Lunds & Byerlys is an upscale supermarket chain serving the Minneapolis, Minnesota market. They have worked closely with Singh360 Energy to implement several sustainability and energy-related projects.

The strategic approach across their 27 grocery stores is two-fold; work quickly to retro-commission existing stores to improve operations and be innovative with new store design & implementation. Ongoing results with Singh360 are impressive.

Existing grocery stores are evaluated, solutions designed, and new innovations implemented. The upgrades dropped energy usage by 42% in these stores.

In this post you’ll see how variable-frequency drives (or VFDs) can generate a payback of 1.5 to 5 years in supermarkets. You’ll also see which uses of VFDs offer the fastest payback and highest return on investment (or ROI).

At Singh360, we’ve found that HVAC blower fans of more than 7.5 horsepower typically provide the best ROI. The next-highest return comes from using VFDs in refrigeration condenser fans with motors totaling more than 7.5 horsepower.

Use of VFDs in refrigeration compressors delivers the smallest reduction of energy consumption. But such applications can reduce compressor cycling and extend the life of compressors. And that’s worth real money too.