Walk-In Fridge Repair

While there are plenty of benefits to having a walk-in fridge, or cold room, within your commercial catering businesses, there are a few things to consider before investing in this hefty piece of equipment.

Commercial walk-in refrigerators are designed to hold larger amounts of stock than the typical reach-in refrigerator. Due to their size, the amount of stock they hold is better organised and more easily accessible than the reach-in, too. This can help reduce your product wastage, since it is easier to track where food items are placed. The interior design of a walk-in fridge can be custom built to your requirements – such as extra shelving or increased floor space.

For this same reason – their size – walk in fridges are also more practical. Though this sounds counterintuitive, walk-in fridges can actually save kitchen space, since they can be installed outside. And despite the installation process being longer for walk-ins than reach-ins, if your cold room is built outside, the installation will not affect the functioning of your kitchen. An outdoor cold room is great for product deliveries, too, since it can be easily accessed without disturbing the kitchen.

Walk-in fridges can be more cost effective, despite their tall initial purchase costs. With the right installation, walk-ins can be more energy efficient than having a reach-in, or several reach-ins. Walk-in fridges are not designed to be continually opened and closed, which means they can keep a more consistent temperature since they are not as affected by external warm air entering. Additionally, depending on the amount of produce your kitchen stocks, one cold room can take the place of needing several reach-ins – saving both the purchase and energy costs of this.

However, a walk-in fridge cannot take the place of a reach-in; it is necessary for a commercial kitchen to be able to access an indoor refrigerator that is designed for frequent use (such as a reach-in). If a cold room is used in place of a reach-in fridge, you may experience a cold room condensation problem (a build up of condensation caused by warm external air entering the room).

If your commercial kitchen requires large amounts of stock, or could benefit from increasing your stock deliveries, a walk-in fridge is worth the investment. 

A refrigerator works by moving heat from one area to another. On the back of most refrigerators is a vent that sucks air into the condenser. This air passes over tubes carrying coolant (a mixture of antifreeze and water) that removes heat from the air as it cools. The now cooled air is pushed through a filter, which catches any dust or debris, before being sent to the inside of the fridge.

At the front of a walk-in refrigerator is an evaporator that releases cold, high-pressure air. This air passes through a rack of tubes carrying a food-safe solution, usually a mixture of propylene glycol and water. The high pressure forces the solution into the tubes where it absorbs heat from the air until it reaches the end of its journey in the evaporator. Once this happens, the solution is pushed out with the help of a compressor and circulates back to the beginning of its journey in order to continue cooling the inside of the refrigerator.

Once the cold air has passed through the evaporator, it enters into a coil that is sitting in front of a vent. The fan blows hot air over this coil to remove the last bit of heat from the fridge. The now-cooled air is pushed back into the room using a second fan.

Walk in fridges maintain the same temperature as a regular, reach-in refrigerator. The recommended temperature for a walk in fridge is between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius.

However, you may choose to have your cold room set at a lower temperature, depending on how long you need your products to remain in the fridge for.