There are high costs to providing chilled or frozen storage solutions. Because of this, it is vital that cold store operators make the most possible use of the pallet space that is available to them while also making sure that their buildings operate as efficiently as possible.

One way of making sure that the cold store buildings can be run as efficient as possible is installing an effective level of insulation in order to ensure that the cold air is kept inside the building. Another operating practice that could have an impact costs is adopting more efficient loading and unloading practices in order to make sure that the cold air doesn’t leave the building in this way. These changes could then reduce the operating costs of the unit significantly.

However, a lot of cold store operators don’t seem to realise the impact that simple warehouse facilities can have on their operating costs too. Lighting is one of the most overlooked energy consumers, with operators surprisingly failing to notice the impact that this can have on their overall operating costs. Traditional luminaires require a lot of energy to generate the required lighting level, and while doing so can also produce a fair amount of heat. This heat will then need to be counterbalanced by more temperature controlling, which also adds to the costs of the space.

Using LED light sources in these spaces have been shown to use less energy and produce less heat while offering lighting. LED lighting also don’t require lamp replacements and can emit light immediately, in cold store facilities, sodium, or metal-halide luminaires were used, and offer a number of disadvantages including that the lamps have to be left on for long periods of time to build up enough heat in order to give off the required amount of lighting.