Remote refrigeration refers to where the evaporator is located within the refrigerated space but the condensing unit is located elsewhere normally outside of the building or in a suitable plant room.  The purpose of this is to discharge the heat removed from the room to the external environment thus avoiding the discharge of heat into the area surrounding the appliance.  Alternatively if no suitable location can be found to position the condensing unit the heat can be removed by water.

Remote systems offer a variety of benefits, not least that they do not expel heat into area around the refrigerated space.  They offer noise benefits over an integral system as the part of the system which generates the most noise is located elsewhere.  As they do not expel heat into the surrounding area there will be less cooling required for this area which in itself is ineffcient.

Remote systems can however also be considered as inefficient due to the increased distance over which the refrigerant needs to be moved.  However these ineffciencies can be limitted by ensuring a few simple rules are adherred to;

• Design input during project planning stage ensuring pipes are correctly sized and routed for maximum efficiency
• Incorporating items such as fan speed or capacity control to ensure efficient operation
• Adding capacity control to the system ensuring that the capacity provided matches the capacity required

All of these can increase the efficiency of a remote system in their own right but together can make as much as a 25% improvment.

The ineffiency of the remote system has also to be balanced against the implications of expelling heat into the area around the refrigerated space.  This could result in increased cooling requirements for this area which in itself is inefficient.  An increased temperature in this area can also increase the amount of time that the cooling system itself is operating as more temperature loss we occur during door operations.

Therefore when considering efficiency a careful balance must be achieved and the 'one size fits all' analogy is not correct.

In general the advantages and disadvantages of a remote system are;

Refrigeration capacity can be matched to demand

No heat discharged into the surrounding area

ECA approved compressor available

Installation is fixed

May fall under the FGas regulations

Not available for Hydrocarbon refrigerants

More expensive fixed installation