Insulated Cool Room Panels from Dynamic Composite Technologies

Keep your cool without going broke
How to tell if your cool room is heating up your energy consumption
By Rick Hutchings

Does your business use a cool room? If it does, then you would understand the importance of keeping your cool room maintained in peak operating condition.

But what if your cool room is not in peak condition? You could be running the risk of stock spoilage, poor energy efficiency, emissions, high running costs, down time, all while shortening the life span of your cool room system.

Compliance with Health & Safety regulations, minimising maintenance, increasing the longevity of your refrigeration unit and reduction of your power consumption should be part of your regular cool room maintenance programme.

Below we have devised a 'Quick cool room check list' to help you gauge the condition of your cool room panels.

Quick cool room check list

- Is your cool room fitted with an electricity meter? If so, have you seen a spike in your energy consumption?

- If you stand inside the cool room with the lights off, does any external light penetrate through gaps in the walls or ceiling?

- Is there condensation forming on the exterior wall of the cool room?

- Are there water stains or mould spots around the corners and joins of the cool room?

- Are there any signs of corrosion on the cool room panels?

- Are the bottom of your cool room panels bulging?

If you answered yes to any of the questions on our check list, it could be an indication that your cool room insulation has become compromised.

Signs of rot, corrosion and swelling at the bottom of cool room panels are often a result of the core insulation material becoming wet.

This can occur when moisture-laden air diffuses through small openings or gaps in your panel skins, releasing water vapour as condensation onto the core insulation material.

When tested to the ASTM D 666-73 Freeze Thaw Cycling Test, results showed that some insulation materials lost up to a staggering 94% of their thermal efficiency due to moisture uptake.

This of course has a knock on effect by making your refrigeration unit work harder and increasing your energy consumption. To make matters worse, your insulation could be harbouring mould and harmful bacteria which could potentially contaminate your stock.

But what if you could easily and cost effectively refurbish your tired old cool room to increase its thermal efficiency, prevent panel gaps which could allow warm air in and cold air out, to have a cool room panel that is easy to clean and will stand up to abuse time and time again?

Dynamic Composite Technologies, a leading thermal insulation specialist with over 20 years experience in the industry, has developed a range of premium single sided laminated panels for commercial cool rooms. By pairing the high thermal performance, high impact, rigid, closed cell properties of a DCTech supplied extruded polystyrene (XPS) insulation with the durable fibreglass reinforced plastic (FRP) Glasbord wall and ceiling liner panels, a hard-wearing and cost effective cool room panel solution is produced.

The single sided Glasbord laminated panels are available in either a smooth or embossed surface finish and is ideal for applications in high moisture areas such as cool rooms, cold stores and brining rooms that require not only a robust hygienic surface finish but also a thermally superior insulated core.

The Glasbord FRP facing is coated with a unique surface finish known as Surfaseal. This innovative coating helps to increase the performance of the wall or ceiling liner, resulting in a hygienic, high impact and stain resistant panel that will not rot, mildew or corrode and will never require painting.

Glasbord is Factory Mutual Approved, has a Class C rating from flame spread and smoke development when tested per ASTM E-84 and complies with Australian Standards: AS3837, AS1530, AS4674, BCA, HACCP and AQIS and Australian National Food Safety Standards.

DCTech supplied XPS is manufactured with CFC/HCFC free blowing agents, has zero Ozone Depletion Potential (ODP), is Green Star compliant and provides long-term thermal performance to achieve optimum energy efficiency. The closed cell structure of DCTech supplied XPS resists all forms of water and moisture penetration, contains a flame retardant to inhibit ignition from small fires, and by being chemically and physiologically inert it will not support mould or mildew and is not a known food source to vermin or insects.

DIY guideline to installing Glasboard laminated panels
Ideal for a no fuss cool room refurbishment

- Prepare walls as per DCTech guidelines

- Using a high grab strength adhesive, adhere the Glasbord laminated panels directly over existing damaged cool room panels

- Use either a food grade sealant or DCTech supplied division bars to seal the joins between the boards to prevent thermal bridging

- Wipe away any excess sealant

With minimal down time and no unpleasant fibreglass resin odour, you can now resume normal business operations.

Should the cool room panel become damaged, Glasbord laminated panels also offer the unique ability to be repaired rather than entirely replaced.

DCTech can also assist with R-value calculations, dew point risk analysis, building codes, installation and maintenance advice. DCTech take pride in offering only premium products that are tried and tested to Australian Standards.

Even the smallest amount of moisture in your insulated cool room panel can reduce its thermal efficiency by a staggering 96%! If your cool room panels are looking a bit wet and miserable, why not give DCTech a call today for a free quote.