As the winemakers at McLaren Vintners well know, energy is used at every step of the wine making process.  Refrigeration is a big energy consumer, making insulation a crucial component in saving both money and energy. An audit found that if McLaren Vintners insulated all of its tanks (currently, 56% of 202 tanks are insulated), they could save over $45,000 a year on their annual electricity costs. The payback period on the outlay is only 4.5 years. 

Caernarvon Orchard in Orange, NSW, produces and packs 4,500 tonnes of apples and 800 tonnes of cherries per annum. About 5% of its annual electricity spend is on lighting (around $3,400 pa). An energy audit found that replacing high bay lighting fixtures with LEDs would save $2,120 a year (from a one off investment of $5,600). Savings would also come from using electronic lighting ballasts, and replacing fluorescent tubes.

The ‘Watts in Your Business’ project conducted by Apple and Pear Australia Ltd completed energy audits of 30 packhouses and orchards Australia-wide. This fact sheet shows how understanding electricity tariffs in a packhouse/orchard can save money.

The ‘Watts in Your Business’ project conducted by Apple and Pear Australia Ltd completed energy audits of 30 packhouses and orchards Australia-wide. This fact sheet shows how lighting changes can cut energy use and save money.

When 2 Victorian fruit packing houses (Geoff Thompson’s and Montague’s) conducted energy audits, each found there was high potential for energy savings through the optimisation of voltage power. While the initial investment was between $125,000-285,000, the savings were significant ($54,000-$58,000 a year), and the payback period short – just 2.2 to 5.2 years. 

Located in Goondiwindi, Queensland Chesterfield Australia is an Agricultural and Construction Equipment company. The Goondiwindi site has both workshop and a retail spaces requiring specific lighting. During the Financial Years 2012/13, the facility consumed 119,984 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity, emitting 103 tonnes of carbon. An energy audit identified potential energy efficiency cost savings of approximately $6605 a year using light emitting diodes (LEDs) upgrades, with a payback period of just 2.2 years.

The ‘Watts in Your Business’ project conducted by Apple and Pear Australia Ltd completed energy audits of 30 packhouses and orchards Australia-wide. This fact sheet shows how changing irrigaton in orchards can cut energy use and save money.

The ‘Watts in Your Business’ project conducted by Apple and Pear Australia Ltd completed energy audits of 30 packhouses and orchards Australia-wide. This fact sheet shows how refrigeration changes can cut energy use and save money.

At the JW Kirkwood Ticehurst Orchard in Tasmania, 58% of  the annual electricity spend of around $90,000 is for refrigeration of its cool rooms and other systems. In WA, Newton Brothers packhouse and cold storage spends 70% of its $350,000 annual electricity costs on cold storage.  Both could save money by reducing the head pressure in their refrigeration units. this would cost around $5000, save between $2500 and $3500 a year and have a payback period of just 1-2 years.  

The owners of a black Angus breeding and fattening operation on a small, pastoral property north west of Roma Queensland, were using dated refrigeration units to cool and store beef as well as other household perishable goods. An officer from Queensland Murray-Darling Committee’s (QMDC) Energy Efficiency Information Grant project was engaged to conduct an audit of the property’s energy use to ascertain whether savings could be achieved.