Frequently Asked & Technical Questions
And things you should know...
Frequently asked questions
We use specialised and custom freight forwarders who understand the care and attention required for the transportation and delivery of glass door refrigerated units. Obviously, glass is fragile and our transport companies take care in safely securing and protecting units during transportation.
Our drivers use hydraulic lifts on their trucks and take the time to ensure a smooth roll-in position delivery into your business. This is why we ask if your delivery location is "non-standard"? If our transport company cannot lower their truck hydraulic tail lift and roll refrigeration units directly in, we need to know so we can make allowances - before they arrive. Especially if the units you purchase do not have castors or rollers, we need to make sure trolleys are suitable. Our drivers are experienced in refrigeration unit delivery BUT they need to know about stairs, lifts, locked access points and any other possible issues they might run into delivering your units into position.
Common freight forwarders are obviously cheaper, but they usually only deliver pallet style packages and more often than not retailers do not own or have access to forklifts. Common commercial display refrigerators have castors and are quite heavy, so rollers/castors are not easily or safely removed or replaced. Care must be taken when forklifting refrigeration units to ensure no damage to the castors with the fork tines. Forklift drivers have accidentally punctured or damaged the refrigeration components or electrical wiring which for the majority of our units, the refrigeration components are located at the bottom for ease of access. Also, because of the height of units they can easily topple on forklifts when on uneven ground or even from a slight wind gust. All of these reasons are why we do not recommend the use of forklifts to install or move refrigerated units.
Two people are usually required for any delivery for safety and in case of any unforeseen obstacles.
If you are in the market for commercial display refrigeration units (food, dairy, drinks or perishables fridges), price can vary significantly on what may seem like a comparable product for size, weight and storage. Often overlooked is the actual energy consumption of the unit. Cheap refrigerated cabinets are often very inefficient and can cost business owners thousands of dollars each in electricity charges.
A business owner contacted us about purchasing six “food safe” three door refrigerated merchandisers. Initially the owner was not interested in discussing power consumption, instead focusing on the outright purchase cost which in this case was around $1,000 more each unit ($6,000 in total). The owner purchased the commercial fridges from a well-known brand that claimed that these were "brilliant, energy-saving" cabinets. Three months later we visited them and the owner was complaining about the excessive power bills. Using a standard energy meter we found out the fridges energy consumption was actually 24.96kW/h per day, which is horribly inefficient in today’s market. To make matters worse this owner purchased these units on a five-year finance contract.
See out our comparison below of these fridges and the massive savings to the comparable sized Huxford HPM1350 3-Door cooler (low energy consumption, MEPS rated, food safe, high performance and eco-friendly):
Regrettably this business owner found out the hard way that often “cheaper” refrigeration can actually cost you a lot of money long term. Over the five years: each day he is paying an extra $5.16 per day per fridge (remember he has six); for an initial extra outlay of $6,000 in total he could have saved $50,000 in electricity charges (not to mention the excess pollution created if they went with the Huxford HPM Series cooler or any of the Low Energy Consumption Range).
Our mission here at Huxford Refrigeration is to educate our customers so they can make the right decisions. It is our opinion that the commercial display merchandising refrigerator and freezer is one of the most critically important assets when it comes to cold food storage and merchandising. Not only for the safety and well-being of your customers but for the continued success of your business.
Huxford Refrigeration recommends regular maintenance from qualified refrigeration mechanics. Commercial display refrigerators and freezers (similar to cars) have moving parts and fail more dramatically and expensively if they have never been serviced. Consult your operation or instruction manual for more information on preventative maintenance, cleaning and cost saving procedures you can perform. For safety always turn off and unplug a refrigerator or freezer if you are cleaning or working on it. Never perform electrical or refrigeration work unless you are qualified to do so.
Significant moisture build-up inside your commercial retail glass door fridge is a sign of a problem that needs attention. If your display fridge has internal cool air escaping, especially in hot and humid conditions, then your fridge will be working harder than usual. The componentry (mainly compressor) will be getting much hotter, while using more electricity trying to pull the internal temperature down. Depending on the severity of the problem, it could be an unachievable goal for the fridge to reach - for example the door isn’t actually closed or sealing correctly.
The most obvious result of this issue is generally internal condensation build up, which collects as water droplets on a cold surface when humid air makes contact with it. It should be immediately investigated to identify the possible causes of this problem. People sometimes wrongly assume glass door refrigerators are “moist” environments due to the condensation that forms on cold products when they are taken out of the fridge, but a fridge works by actually removing moisture from the air to achieve the cooling process (but we are not going to discuss that now).
Here are some things anyone can identify and inspect (TIP - add this to your regular or HACCP inspection checklist):
Fridge brands where applicable are blurred out, all fridge brands can fail from use, age and/or neglect, not just the ones pictured here. Although some do fail earlier from poor quality workmanship or materials.
Is the door actually closing?
Check for any items stopping the door from closing? Items can get lodged on top of the kick panel. You might be surprised what ends up there!
Is the door alignment out?
Over time doors do fall out of alignment as they are heavy items. Especially with constant customer usage, older display fridges and/or poor-quality componentry. Visually check for any visual gap differential on either side of the top/bottom of the door. Check the door for damage which can also cause misalignment. Bolts holding the door can also come loose or parts can wear, from damage, heavy use or just old age.
Is the door seal in good condition?
Door seals don’t last forever and can tear/crack/break from old age, heavy usage, poor rubber composition and from sticky spillages (that have not been cleaned up). Visually ensure contact is made all the way around, as well as gently spreading the rubber apart at intervals (as pictured) to check for cracks. NOTE - Don’t slide your bare fingers down between the rubber in case something sharp has lodged or is concealed in the crevasses. When spreading the seal ensure it is correctly secured to the door.
A qualified and registered refrigeration service technician can diagnose and repair internal condensation issues if it is not something obvious. They can also replace seals or re-align doors but the complexity depends on the make and model of the retail glass door fridges. We recommend adding these simple checks to your regular retail store inspection (HACCP) and cleaning checklist to ensure optimum working performance, after all commercial display refrigerators are probably one of the most critical, important and expensive assets in food service businesses.
Our mission here at Huxford Refrigeration is to educate our customers so they can make the right decisions. It is our opinion that the commercial display merchandising refrigerator and freezer is one of the most critically important assets when it comes to cold food storage and merchandising. Not only for the safety and well-being of your customers but for the continued success of your business.
Huxford Refrigeration recommends regular maintenance from qualified refrigeration mechanics. Commercial display refrigerators and freezers (similar to cars) have moving parts and fail more dramatically and expensively if they have never been serviced. Consult your operation or instruction manual for more information on preventative maintenance, cleaning and cost saving procedures you can perform. For safety always turn off and unplug a refrigerator or freezer if you are cleaning or working on it. Never perform electrical or refrigeration work unless you are qualified to do so.
In commercial display refrigeration you need to remember to leave your domestic refrigerator logic at home. Domestic and Commercial fridges are NOT the same - in commercial glass door fridges there are generally two types of units:
Drinks or Beverages rated fridges Are generally rated between 0-12°C but is generally any refrigerator that operates above 5°C in its normal operating mode (usually up to 8-10°C). Above 5°C is classed as the danger zone for cold dependent product. Drinks and/or Beverage fridges are mainly only for drinks and/or beverages that can also be stored at room temperature - such as bottled water, soft drinks, alcoholic beverages, electrolyte drinks, and similar. The Australian & New Zealand MEPS legislation classification for this unit is “M2” and the operating temperature stated as operating -1°C to 7°C.
Food Safe or Food Rated fridges These high-performance fridges generally rated 0-5°C but can be rated between -1°C to 5°C and are any fridges that keep product between these temperatures in their normal operating mode. These fridges are for food that are cold dependent to stay fresh and food classified as ‘high-risk foods’ which includes – fresh juices, dairy (milk, yoghurt, cheese, etc), meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, small goods (ham) as well as most cooked, processed or pre-packaged foods (especially if they contain high risk foods). Examples are – stews, casseroles, pasta salad, pies, pizza, sandwiches and most cakes. Refer to the Australian and New Zealand governments MEPS legislation and ensure the unit is classified “M1” which must operate between -1°C to 5°C.
IMPORTANT POINTS
The technology required to make a high performing food safe fridge in Australian conditions is much more than a “mass produced”, “off the shelf”, drinks fridge to suit distant overseas markets or standards. These are usually cheap looking with lots of plastic and often power inefficient. These units also do not often meet Australian electrical requirements.
Don’t get fooled by tricky marketing or data sheets, suppliers of quality product will make it evident their product meets MEPS requirements for Australia and New Zealand.
Any unit that is not rated between 0 to 5°C is not suitable for ‘high-risk” or “cold dependent” foods (dairy, milk, cheese, meat, etc).
If your fridge temperature operates above 7°C during a normal cycle (not when “pulling down” warm or hot product, or if the door has been opened), it really doesn’t even meet the most basic government refrigerator requirements for Australia or New Zealand (refer MEPS) ¹.
0°C and -1°C is “freezing point” but don’t forget these are the lowest of the temperature range cycle, so a commercial glass door fridge doesn’t consistently operate at this temperature.
It might also surprise you to know but there are a lot of companies distributing their cold dependent product (which should be stored between 0 to 5°C) through retailers in fridges that are only drinks rated (2-10°C) to save money, putting customer health at risk.
¹A “normal cycle” means the refrigerator is working at optimum performance and allowed to cycle (reach the upper temperature threshold limit and then pull-down to minimum temperature) without any person or power interruption or interference. “Pulling-Down” generally means the fridge working harder until the fridge has lowered the temperature of all product inside to within operating parameters – then it will “cycle” less often.
Our mission here at Huxford Refrigeration is to educate our customers so they can make the right decisions. It is our opinion that the commercial display merchandising refrigerator and freezer is one of the most critically important assets when it comes to cold food storage and merchandising. Not only for the safety and well-being of your customers but for the continued success of your business.
Huxford Refrigeration recommends regular maintenance from qualified refrigeration mechanics. Commercial display refrigerators and freezers (similar to cars) have moving parts and fail more dramatically and expensively if they have never been serviced. Consult your operation or instruction manual for more information on preventative maintenance, cleaning and cost saving procedures you can perform. For safety always turn off and unplug a refrigerator or freezer if you are cleaning or working on it. Never perform electrical or refrigeration work unless you are qualified to do so.
If you buy a commercial display fridge that is not electrically AS/NZS certified, if the fridge is faulty and happens to start a fire, your insurance may refuse your insurance claim. This is the case here in Australia and in New Zealand and its simply the law to ensure safety compliance for everyone. This is just one of the many reasons why the market leading brands of like Skope and Huxford are preferred by corporate customers like Coca-Cola or Pepsi/Asahi.
As extracted from the NSW Goverment Fair Trading document "Safe electrical goods - A guide for retailers and importers":
If you sell, import or hire electrical goods, you must ensure they are safe and will not cause harm during normal use.
What does the law say?
The law includes most household electrical goods in a list of items that must be tested and approved before sale. These goods are called `declared articles´. The approval of `declared articles´ must be done by NSW Fair Trading, its equivalent in another Australian State or by an independent certifier.
All other electrical goods are called `non-declared articles ´ and must be safe but do not need approval before sale. Refer to the `What about non-declared articles?´ heading for more details.
How do I check if an item is approved?
Approved electrical goods will have an `electrical safety approval mark´. This mark will often include a capital letter followed by a certificate number. Some small electrical goods may use other approval marks such as the trade name. Examples of NSW electrical safety approval marks are shown in the next column.
Important: Overseas Certificates of Approval and approval marks, such as the CE mark, are not acceptable in Australia.
The maximum penalty for selling, importing, hiring or exchanging `declared articles´ without `electrical safety approval marks´ and an Australian Certificate of Approval is $82,500 and/or 2 years jail for individuals or $825,000 for corporations.
Anyone can wrongly assume any commercial glass door fridge is just like their refrigerator at home and suitable for storing any food or beverages. Commercial glass door fridges, also referred to as display fridges obviously have glass doors. Glass does not have the same insulating properties as a combination of plastic/insulation/steel which a solid door fridge is usually manufactured from (such as domestic fridges or commercial storage fridges). Be wary as the way these drinks only fridges are marketed by distributors and middlemen, as they can intentionally be misleading.
Usually business owners will navigate fridge pricing and buy the significantly cheaper fridge, not alert to the fact that this is often a “drinks only” fridge. The majority of commercial fridge manufacturers can make a “drinks fridge” easily because all it needs to do is make drinks “cold”. When you start storing meat, seafood, milk or other foods in a drinks fridge you start to put your customers health and well-being at risk if the fridge isn’t up to the task. You also significantly shorten the life span of the food or beverages. The technology required to make a commercial display food fridge is more complex than just a drinks fridge (although quality food fridges can be programmed for drinks only to save the owner electricity costs).
Cold dependant foods (high risk foods) like milk, meat, seafood, etc, should be stored between 0-5°C and not higher. Drinks and/or beverage fridges can operate up to 12°C, and in some cases the temperature is actually being read from the cooling air entry point to the fridge – which might give the appearance of working fine. The reality is that some foods depending on where they are stored in a drinks fridge (or poor airflow fridge) could be reaching temperatures up to three times higher than recommended.
Not to mention usually drinks fridges are cheap for a reason - because they are made from cheap components and parts. They don’t have to work hard so seem to run fine until put under pressure by heavy use or environmental conditions such as heat and humidity. Most cheap drink fridges don’t meet basic Australian Government MEPS (minimum energy performance standards) legislation energy requirements and are often suitable for use only in cool (air conditioned) environments. The simply can’t compete in the heat.
You don’t have to look far to find drinks only fridges being used for food storage. So if your shopping for a food fridge unless it clearly states that it is suitable for food with a temperature range of 0-5°C and that it complies with MEPS you should be wary. We are also consumers and we don’t want to buy produce that will spoil before its marked that it is due too.
Our mission here at Huxford Refrigeration is to educate our customers so they can make the right decisions. It is our opinion that the commercial display merchandising refrigerator and freezer is one of the most critically important assets when it comes to cold food storage and merchandising. Not only for the safety and well-being of your customers but for the continued success of your business.
Huxford Refrigeration recommends regular maintenance from qualified refrigeration mechanics. Commercial display refrigerators and freezers (similar to cars) have moving parts and fail more dramatically and expensively if they have never been serviced. Consult your operation or instruction manual for more information on preventative maintenance, cleaning and cost saving procedures you can perform. For safety always turn off and unplug a refrigerator or freezer if you are cleaning or working on it. Never perform electrical or refrigeration work unless you are qualified to do so.
Several Huxford display refrigerator model ranges/series feature a “Removable Refrigeration Package”. The package features in the HPM and HBBR series or ranges of fridges.
The "packs" are also often referred to as "Replaceable Refrigeration Cassettes" or "Interchangeable Refrigeration Decks".
Huxford Refrigeration is one of very few suppliers in Australia that can supply a single package interchangeable within a full series of five different sized units in the new HPM range.
The HPM series also utilises R920 refrigerant gas, a natural and eco-friendly gas which also makes it even more energy efficient than our outdated but highly popular BMH range:
short single door (HPM365)
single door (HPM600)
slim double door (HPM850)
large double door (HPM1100)
triple door (HPM1350)
We also have a single package across the BMH range which is interchangeable between four different sized units:
single door (BMH20)
slim double door (BMH850)
large double door (BMH1100)
triple door (BMH1350)
There are many tricks in commercial fridge or freezer industry marketing to deceive you into thinking a fridge has a similar size and capacity to what is considered “standard”. We are going to describe a few things to watch out for when making decisions about sizes and capacities.
Actual Depth & Size As mentioned, a lot of cheaper commercial refrigerated display merchandisers can electronically look very much like the industry standard models used in Australia (usually 2,000mm high with 200mm high sign box, 1,094-1,286mm wide by 710mm deep). Obviously, you need to check all the measurements, but take important note of the overall depth of the unit and make sure the internal depth is also listed. This is a common source of complaint about these units, besides being inefficient (high electricity charges), not performing as described or implied – not actually food rated when showing images of food within and describing they are suitable for cafes, restaurants, etc. Most businesses will prefer to re-stock less often, not have to hold additional stock that is cold dependent out the back, unless your plan is to not sell much of the product.
Litreage Capacity
The internal capacity of a commercial fridge or freezer should be the actual space. This might surprise you but we are aware a large number of suppliers and manufacturers are calculating the internal space and purposely not including the space that the evaporator takes up internally. As an example see our old Huxford HSL300 and Huxford HFM30PLUS as pictured below, the evaporator/fan takes up a large portion of the top rear of the cabinet. It is misleading for any supplier/manufacturer to calculate this internal space based purely on a rectangular shape.
Model or Part Number
Globally part or model numbers mainly used to refer to the internal capacity size, whether that be “cubic feet” for USA or “litres” for UK and Australia. So a part number of # FRIDGE-20 in the USA might be 20 cubic feet capacity. In Australia it might be # FRIDGE-600 which might be 600 litres. Make sure the capacity is mentioned, don’t take the part number as the capacity. And as mentioned previously on “litreage capacity” confirm the internal space is exactly that “space” and not partially “occupied” by an evaporator.
Our mission here at Huxford Refrigeration is to educate our customers so they can make the right decisions. It is our opinion that the commercial display merchandising refrigerator and freezer is one of the most critically important assets when it comes to cold food storage and merchandising. Not only for the safety and well-being of your customers but for the continued success of your business.
Huxford Refrigeration recommends regular maintenance from qualified refrigeration mechanics. Commercial display refrigerators and freezers (similar to cars) have moving parts and fail more dramatically and expensively if they have never been serviced. Consult your operation or instruction manual for more information on preventative maintenance, cleaning and cost saving procedures you can perform. For safety always turn off and unplug a refrigerator or freezer if you are cleaning or working on it. Never perform electrical or refrigeration work unless you are qualified to do so.
In commercial glass door refrigeration, a “bottom mounted glass door commercial fridge” means the refrigeration components are located at the bottom of the unit. Bottom mounting is industry preferred for ease of access to the service componentry. It is also more convenient for accessing areas possible for cleaning and maintenance (light and temperature controls are usually also mounted where the components are).
Similar to a car radiator the condenser of a refrigerator requires airflow to keep the operating components cool. Over time dust and dirt gets tracked inside businesses and kicked or blown up to the immediate suction area, which is generally located up to around 400mm off the ground. As the fridge or fan forced freezer works, it sucks in air which carries the dust and contaminants onto the condenser. The contaminants build up, blocking or restricting the air flow which is referred to as a blocked condenser. Kitchens and shops with cooking, baking and meal preparation add more contaminants into this air. This is especially the case for businesses like bakeries using flour and in particular mixing machines (flour dust). It is also worth mentioning oily and/or greasy environments like deep fryers, a mixture of oil and dust is not an easy thing to clean or remove.
Even a partially blocked condenser increases heat which makes the compressor work harder, costing you more and more money until component failure. You may not even notice there is a problem until it is too late. For example, you might check your fridge temperature first thing in the morning, after no use during the night, which of course is a cooler period of time. During the day the stored product could be held above normal operating temperature which can spoil the product faster, reduce the life of the product, breed bacteria and potentially cause illness to the public. In the case of dairy, meats, seafoods, plus processed foods containing these food items and more¹²³, it is very important. These “high risk foods” are termed as “potentially hazardous foods” and classified by Australia & New Zealand Food Safety guides. As per MEPS Legislation they need to be consistently kept stored between 0°C and 5°C in a Class M1 refrigeration cabinet.
We think it is best to compare your refrigeration asset to a car, both having moving parts and there’s things you can do (general cleaning, checking – refer to your user manual for more specific information) and then there’s things best left to a qualified and authorised refrigeration technician. I think we could all agree servicing your car keeps it at optimum performance.
Our mission here at Huxford Refrigeration is to educate our customers so they can make the right decisions. It is our opinion that the commercial display merchandising refrigerator and freezer is one of the most critically important assets when it comes to cold food storage and merchandising. Not only for the safety and well-being of your customers but for the continued success of your business. Huxford Refrigeration recommends regular maintenance from qualified refrigeration mechanics. Commercial display refrigerators and freezers (similar to cars) have moving parts and fail more dramatically and expensively if they have never been serviced. Consult your operation or instruction manual for more information on preventative maintenance, cleaning and cost saving procedures you can perform. For safety always turn off and unplug a refrigerator or freezer if you are cleaning or working on it. Never perform electrical or refrigeration work unless you are qualified to do so.
¹ Food Standards Australia & New Zealand: www.foodstandards.gov.au
² Australian Institute of Food Safety www.foodsafety.com.au
³ United States Department of Agriculture: www.fsis.usda.gov
