Freezer Spacers: The Smart Solution to Cut Energy Costs and Boost Efficiency

The cold storage and freezer warehouse industry is one of the largest commercial electrical energy users in the United States. A study on energy-efficiency solutions by the Southern California Edison Electric Company found cold storage companies spent more than 70 percent of their monthly electrical costs on running refrigeration and freezer units. Typically, the industry consumes between 40 and 60 kilowatt-hours per square foot of floor space each year — that’s a lot of electrical energy.

These statistics are alarming if you’re a cold storage facility operator. It means you’re paying a lot of money in energy overhead, especially if you manage a warehouse with a large footprint. However, studies also suggest you have an opportunity to save energy and money with freezer spacers, which is great news for your bottom line.

Saving Energy With Freezer Spacers

Thanks to your experience managing a chilling and refrigeration facility, you know you can’t do much about power prices. Electricity rates have many variables. They include your location, peak periods and shortage or surplus of energy your electrical supplier experiences. You may also have fixed price points to avoid unexpected cost variations. Likely, your rate as a commercial business will be lower than residential rates.

Although you can’t avoid paying the power bill, you certainly can do something about improving your freezing process efficiency. One way is to remodel your infrastructure with newer, energy-efficient equipment. You could also minimize your cooling load or improve control systems. However, one of the simplest and best returns on your energy investment is purchasing freezer spacers for improved freezing efficiency.

Warehouse/Freezer Energy Usage Stats

It’s difficult to find many published statistics or details on warehouse and freezer energy usage statistics, due to the diversity of the industry. Cold storage facilities range in size, and that has a significant impact on operating costs. Naturally, a large facility uses more electricity than a small warehouse. However, there’s no specific relationship between total electrical costs and the building’s footprint. It depends on effective controlled freezing, which is also called total freezing efficiency.

According to another California survey, a freezing facility’s specific energy consumption (SEC) typically decreased with increasing warehouse volume. They developed a web-based benchmark that takes many energy consumption factors into account, such as cooling and insulation technologies, along with energy-efficient freezer spacers. Following a formula that SEC equaled the annual power consumption in kilowatt-hours divided by the facility’s storage volume in cubic feet, the study clearly showed SEC values decreasing as warehouse area increased.

That indicated a scale of economy where 6-million-cubic-foot cold storage buildings were proportionately cheaper to power than 200,000-cubic-foot warehouses. Study participants confirmed big facilities took every advantage of cold air flow to blast-freeze their products. Central to their blast-freezing process was separating their packaged products with freezer spacers. It was obvious freezer spacers were energy-efficient.

Another study focused on specific energy savings in refrigeration warehouses. Their mandate was to identify, stimulate and develop energy-efficient freezing technologies along with best business practices in the cold storage and packaging industry. Blast freezing was one segment, and it showed enormous energy savings potential. A top 10 list analyzed energy consumption in gigawatt hours per year (gWh/y). Here’s where the top 10 cold food industries rated on gWh/y electrical consumption:

• Retail display — 12,698 gWh/y
• Transportation — 4,822 gWh/y
• Catering refrigeration— 3,998 gWh/y
• Generic cold storage — 900 gWh/y
• Blast chilling — 614 gWh/y
• Blast freezing — 415 gWh/y
• Milk cooling — 315 gWh/y
• Dairy processing — 250 gWh/y
• Potato storage — 187 gWh/y
• Primary chilling — 144 gWh/y

Gigawatt hours mean 1 billion watts per hour, per year. In comparison, kilowatt hours are 1,000 and megawatts are 1 million. Although the blast-freezing cold storage segment isn’t the highest electrical consumer by any means, the study showed blast freezing consumed 415 billion watts per year. In comparison, the United States Energy Information Administration reports the average American home consumes 10,766 kilowatt-hours each year, at the cost of 18 cents per kilowatt. To give further context, general cold storage and blast chilling facilities use an average of 1,929 billion watts per year.

The top 10 study estimated potential energy savings for each refrigeration industry segment. It concluded blast-freezing operations could potentially save 20 to 30 percent on their electrical costs. That is an astounding amount that could equal 125 gigawatt-hours per year. Even at a commercial rate of under 18 cents per kilowatt, you could save your business a lot of energy and money every year by investing in energy-efficient freezer spacers.

Impact of Freezer Spacers on Energy Savings

There is no doubt freezer spacers lower energy costs. You can cut costs with freezer spacers with little capital output. Freezer spacers sit between packaged food layers and let super-chilled air freely flow all around your products. Blowing extremely cold air at high velocity around boxes is commonly called blast freezing.

Blast-freezing techniques have been around since the 1950s. The process first came about in New Zealand, when world food supplies were scarce after World War II. New Zealand was a perfect location for raising livestock and growing vegetables. However, it was a long way from Europe and America, so the practical preservation for shipping was freezing products. To lower freezing and better preserve food quality, crafty entrepreneurs developed blast freezing. Along with that technology, they invented freezer spacers.

Freezer spacers used with blast-freezing methods significantly reduce process time, which, in turn, saves energy and money. Today, blast freezing is common, and the process hasn’t changed much in the past 50 years. The fundamentals are still the same. It’s all about using extremely cold, forced air to quickly chill your products.

Air blast freezing lowers your process time to between 12 and 24 hours using air temperatures between -30 degrees Fahrenheit or -35 degrees Celsius) and -50 degrees Fahrenheit or -45 degrees Celsius. That is much colder than most freezing facilities use. It’s also about half the time block-freezing processes take. That’s a significant energy savings, and you can cut costs further by using freezer spacers with air blasting.

Part of the blast-freezing process is fans required to move air. Science classifies air blast freezing in a category called forced convection. You might equate convection with heat transfer and not think it’s part of a freezing cycle. However, it's a law of physics that heat always travels to cold.

With blast freezing, you are amplifying the rate at which heat dissipates from warm products you bring into your blast freezer. Regardless whether you have meat, poultry, seafood, fish or produce, you’ll have relatively warm, freshly packaged goods. To preserve freshness, taste, appearance and overall quality, you need to drop your products’ core temperature as fast as possible.

You do this by removing heat load. Heat load is an expression of an object's ability to hold, transfer and dissipate heat. In a blast freezer, you’re constantly letting your packaged products transfer their heat load to moving air that’s super cold. Rather than statically sitting and dissipating heat from a product block, you’re dividing your piled products into smaller units.

The key to blast freezing success is your freezer spacers. Freezer spacers save money by separating your products into individual units and letting chilled air flow 360 degrees around the top, bottom and sides of your package, thus presenting far more exposed surface area to the cold. It results in a far faster heat load exchange than if you had one mass.

You can realize a major return on energy consumption by merely inserting low-cost plastic freezer spacers or aluminum freezer spacers between your packaged products. Freezer spacer energy cost savings are one benefit from blast freezing. You also deliver higher-quality products through freezing rapidly. That means you sell in a higher market and gain better profits. Not only do you save money with freezer spacers on your electric bills, but you also make more in sales. That is how freezer spacers save energy and money.

The Blast-Freezing Process

Blast freezing works on the simple process of quickly lowering product temperatures by blowing super-chilled air around them in a controlled environment. However, there’s more to the freezing science than that. Freezing works at the molecular level.

In blast freezing, you don't freeze the products themselves. You freeze the water contained inside your products. Water freezes, or turns from a liquid to a solid, at 32 degrees Fahrenheit, or 0 degrees Celsius. Anywhere below this temperature, the water inside your goods turns to ice. Whether you're handling vegetables or meat, ice forms throughout the food. That stops or significantly slows bacterial action, which is nature’s way of decomposing organic material.

Frozen foods aren’t processed equally. Slow freezing methods allow water molecules to freeze or bond in orderly lattice patterns, where ice crystals concentrate and allow other cellular food matter to remain active. Slow freezing doesn’t control enzyme action or bacterial growth the way fast freezing does.

Fast freezing depends on very cold temperatures below -30 degrees Fahrenheit, or -35 degrees Celsius. In fact, colder is better in most applications. Many blast freezers pass air cooled to -40 to -50 degrees Fahrenheit, or -40 to -45 degrees Celsius, over and around products. Freezer spacers need to withstand these extremes, and they’re designed to do that.

Flash freezing and blast freezing both cause food molecules to act differently. Instead of lining up uniformly like latticework, the molecules don’t have time to organize. Instead, they stay in random patterns that don’t allow for large ice crystals. Other molecules from enzymes and bacteria also react to quick temperature drops. They cease activity and let your food products retain the best qualities they had when harvested.

Blast freezing wouldn’t work well without freezer spacers. There would be no way to circulate enough cold air around your products to control freezing at the molecular level. Freezer spacers have unique designs that let moving air pass with minimal restriction. Regardless whether you use aluminum freezer spacers or plastic spacers, these simple and low-cost devices make all the difference in your freezing time and product quality. You save energy and cut costs with freezer spacers, which positively impacts your bottom line.

Reducing energy costs, protecting product integrity and gaining more profits are exactly why you should use Cherry’s Industrial freezer spacers and other fine material handling equipment. If you’re serious about profiting in your cold storage business, check out Cherry’s Industrial for your ideal freezer spacers.

Cherry’s Industrial Freezer Spacers

Cherry’s Industrial Equipment is one of America’s largest suppliers of freezer spacers and other material handling equipment. You’ll find millions of Cherry’s freezer spacers in the cold chain across the United States. Our products are perfectly positioned for cold storage facilities, food processing plants and everywhere fast freezing is needed. If you need extremely cold temperatures for optimum product freshness, turn to Cherry’s for freezer spacers.

At Cherry’s Industrial Equipment, we supply you with top-quality products like plastic and aluminum freezer spacers. Both materials offer you the best solutions for blast freezing where consistency and quickness are high priorities. Both freezer spacer materials have special designs that allow the following.

• Strength: Plastic freezer spacers withstand severe temperatures. Even at 50 degrees below freezing, Cherry’s Industrial plastic freezer spacers are impact-resistant and can handle anywhere from 1,800 lbs to 3,600 lbs. Inferior plastics will break down or shatter under extreme cold and heavy weights. Plastic freezer spacers from Cherry’s Industrial Equipment use high-density polyethylene (HDPE) for long-lasting performance. We also offer structural foam plastic freezer spacers. Our aluminum freezer spacers use an aluminum alloy for light weight and high strength. Aluminum freezer spacers are perfect for heavy loads and remain indestructible in the coldest conditions.
• Airflow: Crucially for effective and economical blast freezing, airflow around your freezing goods ensures uniformity and a quick turnaround. Both plastic freezer spacers and aluminum freezer spacers have engineered designs to maximize cold airflow. The free-flow designs give you the best possible cooling profile at the lowest possible cost. Airflow channels in plastic freezer spaces give you multi-directional crossflow so super-cold air passes from front to back and side to side. Aluminum freezer spaces have a ribbed design that lets airflow follow a uniform pattern.
• Cleanliness: Both plastic freezer spacers and aluminum freezer spacers resist bacteria and mold growth. These strong performers clean easily, especially if you use a Cherry’s Industrial tray and spacer washer. Smooth surfaces don’t trap debris or microscopic contaminants the way other materials do. You can quickly wash our plastic and aluminum spacers and store them. Or, you can immediately put fresh and clean freezer spacers back into your blast-freezing production. Either way, your Cherry’s Industrial aluminum and plastic freezer spacers will always be clean and ready.

For the ultimate in clean and strong freezer spacers that cut your costs, reduce energy and save you money, choose material handling products from Cherry’s Industrial Equipment. We have an extensive line of freezer spacers, so you’re sure to find exactly what you require in your cold storage facility. Check out our selection of plastic and aluminum freezer spacers.

• MD Egg Crate Plastic Freezer Spacer: The PEFS-MD is a medium-duty polyethylene freezer spacer. It’s our lowest-cost model, but returns big on durability, strength and airflow. This 40” x 48” plastic spacer weighs only 4.5 pounds, but it can handle an 1,800-pound load. It’s safe, reliable and completely recyclable when its service life is through.
• HD Egg Crate Plastic Freezer Spacer: This heavy-duty plastic freezer spacer is designed and built for use in meat packing cold storage facilities. It’s constructed with heavy-duty HDPE and weighs just 5 pounds. However, the PEFS-HD Egg Crate spacer can hold an incredible 3,600 pounds. It’s a standard 40” x 48” size and suitable for the coldest conditions.
• HD CureSlip Egg Crate Plastic Freezer Spacer: For the biggest frozen loads that need transporting with your freezer spacer still in place, you’ll want the PEFS-HD CureSlip. This heavy-duty, non-slip spacer also holds 3,600 pounds, but it does so safely. It’s a lightweight, large-capacity freezer spacer that solves slippage problems when moved by truck or trailer.
• Maxi Plastic Freezer Spacer: The Maxi freezer spacer does what its name suggests. It’s designed for maximum horizontal and vertical airflow between product layers. When you need the ultimate in fast, uniform freezing, the Maxi spacer is your choice. It’s a standard 40” x 48” size, weighs 7 pounds and holds 3,600 pounds.
• 2547002 Rigid Plastic Stacker: This is a big and rugged black plastic spacer. It’s also the standard 40” x 48” freezer spacer pallet size, but it weighs in at 15.5 pounds. There’s practically no load you can’t set on the Rigid Plastic Stacker. It’s molded from Structo-Cell structural foam and has a thick, lattice design for excellent airflow and durability.
• 4840 Blue Structural Foam Freezer Spacer: This blue foam spacer weighs in at 15.5 pounds, preventing impressions made in fresh products. It provides incredible strength and duravility with its thick and rigid lattice design. Its softer HDPE Virgin Material composition makes the 4840 Blue foam spacer more suitable for wet, soft or dense layers. It allows for exceptional airflow around irregular surfaces like materials packaged in flexible bags.
• 100PLA1054 Aluminum Freezer Spacer: When you need the holding capacity strength and durability an aluminum freezer spacer gives, consider this one. The 100PLA1054 spacer measures the standard 40” x 48” freezer spacer pallet size and weighs a manageable 38 pounds. It’s 100 percent recyclable, fireproof, rust-proof and rot-proof. With a smooth finish, this aluminum spacer is safe to handle and lasts indefinitely.
• 100PLA866 Aluminum Freezer Spacer: The 866 aluminum freezer spacer is a mid-weight equipment piece at 21 pounds. It’s great for lighter loads than the big 1054 model. Additionally, the 866 is easy to move about, which reduces worker strain.
• 100PLA877 Aluminum Freezer Spacer: This aluminum spacer has an even grid pattern. It allows maximum airflow and retains stability for uneven loads. The 877 weighs 38 pounds and withstands the same conditions all Cherry’s Industrial freezer spacers do. And, it’s environmentally friendly by being recyclable.
• 100PLA852 Aluminum Freezer Spacer: The last in Cherry’s aluminum freezer spacer lineup is the 852 model. It has a unique platform grid pattern that supports products with fine grain and in loose packaging. While being heavy-duty, the 852 is surprisingly lightweight, at 31 pounds.

Contact Cherry’s Industrial for Freezer Spaces and Other Material Handling Equipment

Cherry’s Industrial Equipment is an all-American business. We’ve served the United States for nearly 40 years by supplying the best American-made material handling equipment and machinery. At Cherry’s, we carry the best in freezer spacers, as well as plastic pallets, slip sheets, washing equipment, pallet inverters, pallet dispensers, pallet tippers and upenders, pallet changers, spacer and pallet retrievers and stretch wrappers.

Make Cherry’s Industrial your No. 1 stop for all your cold storage supplies and material handling equipment needs. For answers to all your equipment and material handling questions, our trained specialists are here for you. Contact us, and we’ll arrange a quote or help you explore our freezer spacer products. Call Cherry’s Industrial Equipment today at 877-350-2729, or you can reach us online to discuss with one of our experts!