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Freezers provide heat outside the freezer - which is in the store. So while not the most efficient kind of heating it’s not “heat the store and cool the freezers”. 1kWh spent cooling a fridge is 1kWh heat added to the store.

(This depends on where the freezer heat exchangers are)

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That makes sense. So it is better to have freezers running in a store you are trying to heat up than one you are trying to cool. I had it completely backward.

No, you had it right. You need to cool the freezer because you put it in the store. The more you heat the store (and the freezer is heating the store), the more you need to cool the freezer.

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