Electricity consumption in large supermarkets represents a substantial share of the national electric energy use, about 4% in both the United States and France. Display cases and air-conditioning systems consume a considerable amount of electricity, varying from 50% to 70% of the store total. Minimizing this energy consumption is advantageous since the corresponding consumption is about 400 kWh/ (m²·yr) (37 kWh/(ft²·year)). Reducing energy consumption remains quite a challenge. This paper discusses a new approach to estimate impacts of temperature and humidity set points on the total energy balance of supermarkets. It takes into account the model of the cold aisle effect and the occurrence of thermal coupling between supermarket display cases and the air-conditioning system. Results are given for a typical French supermarket.

Units: Dual