A chicken dressing plant heating its scalder with a diesel boiler pays about ₱13 for every kilowatt-hour of heat that reaches the water. A heat pump delivers the same heat for about ₱3, because for every ₱1 of electricity it moves roughly ₱4 of heat into the tank. On a typical 2,000 birds-per-hour line, switching the scalder from diesel to a Karnot heat pump keeps around ₱136,000 a month in the plant — before you touch the sterilisers, the washdown, or the chilling side.
The Philippine Poultry Show & ILDEX Philippines runs 26–28 August at SMX Convention Center Manila. While you are walking the halls comparing pluckers, scalders and chillers, spare ten minutes for the question no equipment booth leads with: what does each kilowatt-hour of heat in your plant actually cost you? The machines below are only as cheap as the energy that runs them. Read the arithmetic here first, then ask every vendor on the floor for their number.
Where the money goes in a dressing plant
There are 174 NMIS-licensed chicken dressing plants in the Philippines, and thermally they all do the same four jobs. The scalder holds water at 52–55 °C — the soft-scald range PAES 529 specifies for broilers — all shift long, every shift. Knife and equipment sterilisers hold 82 °C. Washdown burns through hot water at every break and end of shift. And while all that heating runs, the immersion chillers are pulling heat out of the birds and dumping it into the yard.
In most plants, jobs one to three are fed by a diesel or bunker boiler, or by LPG. The boiler was probably sized years ago, runs well below its nameplate efficiency, and eats a fuel delivery every week. Nobody questions it because it has always been there. But the scalder is a steady, moderate-temperature load — which is precisely the load a heat pump does best, and precisely the load a steam boiler does worst.
What diesel heat actually costs per kilowatt-hour
The honest way to compare heating systems is cost per kilowatt-hour of heat delivered to the water — not the price of the fuel. A litre of diesel holds about 10 kWh of energy. A working boiler with real-world losses — flue, standby, blowdown, an ageing burner — typically puts about 65% of that into the water. So:
- ₱85 per litre ÷ (10 kWh × 65%) = about ₱13 per kWh of useful heat
LPG lands in a similar range once you do the same arithmetic. If your boiler is older or oversized, the true figure is worse. We have written up the full comparison in our heat pump vs LPG vs diesel boiler guide.
What heat pump heat costs
A Karnot iHEAT R290 heat pump does not make heat from electricity the way a resistance heater does. It moves heat from the outside air into the water — and in Philippine ambient temperatures it moves about four units of heat for every one unit of electricity it consumes. In pesos: for every ₱1 of electricity, about ₱4 of heat.
- ₱12 per kWh of electricity ÷ 4 = ₱3 per kWh of heat
Same water, same 52–55 °C, same throughput. No steam line, no fuel deliveries, no burner maintenance, no boiler watch. The unit sits outside, and only hot water enters the building.
The sample calculation: a 2,000 birds-per-hour line
Here is the arithmetic we run for operators, using stated assumptions you can check against your own bills: diesel at ₱85/litre, boiler efficiency 65%, electricity at ₱12/kWh, a scalder heat load of 65 kW, running 8 hours a day, 26 days a month.
| Line | Diesel boiler | Karnot heat pump |
|---|---|---|
| Cost per kWh of heat | ₱13.08 | ₱3.00 |
| Scalder heat per month (65 kW × 8 h × 26 days) | 13,520 kWh | 13,520 kWh |
| Monthly scalder heating cost | ≈ ₱176,800 | ≈ ₱40,560 |
| Money kept in the plant, per month | ≈ ₱136,000 | |
That is the scalder alone. It excludes the sterilisers, the washdown water, and everything the chilling side can give back — all of which move the number further in your favour. It also excludes what a Karnot iVOLT solar system does to the ₱12/kWh input cost during daylight hours, which is when a dressing plant runs.
These are estimates on stated assumptions, not a quotation. Your diesel price, tariff, line speed and running hours will differ. Send us a month of fuel receipts and your birds-per-hour figure, and we return the same table on your actual numbers — or run your own first pass on our free savings calculator.
Run your own numbers
Put in your line speed and your prices — the table updates as you type. It uses the same arithmetic as above: scalder heat scales with line speed (65 kW per 2,000 birds/hr), diesel at 10 kWh per litre, heat pump at ₱4 of heat per ₱1 of electricity.
Estimates for a first pass, not a quotation — same caveats as the worked example above. Engineers: the full Engineering Hub version adds fuel selection, CO₂ and the formulas. For your bankable number, send us a month of fuel receipts.
Your chillers are throwing away the heat your scalder buys
This is the part most plants miss. All shift, the immersion chillers pull heat out of the birds and reject it to the yard. At the same moment, twenty metres away, the boiler is burning diesel to put heat into the scalder. The plant pays to throw heat away and pays again to buy it back.
A heat pump can use the chillers' rejected heat as its source instead of ambient air. One compressor input then does two jobs at once — it assists the chilling and heats the scalder. Run that way, the effective cost of scalder heat falls from ₱3 to around ₱2 per kilowatt-hour — about a sixth of the diesel figure. We use the same architecture in bakeries and food processing plants, where opposing heating and cooling loads run side by side all day.
The 82 °C question — answered straight
Knife and equipment sterilisers need 82 °C, and an R290 heat pump tops out at 75 °C. So no, one R290 unit does not do your whole plant, and we will not pretend otherwise. For the steriliser loop Karnot uses a CO₂ heat pump, which delivers water up to 90 °C. The usual arrangement is an iHEAT R290 unit carrying the big loads — scalder and washdown — with a smaller CO₂ unit on the steriliser circuit. Both are natural refrigerants; you can see the full range on our products page.
There is a compliance angle too. Replacing a diesel boiler removes fuel storage, flue emissions and a pressure vessel from your NMIS-audited site, and the measured kWh give you clean numbers for RA 11285 energy reporting — covered on our compliance page.
What to do next
One step: send us a photo of a month's diesel or LPG receipts and tell us your line speed. We will send back a one-page savings estimate on your numbers, usually within two working days. No site visit needed for the first pass, and no cost. If the numbers look like the table above, the next step is a metered survey — we measure before we promise.
Get your plant's numbers
A month of fuel receipts and your birds-per-hour figure is all we need. We reply with the same worked table you have just read — on your plant, not a sample.
Send us your fuel bill Try the savings calculatorFrequently asked questions
How much does it cost to heat a poultry scalder with diesel?
At about ₱85 per litre and 65% boiler efficiency, each kilowatt-hour of heat reaching the water costs about ₱13. A 2,000 birds-per-hour line needs roughly 65 kW of scalder heat, which comes to around ₱177,000 a month on diesel (8 hours a day, 26 days a month).
How much can a heat pump save on the scalder?
About ₱13 per kWh of heat becomes ₱3 — roughly ₱136,000 a month kept in the plant on a 2,000 birds-per-hour line. With heat recovery from the chillers, the cost per kWh falls to around ₱2.
What temperature does a chicken scalder need?
PAES 529 specifies soft scalding at around 52–55 °C for broilers. That sits comfortably inside the working range of a Karnot iHEAT R290 heat pump, which supplies hot water up to 75 °C.
Can a heat pump supply the 82 °C steriliser water?
Not the R290 unit on its own. Sterilisers need 82 °C and R290 stops at 75 °C, so that loop runs on a Karnot CO₂ heat pump, which delivers up to 90 °C. Most plants pair a large R290 unit with a smaller CO₂ unit.
Does heat recovery from immersion chilling really work?
Yes. Your chillers reject heat all shift while your scalder buys it. A heat pump that takes the chillers' rejected heat as its source does both jobs from one compressor input — that is where the ₱2 per kWh figure comes from.
What is the first step?
Send one month of diesel or LPG receipts and your line speed to our contact page. You get a one-page savings estimate on your actual numbers, free, usually within two working days.