Refrigeration

There are a variety of types of refrigeration we can supply. These include:

There are many different types and sizes of refrigeration available, ranging from domestic through to commercial. The comments on this page relate mainly to general purpose cabinets used for dairy goods, cooked meats etc. where a storage temperature of 5C or below is required.

Finishes are generally stainless steel and/or aluminium for commercial and white for semi-commercial down to domestic. We would suggest that if the cabinet is located in a kitchen then either white or stainless steel is appropriate. If the cabinet is in a damp location e.g. a cellar then avoid white, as it can eventually rust.

We would suggest that the most important item is the refrigeration system. Consider the following :-

Is the evaporator (inside the cabinet) fan assisted ?
Is the condenser (outside the cabinet) fan assisted ?
What is the maximum ambient (location) temperature that the cabinet can work in ?

Also :-

Are castors required (remember that there will be times when the cabinet has to be moved for cleaning)?
How many shelves are supplied?
Is there sufficient ventilation in your premises?
Is there sufficient height above the cabinet for adequate ventilation ? (If not then consider bottom mounted compressors)
Will it fit in through your doors upon delivery?
Is a door lock required ?

Domestic (and many semi-commercial) cabinets are designed for a maximum ambient temperature of around 32C. When the door is opened all cabinets will lose cold air and the internal temperature will rise. The recovery time of many such cabinets after closing the door is around 5 minutes - fine if the location is not too warm and you do not open the door too often.

A commercial cabinet will operate in ambient temperatures of up to 43C and have a recovery time of approx 2 minutes (or less).

When specifying a cabinet temperature, the manufacturer or supplier should always specify the maximum ambient working temperature as well as the normal running temperature.

Consider how hot your kitchen gets in summer and also how often you will open the door at busy times. If you have a semi-commercial cabinet that has a recovery time of 5 minutes and you are opening the door every 2-3 minutes at peak times then there will clearly be a problem.

Please also note that almost all cabinets are designed to hold pre-refrigerated food at a temperature below +5C (lower for meat, fish etc). They will chill down a small amount of food but do not expect to be able to fill the cabinet with ambient temperature food without problems.

There are a variety of types of refrigeration we can supply. These include:

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