Is your dairy operation using an off-the-shelf comfort chiller to cool milk? If so, you could be missing out on the many cost and performance benefits of an industrial-grade system designed specifically to meet your rigorous demands.
In this post, we’ll highlight the following seven classic signs that your standard chiller could use an industrial cooling upgrade:
- Your chiller can’t keep up with your dairy production
- It’s challenging to achieve precise temperatures
- Milk doesn’t stay cool
- You can only operate your chiller during certain months
- You experience significant refrigerant loss
- Energy operating costs are high
- Chiller maintenance is burdensome
Keep reading to learn more about these seven signs that your operation could benefit from an industrial-grade dairy chiller.
Your chiller can’t keep up with your dairy production.
Off-the-shelf dairy chillers aren’t equipped with high-performance mechanisms designed to stand up to rugged dairy processing. As a result, they often can’t keep up. But, with an industrial-grade system, you’ll benefit from heavy-duty performance and strength that allow it to cool dairy equipment efficiently and reliably. In this way, an upgrade can help you maximize both output and profitability for a higher bottom line.
It’s challenging to achieve precise temperatures.
If your standard dairy chiller makes it challenging to achieve the precise temperatures needed to preserve milk, ensure safety, and increase shelf life, an industrial-grade system will give you more control. With on-demand chilling and jacketed milk tank cooling built into these high-performance units, you can successfully achieve ideal dairy processing temperatures within +/-1˚ in a single pass without storage tanks.
Milk doesn’t stay cool.
Achieving the desired milk temperature is one thing, but can your off-the-shelf chiller keep the milk cool? If it can’t, that’s another sign that an upgrade to an industrial-grade unit could benefit your operation. Glycol dairy chillers have several redundancy options that ensure milk is always chilled, allowing continuous processing to keep your dairy processing running strong – and your milk safely chilled.
You can only operate your chiller during certain months.
Limited operating capability is another sign that it’s time to upgrade your off-the-shelf system to an industrial-grade unit. By design, standard dairy chillers can only perform in the warmer months, leaving you high and dry during the cold season. However, industrial-grade dairy chillers can perform reliably year-round so that you can keep your dairy operation going strong all year long.
You experience significant refrigerant loss.
Refrigerant loss damages the environment and your budget, reducing the desirability of off-the-shelf dairy chillers even more. On the other hand, industrial-grade systems feature jacketed milk tank cooling capabilities that require shorter refrigerant piping runs, helping to reduce refrigerant loss, save costs, and protect the environment.
Energy operating costs are high.
If you’ve noticed an uptick in your operation’s energy consumption, your off-the-shelf dairy chiller may be to blame. Unfortunately, these units don’t have the same economical solutions that reduce energy output and operational costs as industrial-grade systems. Energy-efficiency dairy chiller options, such as variable frequency drives (VFDs), EC fan motors, and heat reclamation, reduce the unit’s energy demands for lower operating costs and higher profits.
Chiller maintenance is burdensome.
Maintaining an off-the-shelf dairy chiller can be a nuisance. However, industrial-grade systems have an advantage in this area that could make the decision to switch even easier. Features such as cleanable plate and frame heat exchangers and precision-controlled glycol tanks reduce downtime and labor for routine chiller maintenance. If you’re spending too much time and resources to keep up your standard dairy chiller, an easy-to-maintain industrial-grade unit has you covered.
To learn more about the advantages of upgrading to an industrial-grade dairy chiller, contact our expert team. Our robust line of custom-ready solutions features a proven 99.4% uptime rate and comes with our signature after-the-sale support. With 50 years of experience, we bring our industrial cooling expertise straight to the farm to help you maximize your operations and profits. Reach out to us and request a quote for a dairy chiller today.