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Vending Machine Energy Consumption and VendingMiser Evaluation
Abstract
As an effort to decrease the amount of non-critical energy used on the Texas A&M campus, and to assist Dixie Narco in evaluating the efficiency of their vending machines, the Texas A&M Energy Systems Laboratory investigated the power consumption of soda vending machines on the Texas A&M campus. Several vending machines were evaluated to determine the power consumption for the individual components, and the whole machine. Recommendations were made from the results. The VendingMiser device was also tested to evaluate the potential energy savings of this device.
Description
The Texas A&M campus has approximately 263 soda vending machines operated by the local Coca Cola distributor. Machines at the Coca Cola Bryan warehouse and a new machine located at the Energy Systems Riverside lab were analyzed to determine the energy consumption for each machine and for the individual electrical components within the machine. The machines selected were representative of the machines used on the A&M campus, and were in working order. From this testing, it was determined that the 263 campus machines consume an estimated 3546 kilowatt-hours per year, with a demand of 106 kilowatts, incurring about $34,000 per year in electrical costs. It was also found that the newer machines offer little energy savings over similar older models, and that the lighting systems account for 40% of the electrical cost for the vending machines. VendingMiser, an economy maximizing hardware, was also evaluated over the course of the study. The energy savings from the use of VendingMiser would be significantly less for the few vending machines in buildings occupied during regular business hours; however, the majority of vending machines on campus are in continually occupied areas, resulting only in a slight energy reduction.Collections
Citation
Ritter, J.; Hugghins, J. (2000). Vending Machine Energy Consumption and VendingMiser Evaluation. Energy Systems Laboratory (http://esl.tamu.edu), Texas A&M University. Available electronically from https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /2006.