CYCLING FANS IN APPLE COLD STORAGE ROOMS 

 CAN BE GOOD WAY TO CONSERVE ENERGY* 



Gilbert E. Yost 

 Agricultural Engineer 

 USDA-ARS, Tree Fruit Research Laboratory 

 Wenatchee, WA 



Energy used to operate fans in 'Red and Golden Delicious' 

 apple cold storage rooms could be cut nearly in half by using 

 a fan cycling scheme. 



Refrigerated storage of apples in the Pacific Northwest re- 

 quires a large amount of electrical energy. Cost of electrical 

 energy has increased rapidly and future trends indicate it will 

 go higher. 



USDA's Agricultural Research Service and the fruit industry 

 are looking for ways to reduce electrical energy input to save 

 energy and reduce costs. 



Fans and refrigeration must run continuously in storage rooms 

 from harvest until the field heat is removed from the apples and 

 proper storage temperature is attained. At this point in time, 

 cycling fans and refrigeration could still maintain proper fruit 

 temperatures and save energy (Fig. 1). Fans cycled half of the 

 time use 52 to 601 of the energy used to run them continuously. 



Five years of monitoring different fan cycling schemes such 

 as 12-hours on, 12-hours off; 6-hQurs on, 6-hours off; 8-hours on, 

 16-hours off; and 16-hours on, 8-hours off, in storages ranging 

 from "antiquated rooms to those featuring the latest state-of-the- 

 art in construction and equipment", show that "over all" the 6- 

 hours on, 6-hours off seems to be the best scheme. 



Cycling 6-hours on, 6-hours off fits well with storage manage- 

 ment. This scheme compensated for the outside air temperature 

 fluctuations in the fall and spring and maintained the proper 

 average fruit temperature in different rooms in which it was tested 



The cycling scheme could be scheduled around "peak load" hours 

 of the local utility company (some utility companies have a special 

 rate for customers that do not use power during these times) and 

 this adjustment would not interfere with the maintenance of the 

 fruit temperature. 



n 



This article appeared in the January 15, 1983 issue of the GoodFruit 

 Grower. Reprinted by permission of the author. 



