SURELY no one can deny the unbridled joy of having access to an air conditioned environment during this year’s record-breaking hot summer. Whether it’s at your workplace, home, or just in the car, there can be no greater pleasure than that derived from an air conditioner as temperatures creep through the mind-melting 90s. 

A round-up of supermarket news and gossip 

With so many systems still running on R22 and with phase-out rapidly approaching, plant operators need to take some tough decisions as a matter of some urgency. Peter Dinnage, business development manager at IDS Refrigeration, suggests an energy-saving alternative to plant replacement 

Saving energy is becoming increasingly important for everybody involved in the air conditioning industry. Graham Wright of Sanyo Air Conditioners (right) takes a look at this thorny issue and what can be done to help achieve it 

Many chillers in the UK are falling short of providing optimum efficiency, largely through insufficient control. Jim Kilcoyne of Trane Controls provides a few pointers on how to get the most from the chiller plant 

Geoff Lockwood, technical director of Ebm-Papst UK, looks at the huge carbon savings being made by BT after adopting new air conditioning equipment using EC fan technology 

NEWS that hundreds of tax officers were given three days off on full pay during July’s heatwave no doubt made some tax-payers see red, but underlines how some employers are being forced to confront the effects of excessive heat in the workplace. 

It was two years ago that we first mentioned in these pages how the increasing demand for raw materials was fuelling costs for equipment manufacturers. At that time, the price of copper had reached $1.38/lb from a low in 1998 of just 60cents/lb. Even then, those escalating prices, along with those of steel and other raw materials looked set to signal a round of equipment price increases. Amazingly, thanks to increases in production efficiencies and a further chipping away at manufacturers’ already tight margins, equipment prices remained relatively stable. 

Optimised to take advantage of sub-cooling via vapour injection, Copeland Scroll compressors offer a capacity increase of up to 40% compared to a standard ZF scroll. Robert Kebby, Copeland’s sales director for the UK and Ireland, reviews two studies where this technology has produced energy savings in low-temperature supermarket applications 

A round-up of supermarket news and gossip 

With energy costs spiralling out of control it is worth revisiting the Versatemp system says Clivet UK md Lance Joy 

Fridge companies collaborate to design the ultimate energy saving supermarket system 

A round-up of supermarket news and gossip 

I HAVE in the past been accused of being a little cynical – quite unfairly I feel – but then those claims are only ever levelled at me by tedious optimists. Anyway, I don’t think it’s wrong to not necessarily believe every company which tells me about its exemplary customer service. After all, what are voice mails other than a means by which you never have to speak to a client again? And what are automated switchboards other than a means to save employing a telephonist? None of these electronic wonders actually have anything to do with customer service, despite the fact that many companies who have them like to argue otherwise. 

FEW observers would disagree with the fact that there is a shortage of talented, young engineers entering the air conditioning and refrigeration industry. Despite a diminishing pool of qualified engineers, some companies are reluctant to run apprenticeship schemes, fearing failure. They instead rely on high wages to attract those available in the employment market. 

An employer has an obligation to provide suitable protective equipment for employees and, following a recent House of Lords ruling, need only consider the risk for which the equipment was provided to protect against and whether the equipment was sufficient for that purpose. Richard Booth, a legal advisor at international law firm Eversheds, discusses the ruling and employers’ obligations 

MITSUBISHI Electric has now achieved independent accreditation for 39 of its courses, seminars and pieces of literature from the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Service. 

David Bell, md of Estimation (right), explains how a combination of the right software and mobile technologies can bring efficiencies to service and maintenance work