Opening and closing doors

As with a regular fridge or freezer, you shouldn’t leave your cold room door open for any length of time. Any alteration, no matter how minimal, to the temperature in your cold room can cause it to have to work harder. It’s important therefore to try to keep your cold room at as consistent a temperature as is practically possible. That means keeping the amount of time the doors are open when you go in and out of your cold room to a bare minimum. Rapidly close the door each time you leave the cold room.

Efficient loading and unloading

A pressure point when it comes to cold room energy usage is when it’s being stocked. Developing efficient and unloading practices inside your cold room can help to reduce the amount of energy wastage.

If you take a long time to stock your cold room or if the doors are left open for extended periods of time it can allow warm air to flood your cold room. This will have a negative impact on energy efficiency, particularly in the summer months. When you load your cold room try to do it in manageable stages. While doing so try to keep the room temperature immediately adjacent to your cold room as cool as possible.

By developing some good practices when it comes to restocking your cold room you can help to keep a lid on cold room electricity costs.

Monitor the temperature

It’s crucial that you monitor the temperature in your cold room. Speak to the manufacturer, installation, and servicing company, or consult the user’s manual if you’re in any doubt about the ideal temperature for the products that you want to store.

If your cold room is left set to an incorrect temperature you won’t be using your cold room efficiently. Not only will you waste energy, but you also won’t be storing your products at the optimum temperature, risking a shorter shelf life.

Carry out regular maintenance

One of the principal reasons why cold rooms fail to work efficiently is because regular maintenance is neglected. It can seem like an easy way to cut costs and reduce overheads, particularly if a business encounters cash flow difficulties, but it can be counterproductive.

Regular checks and maintenance by a professional refrigeration technician can spot any problems early on and rectify them before they become more substantial issues. Many problems that can arise with cold rooms are not critical but they will make the cold room less efficient over time.

Inspections will spot if there are small issues such as defective hinges on the doors or problems with the seals that might be allowing warm air to enter inside the cold room. When you discover an issue you should get it repaired as soon as possible. Budgeting for regular maintenance should be a priority for any business that has a cold room on its premises.

Affordable maintenance

At Enviro Chill, our regular air conditioning and refrigeration maintenance agreements begin from as little as £50 a year. Our comprehensive breakdown policy ensures your cold room and other refrigeration equipment runs at maximum efficiency. This helps to keep electricity costs down and extends the life of your cold rooms.

All of our engineers are qualified and experienced, and we invest in our team to ensure they’re always up to date with any changes in legislation.

For more information about our refrigeration maintenance contracts, call our sales staff on 0151 268 1854 or contact us online.

The post How to reduce electricity costs for cold rooms appeared first on Enviro Chill.

When correctly installed they are not only efficient and practical, they are also safe to use. Employers have a responsibility to ensure that their workforce is kept as safe as possible while carrying out their duties. When it comes to cold room use there are a few safety considerations that it can be helpful to bear in mind.

Correct installation and maintenance

Perhaps the single most important safety practice with a cold room is ensuring that it’s properly installed and maintained. This is a baseline of cold room safety and if you have any doubts about how your cold room is operating you should call Enviro Chill immediately for a thorough assessment.

Monitor the temperature

The workload should be planned by monitoring the air movement and temperature in all cold work areas. The heavier workloads should be scheduled during the warmer parts of the day. The amount of time that people spend in the coldest parts of the cold room should be limited to what’s strictly necessary.

Equipment and clothing

The appropriate equipment and clothing should be worn by anyone who is working in cold environments. The body should be covered with at least three layers to provide the correct layers of insulation. Ideally, this should include a synthetic base layer next to their skin, a wool or cotton material in the middle, and then a waterproof layer for their outer clothing.

This combination should provide excellent levels of insulation. On their head, they should wear a wool knit cap perhaps under a hard hat to help provide protection and help to reduce heat loss.

Eye and face protection should also be worn. This should be separate from the nose and mouth which should prevent fogging that can cause visibility problems. Gloves should be worn to prevent cold-related handling injuries and to help maintain dexterity.

Proper training and safety practices

Workers should be educated about the symptoms of cold room-related illnesses. Supervisors must also ensure an appropriate rest period for each working schedule. Safety measures can help everyone work more safely and efficiently reduce the risk of cold-related illnesses and other health threats.

Encourage healthy practices

Cold room workers should be encouraged to consume high-calorie food that helps them to maintain energy reserves and body heat. They should also drink warm fluids to raise their body temperature and to stay hydrated.

Flexible cold room installation

Enviro Chill are cold room and refrigeration service experts. We offer chiller and freezer cold room options, from small modular options to large cold room systems for warehouses. We have the expertise and know-how to install and maintain your cold room to the very highest standards of performance and safety.

Whatever your particular requirements we can find the perfect solution for you. For more information call our sales staff on 0151 268 1854 or contact us online.

The post Safety tips for employees working in cold rooms appeared first on Enviro Chill.

While it’s important to know what motivates you, if you don’t get the nuts and bolts right then it’s likely your business will face unnecessary challenges going forward.

If you’re running a restaurant, bar, cafe, hotel or other food or hospitality operation, getting your refrigeration right is vital.

Commercial grade refrigeration will be one of your biggest outlays, so it’s important to get it right first time. A cold room is frequently the optimum solution for catering operations.

What are the benefits of a cold room?

Walk-in cold rooms can make life much easier for you and your staff, offering high levels of convenience and organisation. Locating food and drink on organised shelving is much easier than having to rummage through refrigerator drawers. In a busy kitchen environment that can make all the difference. They allow you to keep larger quantities of products at hand, reducing the need for ordering and deliveries.

Do you need a cold room?

 Whether or not your business needs a cold room, or can make do with a smaller refrigeration unit depends on the amount and type of the food you’ll be serving.  Larger businesses that use high quantities of refrigerated ingredients are likely to require the space and convenience that only a cool room can bring. Small catering operations, less so. Think about the amount of deliveries you have on a daily and weekly basis. If you’re filling up your refrigeration with fresh produce every day, which is then used quickly, then you might not need a cold room. If your deliveries are once or twice weekly, then a cold room might be a practical solution.

How much-refrigerated produce will you have in stock at any one time?

Do you have the space for a cold room?

 You may feel you need a cold room, but do you realistically have the space? The good news is, cold rooms now come in a variety of sizes from walk in closet size, to large rooms. This means a broader range of businesses can make use of them.  Getting the size right is key to keeping your cold room efficient. In smaller units, the goods inside are packed closer together reducing air flow. If your cold room is too large, you’ll be paying unnecessary running costs. At Enviro Chill we can custom make the ideal cold room for your business, finding the perfect balance between size and efficiency.

How do cold storage rooms?

The technology used in a cold oom is practically identical to that used in domestic refrigeration, but more complex and on a larger scale due to the demands of these types of unit.

What temperature do cold rooms run at?

There’s a range of temperature options available depending on your individual requirements. Refrigerated cold rooms typically run at a temperature range of between 0c and 10c, an optimum range for the chilled storage of diary and cooked meats.

For fresh fish and meat, lower temperatures are usually required, so a range of -2c to -5c, might be more appropriate. If you keep a large amount of frozen goods in stock, then walk-in freezers which have temperatures of around -15c to -25c might be the optimum choice.

Are cold room installations complicated?

Modular construction techniques have made the whole installation process much simpler, and they can be erected inside an existing building. They do need to be fitted by a qualified engineer, who will make a site visit to find out your exact requirements, and then advise you as to the best way to proceed.

Enviro Chill offer professional refrigeration services across the North West

Based in Liverpool, but operating across the North West, our qualified engineers provide a professional cold room installation service. We create bespoke cold rooms that meet the precise business requirements of our customers. From cold room systems for warehouses, to bespoke modular cold rooms for restaurants, we’re experienced at finding the right solution for the differing needs of our clients.

To find out more about our commercial refrigeration services, or to arrange a free site visit, call us on 0151 285 1818, or use our online contact form .

The post The ultimate guide for selecting and installing a cold room for your business appeared first on Enviro Chill.