Waitrose is rolling out heat pump technology in its stores as a result of energy price rises.
The move will see the supermarket giant switching its fossil fuel heating system to electric heat pumps, which it plans to put into effect across all stores before 2035.
Energy and innovation operations manager Neil Coleman said Waitrose will be working on heat recovery solutions and thermal efficiency, which will assist in lowering the heating and cooling load of its sites, as reported by The Grocer.
Across its stores, there are currently five heat pumps installed with an additional ten set to be implemented in 2023.
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Coleman said: “No business is immune to rising energy costs – we’ve already set an ambitious plan to reduce our energy consumption and reach our goal of net zero emissions by 2035. With energy prices rising, we’re accelerating this.”
In 2019, Waitrose introduced high-tech “invisible doors” across its estate to create more sustainable stores.
The AirDoor technology developed by Wirth Research is continuing to be rolled out across its stores, using sensors to detect the flow of air in both directions at the doors of Waitrose stores to prevent warm air being lost on colder days, and cold air being lost on warmer days.
This comes as the chair of Waitrose’s parent company, John Lewis Partnership warned today (22 November), that customers have become more conscious of spending ahead of Christmas and are beginning to budget.
