There’s little doubt that bacon has never been more popular. But there is at least one place where the presence of bacon can leave a bad taste in one's mouth. Believe it or not, it can be found lining the outer edges of the doors that are attached to a convenience store’s coolers and freezers. Bacon inside the cold vault is OK, but not on your cold-vault door’s gasket.
When a cold-vault door’s gaskets age and wear, they can become wavy thanks to a process known as “baconing” because the gaskets begin to take on the undulating look of frying bacon. When this phenomenon occurs—which can also be accompanied by hardening, tears, cracking or brittleness of the gasket—the gasket is likely no longer able to adequately seal when the door is closed.
The causes of gasket failure are many:
- Repeated open/close slamming (on average, 140 times a day) of doors that weigh up to 200 pounds.
- Numerous on/off anti-condensate heating cycles.
- General abuse from shoppers and stockers.
The simple fact is that after three to five years of use, all cold-vault door gaskets will be nothing more than a piece of plastic on the door frame and will need to be replaced.
Thankfully, replacing a door gasket is an easy operation that can be performed in a matter of minutes. To aid c-stores in the gasket-replacement effort, Anthony, a leading provider of cooler and freezer doors, gaskets and other related components, has created a
Gasket Replacement video that walks the user through the replacement process step by step.
Replacing gaskets is much more than a necessary evil. Ill-fitting gaskets allow the cold air that should remain inside the cold vault to leak out. Coolers or freezers that are not kept at the proper temperature can compromise the safety and shelf life of the food inside. Doors that don’t seal properly will damage closing hardware and can necessitate a complete door replacement. As cold air leaks out, the number of on/off cycles increases, leading to additional energy costs and harder-working compressors that will wear out sooner. In fact, a new
white paper produced by Anthony shows that energy-usage studies have indicated that a single cold-vault door with a leaking gasket will run up $40 to $60 more in electricity costs to operate annually.
Finally, and most important, a gasket with a good seal will provide a more comfortable shopping experience for the customer vs. a leaking gasket.
Knowing the daily wear and tear that cold-vault doors and their gaskets are subjected to, Anthony has developed the LifePlus Gasket, which is a gasket material that is able to consistently hold its shape under varying temperatures. In addition, Anthony has developed its patented Cloze Control door hold-open technology, which prevents doors from slamming, resulting in superior door seals and reduced energy costs and extends gasket life to six to 10 years. Both are available at
anthonystore.com.
Anthony is also offering a
1+1=5 promotion in which any retailer who purchases one LifePlus Gasket and one Cloze Control door hold-open control will receive five years of gasket warranty. Anthony personnel will also come to any c-store site to perform a free gasket evaluation.