Many of UIC facilities have vending machines somewhere in the building. They are very convenient for a quick snack or drink. But in order to keep these machines working, it uses energy 24 hours a day, seven days a week. On average, vending machines consumes 2,500 to 4,400 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of energy per year. The average cost of electricity per kilowatt-hour (kWh) is $0.16 in Chicago. This translates to operating costs ranging from $400 to $704 per year for ONE vending machine.
Luckily, there are many potential energy efficiency improvements. For refrigerated vending machines solutions include but are not limited to better insulation, improved condenser heat transfer, and control changes to the refrigeration cycle. In other words, lowering power consumption during times of low usage.
For all vending machines, I propose to explore the idea of installing occupancy sensors for each machine. The sensor detects if the machine has been in use within 15 minutes. If not, then the sensor can shut down the machine for a few hours or until someone walks by. When occupancy sensors are installed, savings can range from 24% to 75% dependent on the amount of traffic at the given location of the machine.
Project Time Line: One to three hours to install ONE occupancy sensor
Preliminary Budget: $120 – $200 per occupancy sensor
Sources:
Principles of Urban Sustainability 
Very Interesting observation, the energy consumed by vending machines is often overlooked. By placing a sensor device the university can save cost and possibly introduce more vending machines with the savings. However, there may be concerns with refrigerated vending machines due to the fact that the food may not be properly stored. Even if the machine refrigerates in cycles, I believe consumers might consider other options when approaching the sensored vending machine. Otherwise a sensor on the vending machines is a great way to save energy.
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I agree that this would be a fantastic idea to implement on campus. I think however we also need to look at the types of food being placed in our vending machine. While highly processed food, snacks, and beverages are tasty, they aren’t the best for the environment (as well as our health). Laura Moss of Mother Nature Network states that, “Processed food contains multiple chemicals and often involves energy-intensive production processes. Plus, all that packaging typically ends up in a landfill, where plastic poisons the environment and can take thousands of years to break down.” If we can assure that we are getting food for vending machines from environmentally conscious and friendly food companies, we would be improving the health of the environment and those that attend UIC.
Source:
Moss, Laura. “12 Foods That Are Bad for the Planet.” MNN.com, Mother Nature Network, 25 Apr. 2011, http://www.mnn.com/food/healthy-eating/photos/12-foods-that-are-bad-for-the-planet/packaged-and-processed-food.
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I think this idea is very interesting. Vending machines aren’t something that we give much importance to, but we should be. I actually didn’t know they consumed that much energy a year which is really eye opening. Perhaps, we can start bringing this up to students on campus so that they’re aware on how much these vending machines are using up energy. Another thing can be comparing a vending machine with the sensor and one without a sensor before using this sensor on all of them because like it was stated, some foods are highly processed and therefore, this idea may not work for those types of foods. But regardless, this is a good way of saving energy from something we aren’t so aware of.
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Having the light on vending machines is a waste of energy, so Im completely on board with this proposal. I remember throughout high school always seeing our vending machines on and I just thought it was a waste. I think the idea of light sensors would be very useful in keeping the kilowatt use at low. and i dpn’t think food would be affected if the light is turned off because our refrigerators dont need light when the fridge is closed. Very good proposal!
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