer sales websites, call U.S. Cooler, size refrigeration and more.

Currently we are not automatically redirecting mobile users from uscooler.com to uscooler.mobi. Users will have to type in uscooler.mobi or through the “Mobile Website” link on uscooler.com under the heading Company Info. What are your opinions of automatic redirection from standard to mobile websites? Is there any other information you would find useful on our mobile website?

Walk-in Freezers Used to Heat Water?

At U.S. Cooler, we strive to bring more value to our customers.  One of the ways we accomplish that is by keeping informed on opportunities to improve your bottom line.

Did you know your walk-in coolers and freezers are potentially capable of doing double-duty?  It’s a well kept secret you may wish to consider.  Depending upon your existing (or hopefully new, from U.S. Cooler) equipment, you may be able to save thousands of dollars annually by capturing the heat rejected from air-cooled condensing units and using it to preheat hot water. Read the rest of this entry »

Retrofitting LED Lights Can Pay Off In Your C-store

Anthony Optimax Retrofit

As a convenience store owner, if there was a change you could make to increase merchandise sales, lower your electric bill, reduce maintenance costs, and be environmentally responsible would you make the change? The opportunity to do just that is here with the advent of LED Retrofit Kits. These kits replace the existent fluorescent lighting on your glass door merchandising walk-in cooler and freezer with 4’, 5’ or 6’ long LED light strips.

LED lighting provides a 68 to 85% energy savings over the fluorescent lights typically used in coolers and freezers. LED’s use only 15 watts for a 5’ model and 18 watts for 6’. They also produce less heat than a fluorescent light, which will lessen the load on your refrigeration system. But if energy savings was the only advantage, adoption of LED’s wouldn’t be near where it is today. The real difference is the attractive quality of the light it gives off. LED’s give your products a beckoning glow and more uniform illumination than fluorescent.  You can choose between lights that give off a neutral or slight red or blue hue. Conventional wisdom suggests that the more appealing the product presentation, the more likely a customer is to take notice and purchase it.

LED light not only shines brighter than fluorescent, it also offers other benefits. With LED lights you won’t get lamp burn-out, cold start failures or flicker. LED’s work very well in the cold and last over 50,000 hours in a cooler and almost 100,000 hours in a freezer. Additionally, they don’t give off the heat of flourescents, which will decrease the load on your compressor.

With all the benefits of LED retrofitting, it proves to be a smart investment that will pay for itself many times over. A few LED retrofit options are the Anthony Optimax 2 and the SCHOTT Gemtron Crossfire LED and the Gemtron Polaris.

CrossFire LED Retrofit Installation Instructions

For more information contact Gemtron at 800.326.2717 or Anthony at 800.772.0900

Types of Refrigeration Systems Used in Walk-ins

Refrigeration systems consist of a condensing unit and an evaporation coil. The condensing unit is located outside the walk-in and the evaporator is located inside the walk-in. The compressor compresses gas to a liquid. The liquid is then pumped through the condensing unit coil while a fan blows outside air through the coil. Gas is condensed to a liquid and is then pumped through a small copper pipe into the walk-in to the evaporator coil. There, through the expansion valve located in the evaporator coil the liquid is allowed to expand back into a gas. The expansion of the liquid to a gas causes a rapid chilling of the evaporator coil. Since heat always flows toward cold, inside the walk-in air is blown across the evaporation coil to let the coil absorb heat from inside the walk-in. The gas is then allowed to exit the walk-in through a larger copper pipe to the condensing unit where it is once again compressed and cooled to a liquid state and returned to the evaporator coil inside the walk-in. There the cycle is started over.

The new EISA law requires all new walk-ins be equipped with high efficiency motors to be compliant. These cost a little bit more but save you money in the long run. Some suppliers may try to sell you non EISA compliant refrigeration systems. To be compliant with the law and purchase the best lifetime value always ask for EISA compliant equipment.

1. Remote Systems - Remote systems are the least expensive systems to purchase. They consist of a condensing unit, evaporator unit and misc. parts such as expansion valve, site glass, dryer, pump down solenoid thermostat, and on freezers a timer and drain heater to install the system. They require the use of a licensed refrigeration installer since they are pumped down and charged with refrigerant gas on site. The installer will also charge for any other parts needed for the install such as copper pipe, pipe insulation, connectors, and electrical. They are less expensive systems to buy with the walk-in but may cost more over all depending on what the going hourly rate is with the installer and the cost of the parts he provides. They also provide an advantage by allowing the condensing unit to be located outside the building. There the condensing unit can dump its heat without adding extra heat to the building and air conditioning systems. Read the rest of this entry »