Conventional walk-in cooler compressors sell for $2500 + installation, which in our area is another $1000, not including electrical. They use a brute-force approach to cooling: using LOTS of coolant (which is bad for the environment), a big motor, lots of surface area and multiple fans (which dry out your vegetables and flowers and end up accounting for up to 60% of the cost of operating electricity.)
Here's the crazy thing: that $2500+ walk-in cooler compressor you see on a small 8' x 8' vegetable cooler puts out under 10,000 BTUs of cooling power! That's less than you get from a $275 window air conditioner from Home Depot or WalMart.
It's not quite that simple, though. Here's the problem with window air conditioner units. First, they are electronically limited so that you can't go below 60 degrees. With some electrical bravery and skill, you could snip, solder and bypass the electrical controls so you could go lower. It will work better, but still not very well, because while BTU's are BTU's (it's a strict measure of cooling/heating capacity), your ability to actually access that cooling power drops drastically as you approach only 60F. This is because you don't have the fans and extra surface area built into normal walk-in cooler compressor/condenser/evaporator units which dissipate the cold without freezing up.
The CoolBot solves BOTH those problems! CoolBot uses patented technology to replace the brute force approach of fans and surface area with a micro-controller "brain" that intelligently interfaces with your air conditioner - controlling and co-ordinating its output so that you can access nearly all your cooling power, even as you keep temperatures in your walk-in cooler (or any highly insulated room) in the 30's without re-wiring and without any freeze-ups.
CoolBot works great even during the heat of summer and even when people are opening and closing the door all day long. (Check out our guarantee!) CoolBots are running in Bangladesh, Thailand and Equatorial African as part of USAID projects as well as down in Papua New Guinea. There is no place in the United States (or the equator!) that is too hot for the coolbot to function effectively.
Here's a chart showing the size of A/C unit we ideally recommend to cool a well-insulated room to 38 degrees F quickly and consistently. Your room should be sealed and have at least R-25 (~4" of rigid foam in walls, ceiling and floor) which is the "industry standard" for walk-in coolers. This gives you more than enough power to stay at 38 degrees. Obviously if you put a couple thousand pounds of hot produce (or beer) inside, the temperature is going to go up for a few hours, but it will head back down quickly. It's not bad to get a larger air conditioner, it will just run less time.
Florists and convenience stores with glass display doors need to size up from these recommendations (or your cooler will run about 45 degrees if you follow these specs.)
Restaurants that want to be safely BELOW 38 degrees should also size up one from these recommendations.
* Check out more detailed information about which brands and models of A/C will not work at the StoreItCold website *
** Don't buy without checking!! **
Dimensions of Cooler | Size of A/C Unit |
---|---|
6' x 8' | 10,000 BTU |
8' x 8' | 12,000 BTU |
8' x 10' | 15,000 BTU |
8' x 12' | 18,000 BTU |
10' x 12' | 21,000 BTU |
12' x 14' | 25,000 BTU |
Under current promotions, CoolBot costs $419, and you may already have an air conditioner
lying around. Even Energy Star units with 5-year warranties are very
inexpensive now. Although most name-brand air conditioners with digital displays work with the CoolBot, check out the "air conditioner brand recommendation page" at the Store It Cold company website to make sure your model will work with the CoolBot.
A brain-dead monkey can install the CoolBot! Admittedly, we haven't tested this, but installation is easy enough that it sure seems possible. You can see summary of installation instructions on our website. You get more instructions (with a picture) when you order and if you are nervous, it's fast enough that we'll hang out on the phone with you while you install it if you'd like. We also have a YouTube video for installation - search for "CoolBot Installation" (also just search for CoolBot for user-made videos)
Last year, a visit from the repairman cost our friend $300. She doesn't know exactly what the person did - it was all labor and it didn't seem to take that long, so
who knows! But the money she spent on one repair bill could have paid
for a CoolBot! For people that have walk-in coolers now, think about buying a CoolBot as a back-up! Better yet, read on and think about disconnecting that old clunker so you save money on electricity!
CoolBot allows you to use more efficient Energy Star-compliant air conditioning units with more efficient motors and fans. They also use a fraction of the coolant AND it's the new ozone-friendly coolant! Use the money you save to add an extra layer of insulation to your walk-in cooler, reducing your electrical costs even more! Use the environmental good karma you gain to drive your SUV guilt free!
One study suggests that CoolBot can save you close to 50%
on your electricity costs as compared to a normal walk-in cooler
compressor, because up to 60% of a conventional cooler's electric costs
are due to constantly running the multiple condenser fans. We run 1 fan (instead of 5) and it turns on and off. New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (www(dot)nyserda(dot)org), is doing an independent analysis of just how much electricity the CoolBot may actually save over a standard walk-in cooler. On our website, you can read more about the how great the CoolBot is from UC Davis university and USAID.
Obviously, using CoolBot is an advantage over having no cooler, but even if you have a cooler, you know that the multiple fans can dry produce/flowers out quickly. That happens much less with the single fan in an A/C unit mated to the CoolBot.
CoolBot is cheap enough that you can use it for a second part-time walk-in cooler!
CoolBot pays for itself in saved electricity and fresh looking, less
dried-out produce. It pays for itself again when you don't have to pay
your next repair bill. In situations where your cooler CAN'T go down (the vaccine storage folks are a good example but we have a grocery store chain that does it as well) it is cheaper to install two CoolBots with two a/c units for redundancy than it is to purchase one walk-in cooler that *will* eventually go down.