Would you buy a plane ticket for a fridge door seal?

Of course you wouldn't, but that is often the result if you source your customers' gaskets from OEMs or parts wholesalers. Depending on the supply chains involved, these gaskets could be flown in from the European mainland, United States, China or even further afield. Air freight is one of the world's biggest contributors to CO² emissions, and even long distance transport via road isn't ideal.

With over 200 different types of gasket in stock, and the capacity to manufacture seals right here in the UK, Gasket Guy can keep road miles to a minimum and give you auditable proof that you are taking active steps to decarbonise your supply chain.

This in itself could give you a competitive edge over less conscientious companies. But there's more. By choosing to source your gaskets from Gasket Guy, you can even support your customers in minimising their carbon footprint. Let us explain.

How a fast gasket turnaround can drive down your customers' carbon emissions

Your customers will have made significant capital investment in their fridges and freezers, with the latest models designed to be super efficient. But a faulty or worn out fridge door seal can add an extra 25% to that fridge's power usage. When warm air enters a fridge, a consequence of an ineffective seal, the thermostat will trigger the compressor more often. This leads to higher electricity usage, and since the UK's energy mix is still carbon heavy (especially in the winter months), this contributes to higher emissions.

Most businesses won't have the luxury of being able to shut down a fridge or freezer while waiting on a replacement gasket, so the longer that gasket takes to arrive, the more energy and carbon is being burnt.

In short, delays in sourcing gaskets is bad for the environment - and company finances - and you can be sure that your customers will be painfully aware of this.

Having a UK-based gasket specialist to hand will enable you to minimise lead time, ensuring that your customers' appliances are back up to optimal efficiency in no time. We usually dispatch replacement gaskets within a few days, whereas OEMs often take weeks. It is common to find that these gaskets don't even fit, leading to even longer wait times - while your customers and the planet pay the cost!

While our website is designed to make sourcing your gaskets user-friendly, we offer an even better solution for some of our customers: a customised Asset Register. By storing each gasket in a database with an associated ID number, ordering a replacement is simply a case of contacting us and reading us the number from a sticker.

Tackling a global waste problem

The manufacture of new fridges and freezers also involves CO² emissions (embodied carbon), and the refrigerant in disposed fridges and freezers is an even more potent greenhouse gas than CO². While there are laws in place to manage disposal responsibly, the longer you can keep your appliances in action, the better for the planet.

OEMs are actually advising some service engineers and FM businesses to replace working fridges and freezers simply because they no longer make gaskets for older models. Gasket Guy can often save these appliances from the scrap heap by manufacturing gaskets to the precise specification needed. This is not greenwashing: read this case study from Pauline's Creamery in Cornwall to discover how we helped the popular tearoom save no fewer than 11 fridges from being thrown away!

Our high quality gaskets also last longer than many alternatives, reducing the amount of plastic, rubber and magnetised metal in landfill.