Retail Food Store Refrigeration: Heat Recovery, Subcooling and Condenser Rules (Energy Code 120.6(b))
"Retail Food Store Refrigeration: Heat Recovery, Subcooling and Condenser Rules (Energy Code 120.6(b))" is lesson 8 of 8 in the Refrigeration (C-38) Learning Hub. It opens with "Which Stores Section 120.6(b) Covers" and works through 5 short steps, then a worked example you can check yourself against.
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Steps in this lesson
Which Stores Section 120.6(b) Covers
Condensers
Compressor Systems and Liquid Subcooling
Display Case Lighting
Heat Recovery and the Charge Allowance
The worked example in the course applies this lesson to a realistic job in 7 steps, from "Which racks count?" through "Air-cooled condenser input limit".
What you'll be able to do
Explain the main idea of "Retail Food Store Refrigeration: Heat Recovery, Subcooling and Condenser Rules (Energy Code 120.6(b))" in plain language you can use on the exam.
Apply this step with confidence: "Compressor Systems and Liquid Subcooling".
Apply this step with confidence: "Display Case Lighting".
Apply this step with confidence: "Heat Recovery and the Charge Allowance".
Test yourself on the worked example and the quick-check quiz inside the classroom.
The diagram for this lesson, exactly as it appears in the Learning Hub.
The first steps of this lesson
Step 1: Which Stores Section 120.6(b) Covers
2025 Energy Code Section 120.6(b) applies to retail food or beverage stores with 8,000 square feet or more of conditioned floor area that use refrigerated display cases or walk-in coolers or freezers. Such equipment must meet the applicable state and federal appliance standards or, for equipment not subject to those standards, the requirements of 120.6(b) items 1 through 4. The same 8,000 square foot threshold appears in CALGreen Section 5.508.2 for leak reduction.
Step 2: Condensers
Section 120.6(b)1 requires continuously variable speed condenser fans controlled in unison, and condensing temperature setpoint reset by ambient drybulb (air-cooled, adiabatic in dry mode) or wetbulb (evaporative). The minimum condensing temperature setpoint is 70 degrees F or less. Table 120.6-D sets minimum specific efficiency of 160 Btuh/W for evaporative and air-cooled condensers (rated at 100 degrees F SCT with 70 degrees F wetbulb, or 105 degrees F SCT with 95 degrees F drybulb) and 45 Btu/W for adiabatic dry mode halocarbon. Exceptions include condensers under 150,000 Btuh THR, stores in Climate Zone 1, and reused condensers.
The remaining 3 steps, the worked example and the quiz are in the course. This is a preview. The full lesson, with the step-by-step explanations, a worked example and a quick-check quiz, is inside the classroom.
Independent exam preparation. Contractors Classroom is not affiliated with the Contractors State License Board, and no course can guarantee a passing result.
