J & E Hall's ambient beer cooler is helping a traditional Cotswold village pub to save money on its energy bills. The unit was installed at the Old Fleece, a former 18th Century coaching inn at Rooksmoor, near Stroud. The Old Fleece is part of the Cotswold Food Club's pubs and hotel portfolio. 

The group, run by Nick Beardsley and Christophe Coquoin, also looks after the Old Lodge Hotel at Minchinhampton Common, Fostons Ash, close to the Cotswold Way, and the Britannia at Nailsworth. These Stroud Valley character venues offer a wide range of high-quality locally sourced food and drink options, including real ales from a number of brewers in the area.

TK Refrigeration's managing director Tim Rogers and senior engineer Chris Pass carried out the installation at the Old Fleece. Tim is celebrating 40 years in the refrigeration industry, most of the time spent with TK Refrigeration, which operates within a 50-mile radius of its Gloucester base and employs ten people.

The Cotswold Food Club conducted an energy efficiency survey at the Old Fleece and Tim suggested installing a J & E Hall ambient beer cooler. It was decided to locate the cooler in the cellar, which is above ground, where it was installed to operate in tandem with the existing J & E Hall Cellar Cooler – a JCC2-50E system, previously installed by TK Refrigeration. The ambient beer cooler unit was supplied by the Gloucester branch of FSW.

'It was a reasonably straightforward job,' said Tim. 'We had to drill a hole in the Cotswold Stone wall which, as it was up to 20 inches thick, involved a fair bit of elbow grease, but we managed it. We lined it with the ducting tube supplied with the machine and fitted the outdoor fan and grille. The customer was delighted about this because being an old building with a very nice outside Cotswold Stone wall the six inch by six inch grille did not cause any problems aesthetically.

'I think the ambient beer cooler is a marvellous idea. By fitting one you can extend the life of a main refrigeration system because it's not having to work so hard. I also like the simplicity of the machine and the fact that you are cutting down on global warming because you are using Mother Nature to do a job. My whole ethos is about energy efficiency. As a company and an individual I believe in making everything as eco-friendly as I can make it.'

The J & E Hall ambient beer cooler cuts in when outside temperatures fall to 8°C and below which means it will be busy for most months of the year. Energy costs are a major issue for the pub and restaurant trade and it is estimated that up to a quarter of a pub's energy bill is accounted for by its refrigeration requirements. Publicans, breweries and restaurant managers are always looking for more cost-effective ways to cool their cellars.

The J & E Hall ambient beer cooler draws in cold air from outside and, as it contains no refrigerants, employs a greener method of cooling. This also helps to reduce servicing costs and extends the life of the main cellar cooling system.

The J & E Hall ambient beer cooler can run in tandem with any make or model of cellar cooling system on the market. 

Pictured above the bar at the Old Fleece at Rooksmoor in the Cotswolds