Rebates are available to El Paso Electric’s New Mexico commercial customers for the installation of air infiltration measures, including weather stripping, door sweeps, and refrigerated cooler/freezer door gaskets.

Adding or replacing weather stripping or door sweeps on entrance and exit doors and movable exterior windows can eliminate gaps that allow unconditioned air into a condition space. Installing weather stripping can decrease heating and cooling loads, resulting in increased comfort and energy savings.

Weather stripping and door sweeps are designed to be installed along the bottom and jambs of exterior doors and windows and must be installed on a conditioned and/or heated space. Buildings with evaporative cooling are not eligible. Treated doors and windows must have visible gaps of at least 1/8–3/4 inches along the outside edge. A space with interior vestibule doors is not eligible.

The baseline standard for this measure is a commercial building with exterior doors and windows that are not sealed from unconditioned space. The high-efficiency condition for this measure is a commercial building with exterior doors and windows that have been sealed from unconditioned space using weather stripping and/or brush style door sweeps. The space on the interior of the door must be conditioned and/or heated.

The pre-retrofit gap width must be verified by providing photo evidence of the gap measurement. Length of installed weather stripping or door sweeps should be documented on the project invoice.

Door gaskets are designed to form an air-tight barrier between the cool air inside a refrigerated space and the warmer external environment on walk-in and reach-in coolers and freezers. Minimizing the entry of warm, moist air will reduce cooling load and energy consumption. Tightly-fitting gaskets will also prevent display case fogging and ice build-up on cooling coils and around freezer doors. Frost build-up adversely impacts the coil’s heat transfer effectiveness, reduces air passage (lowering heat transfer efficiency), and increases energy use during the defrost cycle. Replacing defective door gaskets reduces compressor run time, reducing energy consumption and improving the overall effectiveness of heat removal from a refrigerated cabinet.

The most common applications for this measure are refrigerated coolers and freezers in supermarkets, convenience stores, restaurants, and refrigerated warehouses. Length of installed weather stripping or door sweeps should be documented on the project invoice.