Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How much money can I save?
A: "It all depends...." Here are a few of the variables that will accelerate the payback of a Freeaire system and that you should look for:

  • Higher electrical rates, for energy and demand
  • Larger volume of the space being cooled (about 500 cubic feet is about the minimum you should consider for a reasonably short payback.)
  • Larger cooling load for more of the time
  • More evaporator fans, door heaters, compressors, condensing fans
  • Higher amperages, voltages, and power factors for above equipment
  • Longer pre-existing runtimes of above equipment
  • More generous utility incentive programs
  • Lower installation cost that comes from having an experienced installer
  • Non-perishable product that can be allowed to warm-up at night
  • Using the fewest number of circulating fans to provide adequate circulation
And for outside air systems only:
  • Colder climate/ farther north
  • Higher temperature setpoint (more hours per year of outside air use)
  • Shorter distance to and from the outside
  • Easier walls to cut through to the outside (masonry is the hardest.)
  • Intaking air from the cooler, north side

To make an accurate estimate of the savings you'll see in your specific installation, just fill in the yellow blanks on the Worksheet, a spreadsheeet available under Saving III: Worksheet. We will send you it as an attachment to an e-mail . The worksheet which will already have typical values filled in, but you can easily easily change them to reflect your installation.

Q: Why does it cost so much?
A: It Doesn't Cost More. It Saves More. The Freeaire might cost more upfront than some of the cruder and simpler systems on the market, but when you consider the long-term there is no question the Freeaire is the best value. The Freeaire is the most technologically advanced refrigeration system of its kind available today. We use the highest quality components to ensure many years of effective, reliable, energy-efficient low-cost refrigeration. All our fan motors are permanent split capacitor (PSC) motors, which do cost more, but save more. The Freeaire Cooler Controller, especially, is a case of money well-spent. It takes a sophisticated micro-processor-based controller to keep track of all the components in a typical refrigeration system and decide what to do at all times.

 

Q: What about freezers?
A: Freezers can save even more than coolers. The Freeaire model 2001 Cooler Controller is now able to be used with freezers with electric defrost heaters. Most Freeaire freezer installations outside the Arctic Circle will use the Cooler Controller and circulating fan without using outside air. There are energy-saving advantages to using a Freeaire in a freezer. The poorer efficiency of a freezer's condensing unit means that the savings can be even greater than in a cooler. A typical freezer uses a timeclock to stop refrigeration, every six hours or so, to add heat to the cold evaporator coils which have become covered with frost deposited on them by the moisture of the air passing through. Large-wattage electric defrost heaters stay on for a fixed-length defrost cycle several times a day, no matter what the amount of frost on the evaporator coils. The Freeaire's on-demand defrost cycle depends on the compressor is not a fixed amount of time, so the defrost heaters run as long as there is ice to be melted from the evaporator coils, but not longer. This saves much of the energy needed to run the defrost heaters as well as the energy that would have been needed by the condensing unit to remove the unneeded heat.

Q.: You don't really stop the evaporator fans, do you? My refrigeration serviceman says that you should never do that.
A.: Yes, we do! Your serviceperson knows how much trouble can be caused by evaporator fans that don't operate when they are needed. To be sure that they are always on when they are needed, it is easiest to just make sure that they are never switched off. That is the traditional way of doing things, and may be the easiest, but it is not the best. A Freeaire model 2001 Cooler Controller makes sure that the evaporator fans are always on when they are needed, but never on when they aren't. This ensures that proper refrigeration is constantly maintained with the minimum amount of energy use and wear and tear on the equipment. Proper air circulation is provided with Circ circulating fans that use a tiny fraction of the energy needed by evaporator fans.

Q.: Why save electrical energy?
A.: Help yourself while helping the Earth.

  • Save money on your electric bills and equipment maintenance and replacement.
  • Slow global warming. Each kilowatt-hour of power derived from a coal-burning power plant releases 2 pounds of CO2, the most common "greenhouse gas" responsible for global warming.
  • Clean the air. Coal-fired plants also release significant amounts of sulfer dioxide and nitrous oxide, key components of smog and acid rain.
  • Conserve our precious natural resources.

Q.: How can a Freeaire help me when it doesn't get cold outside? A.: By operating your refrigeration equipment only as much as it has to. By running your evaporator fans only when the compressor is operating and during on-demand defrost periods, electrical energy is saved not only by these fans themselves, but also by the condensing unit which operates less because of the reduced load of heat from the evaporator fans. Similarly, reach-in door heaters don't need to operate when the humidity is low so electricity is conserved by reduced heater operation, which also reduces the condensing unit's load.