WEBINAR RECAP: USING DATA TO REDUCE REFRIGERANT LEAK RATES
- Amrit Robbins
- Jun 16, 2022
- 3 min read
Updated: May 28
Key Takeaways
Grocery Outlet and Climate Pros shared how data-driven leak detection enabled measurable refrigerant leak rate reductions across their portfolios.
Tracking leak rates at the fleet level — not just individual incidents — reveals systemic patterns that targeted maintenance can address.
Early leak detection converts large, compliance-threatening leak events into small, manageable maintenance interventions.
Operators who monitor and benchmark leak rates over time build the data foundation needed to demonstrate AIM Act compliance.
📊 Stat: The EPA reports that the average U.S. supermarket leaks 25% of its refrigerant charge annually — a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions and a direct driver of maintenance costs.
Why Are Manual Refrigerant Leak Checks Failing Grocery Retailers?
Manual Leak Checks (2-minute snippet):
“The data analytics side is kind of a relatively new concept of how to look at refrigerant leak detection... I’m excited to see what it can do for us and improve our leak rate even more.”
— Brian Gamotis, Grocery Outlet
How Can Sensor Data Reduce Refrigerant Leak Rates Without Adding Labor?
According to the EPA, the average supermarket has an annual refrigerant leak rate of 25%. Axiom Cloud's data backs this up - in the first 4 months of 2022, Axiom's Virtual Technician app detected a refrigerant leak in 10% of all subscribed stores.
The maintenance, climate, and energy efficiency impacts of these refrigerant leaks cannot be overstated. The two most common methods for leak detection used today, manual checks and stationary PPM sensors, are time intensive and expensive, and they often miss slow leaks until it is too late.
There is another way: data from existing sensors can be used to detect refrigerant leaks faster and more reliably.
On June 15th, 2022, Axiom Cloud hosted a webinar with panelists from Grocery Outlet and Climate Pros, with the goal of creating awareness around ways data can be used to improve refrigeration management and help reduce refrigerant leak rates. It was great to connect with so many grocery retailers, technology providers, and industry leaders interested in learning new ways to tackle a problem that has plagued the industry for decades.
What Did Axiom Cloud and Grocery Outlet Cover in Their Refrigerant Leak Webinar?
Discussion topics included:
Why are refrigerant leaks so prevalent?
What are the pros and cons of historical leak detection methods?
How can data, analytics and AI help detect leaks?
Case studies describing the results
You can find a link to the full recording here.
If this webinar proved useful, you may also enjoy watching the recordings of our other recent webinars about refrigeration management: Demand Response in Retail Grocery and Data-Driven Refrigeration Management.
We’d like to thank everyone for joining us and we look forward to seeing you at the next webinar!
Axiom Cloud’s mission is to use software and automation to transform how the world’s cooling systems are powered, operated, and maintained, in order to generate significant climate and financial impact. Axiom’s team of refrigeration experts, data scientists, energy nerds, and software developers solves retail grocery’s biggest energy and maintenance challenges by layering intelligence onto their existing refrigeration systems. If you’re interested in learning more about our mission or our apps for commercial refrigeration, please contact us today.
WATCH THE FULL WEBINAR
For the full regulatory + operational breakdown of what data-driven leak detection looks like under the AIM Act, see our pillar guide: Refrigerant Leak Detection in Commercial Refrigeration.
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