Doored display cases: They save energy, don't lose sales

Open refrigerated display case is assessed against typical glass-doored refrigerated display case after their installation in two separate stores to quantify the differences in overall energy consumption and food product sales for each case type under actual operating conditions. The two selected test sites were large public supermarkets with footprints of approximately 25,000 ft², located in the Midwestern US. Per unit length of case lineup, the open display case lineup consumed approximately 1.3 times more energy than the doored display case lineup. It was found that as the mean indoor relative humidity increased, the electrical energy consumption of the open display case lineup increased. Beer sales increased by 27% after installation of the new doored display case lineup at Store 1 and increased by 29% after installation of the new open display case lineup at Store 2.