What is a Vend Miser?

It may sound like an evil character out of Star Wars, but the Vend Miser is actually doing an invaluable service to the planet. Companies keen to keep their energy bills low and who actually want to do good by the planet are increasingly installing a piece of kit called a Vend Miser to their vending machines. This item will regulate the amount of energy a vending machine uses in three separate ways.
• Automatically turns off the vending machine when no one is around
• Monitors the room’s temperature
• Automatically re-powers cooling system to ensure product stays cold

There are a variety of different types of Vend Misers on the market but there are essentially two different types: internal and external

• External Misers include a wall-mounted sensor that monitors foot traffic and room temperature. If a certain amount of time passes without anyone near the vending machine, the miser will automatically power down the equipment. It’s turned back on once people go near the machine and at regular intervals to keep the product chilled.
• Internal Misers will power down the compressor based on sales. They are placed inside the vending machine so they are not visible to users. Like their external counterpart, internal misers also monitor the room’s temperature to automatically turn the equipment on or off as needed to keep products cold.

External misers are better for vending machines where foot traffic is minimal, since the sensor would constantly detect people in high traffic areas and keep the machine running longer.

So, how much would you save in energy if you had a Vend Miser in your machine. Studies in the United States have suggested that it could be as much as $150 per year per machine and a corresponding reduction in energy use of 46% kWh.

Vend Misers essentially work by detecting traffic (human) in their area, it none is detected the system shuts down the vending machine until activity is detected.