We’ve written this article to talk about one of the main distinguishing features of our professional (patented) thermocirculators, which is their ultra energy efficiency.
When we talk about thermocirculators, we have to bear in mind that they are high-powered devices (2KW, 3.5KW, 4KW). Add to this the fact that sous vide is a slower cooking process, and these devices generally have a high energy consumption.
Imagine, for example, a 4KW thermo-circulator that is on 50% of the time (because it loses temperature quickly), for a food that takes around 36 hours (as is the case with brisket), the energy consumption would be around 72KW. And we’re not taking into account the energy consumption of the pump in this equipment.
Consider how much that would cost in a month.
This is due to the ultra-efficient thermal insulation system we use. Special layers separate the internal environment (where the heating element is located) from the external environment.
A reinforced cover is also used to ensure that heat exchange through the top of the equipment is much more difficult.
When we talk about maximum efficiency for sous vide, we are thinking both of the best end result for the product and also the best efficiency for the client’s production.
We’ll use our TC 100 thermocirculator model as the basis for the calculation.
The equipment has a power of 4KW and gains 1ºC in temperature every 50 seconds or so. When the temperature is reached, the machine switches off the heating elements. What was spent in KW to reach the desired temperature is (DESIRED TEMPERATURE – INITIAL TEMPERATURE)*50*4/3600. We’ll call this calculation initial energy expended (IEE). Considering an initial water temperature of 30ºC and wanting to reach 59ºC (the temperature indicated in our recipe table which you can see here), the calculation is as follows: (59-30)*50*4/3600 = 1.6KW.
Let’s consider a time of 4 hours to lower 1ºC (this time is an average and may vary depending on the environment in which the thermo-circulator is located). Our thermo-circulators leave the factory with a variation limit of 0.2ºC for the heating element to turn on again. In other words, if the selected temperature is 65.5ºC, after reaching this temperature the heaters will switch off and will only switch on again when the temperature drops to 65.3ºC (a variation of 0.2ºC). So, considering a constant loss of temperature and with a temperature interval of 0.2ºC, each time it is switched back on, 0.2*50*4000/3600 will be used, which gives 11W. And that’s a total of 45 times. The energy spent on restarts (ESR) is 495W.
We also have to consider the energy cost of the pump that circulates the water. Let’s take it at level 2, it will have an energy cost of 75W/hour. In 36 hours, the energy used by the pump (EUP) will be 2.7KW (36*75).
Now that we’ve calculated the three ways in which the equipment uses energy, all we have to do is add them up
INITIAL ENERGY EXPENDED (IEE): (80-30)*50*4/3600 = 1.6KW
ENERGY SPENT ON RESTARTS (ESR): 72/(1/(2/12))*(1*50*4)/3600) = 0.49KW
ENERGY USED BY THE PUMP (EUP): 0.075*72 (considering level 2) = 2.7KW
APPROXIMATE TOTAL SPENT: 4.79KW or 0.133KW/hour
Compared to our initial example, which in a traditional thermo-circulator would use around 72KW, ours will save an impressive 93%.
Of course, your initial and desired temperature values may be different, but this calculation gives you a good idea of how much you can save with our professional thermocirculators, as well as achieving the highest efficiency for the sous vide process.
Would you like to get in contact with Orved Brock to know more about our professional sous vide machines? Reach us via phone: +55 85 98793-6777, e-mail: vendas@orvedbrock.com.br or whatsapp.
