Turning refrigeration from a hidden cost into managed system performance.
SETPOINT helps food and beverage businesses reduce energy waste, recover heat, manage peak demand and improve the way refrigeration systems perform.
Most refrigeration systems do more than keep things cold — they use power, reject heat, create load and shape the operating cost of the whole site. We look at refrigeration as both a cooling system and an energy system, and start by assessing how the site actually works rather than assuming everything needs replacing.
A commercial refrigeration system is constantly moving heat — and in most setups, much of that heat is simply wasted.
At the same time, many food businesses use separate electrical systems to heat water, run washdown processes, defrost freezer coils and manage other operating loads.
That is where SETPOINT’s energy work starts. We look at the whole system and ask better questions — practical energy work, built from refrigeration knowledge.
We do not start by assuming everything needs replacing. Often the smartest answer is to adapt, retrofit and stage improvements over time.
Energy work begins with an assessment and system review — reviewing refrigeration loads, compressor behaviour, hot-water demand, defrost cycles, room conditions, condenser performance, operating patterns and maintenance history to create a clear baseline before recommending changes.
Sometimes the opportunity is not only to use less energy, but to improve what the system can deliver. The goal is simple: help the system reach setpoint quicker, recover faster and spend less time working harder than it needs to.
Commercial refrigeration systems produce waste heat. Instead of treating it as a by-product to be rejected, SETPOINT looks for ways to put it to work — pre-heating hot water, supporting washdown requirements or improving defrost processes.
Many food businesses use significant hot water for washdown, cleaning and production. By recovering heat from the refrigeration system, incoming water can be pre-heated before it reaches the final hot-water unit, reducing the electrical energy needed to reach the desired outlet temperature.
Our four-step approach establishes a baseline, finds the best opportunities, implements the right changes and measures the result.
Establish the starting point — the site, equipment, operating requirements, energy profile and the commercial reality of the business.
Identify the best opportunities. Not every site needs the same solution — we evaluate what makes the biggest practical difference.
Design and implement site-specific changes: controls, VSDs, heat exchangers, glycol systems, EC fans, pipework or defrost redesign.
Measure and refine. Energy work should be visible in reduced waste, lower demand, better room conditions and faster recovery.
Diagnostics continue after install. SETPOINT uses Frigbot data analysis and room-averaged temperature sensing to see how the system really behaves — where it short cycles, where it works too hard and where energy is leaking out of the process.
That visibility lets the process continue in stages as the business grows, rather than being a one-off fix.
Sometimes energy improvement is about changing when and how the system works hardest — not just using less power.
Variable Speed Drives let compressors start more gently, ramp up and down, improve capacity control and reduce the harsh stop-start behaviour of older systems — cutting peak starting current, reducing mechanical wear and supporting better energy performance.
SETPOINT can also assess operating patterns, door use, product load and temperature stability to help smooth demand and reduce unnecessary running during peak or non-renewable periods.
SETPOINT is a Master Electricians member — qualified electrical and controls capability backing the variable speed drives, soft-starters and control strategies we install.
A refrigeration system does not just affect total energy use — it affects peak demand. Older Direct On-Line compressor systems can create large starting spikes, and when those combine with other site loads they push up demand charges even if a spike only lasts a moment.
SETPOINT can assess whether compressor controls, Variable Speed Drives, soft-starting or staged upgrades will reduce unnecessary peak demand — backed by ongoing monitoring so the gains are visible and maintained.
Energy performance is not only about how much power a system uses — the quality of that power matters too. SETPOINT works with specialist electrical-engineering partners, including experts such as Qub, to investigate power quality, harmonics, metering and electrical performance issues that may be affecting equipment reliability, running costs or site efficiency.
For businesses with larger refrigeration loads, Variable Speed Drives, compressors, pumps or fans, this can help surface hidden issues in the way power is being used across the site. The aim is practical: better visibility, better diagnosis and better decisions before recommending upgrades or changes.
Energy improvement is not always about installing bigger or newer equipment. Sometimes the smartest gains come from understanding how the system behaves across the day.
SETPOINT can use monitoring data, room-averaged temperature sensing and control strategy to reduce unnecessary cycling, smooth out temperature spikes and help the system work hardest at the right times.
For high-traffic coldrooms and freezer rooms this is especially important. Door openings, forklift traffic, product loading and changing site conditions can all cause short-term temperature spikes — and if the system reacts too aggressively, it can short cycle, start too often and use more energy than needed.
By looking at the operating pattern, SETPOINT can tune the system for more stable temperature control, longer off-cycles, lower peak demand and better product conditions.
This is not a future ambition — SETPOINT is already doing this work inside food and beverage businesses, with reported, measurable results.
A staged systems approach — heat recovery, hot-water pre-heating, VSDs retrofitted to existing compressors and embedded glycol defrost using recovered waste heat.
A circular refrigeration and energy project — custom semi-hermetic condensing unit, VSD control, EC condenser fans, heat recovery, thermal mass, glycol defrost and cascade sub-cooling.
A follow-on freezer-room upgrade for the same seafood operation, focused on smarter control, energy efficiency and load shifting — VSD control, new pipework, electrical upgrades, room-averaged temperature sensing and Frigbot data analysis.
As a founding member of SIM-PAC Live, SETPOINT founder Nathan Owens was interviewed by Geoff Matthews about the evolving landscape of refrigeration and energy efficiency — energy-consumption awareness, the role of variable speed drives, recovering industrial waste heat, the transition to natural refrigerants, and why operational efficiency matters for productivity and sustainability.
Nathan Owens, Founder & CEO · Hosted by Geoff Matthews · SIM-PAC Live
The Beefy’s Pies Factory project was selected as a finalist, and the Daniel Street Fish Market energy solutions went on to win the Sustainability Award and the Judges Award.
Beefy’s Pies Factory, Electrification in Action
Daniel Street Fish Market, Process Engineering Award
Daniel Street Fish Market, Life Cycle Design
If your business relies on cooling every day, there may be energy value inside the system you already operate.
Our energy work comes from refrigeration, not abstract sustainability theory — the equipment, site conditions, load, controls and commercial risk.
Cooling, hot water, defrost, humidity, compressor behaviour, controls and operating patterns are all connected.
Sometimes the smartest answer is to re-purpose, retrofit, adapt or stage improvements over time.
Reduced energy use, reduced peak demand, better room conditions, lower water use and improved capacity.
Energy performance depends on ongoing service, maintenance and monitoring — we stay with the system over its life.
SETPOINT works with food and beverage businesses from Caboolture to Gympie. For refrigeration energy assessment, heat recovery, peak demand reduction, hot-water preheating, VSD upgrades, glycol defrost, sub-cooling or system improvement advice — talk to SETPOINT.