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.

If you’ve decided that a cold room is right for your business the question then arises as to how you finance it. Is it cheaper to buy or hire a walk-in cold room?  If you’re just starting out and keen to keep upfront costs to a minimum you may be tempted by the option to hire rather than buy, but which is most cost-effective over time?

Hire prices on average

You should expect on average to pay around £250 on average for a couple of days of cold room hire. While this may be acceptable if you’re hiring a portable unit for use as part of an outside catering service, perhaps at a festival, wedding or other event, it’s not cost effective for permanent use.

The average cost of installing a small walk-in cold room is around £6,000. This figure would give you 48 days of cold room hire at a rate of £125 per day. Based on those figures, it would seem much more cost effective to buy a cold room rather than hire it.

That said, a permanent walk-in cold room is a large investment for many hospitality businesses, particularly when cash flow is tight and there’s a need to keep down overheads. It’s important therefore to properly consider if it’s the right choice for your business.

Why might someone choose to hire?

Cold room hire services are available and in some instances it’s an option that makes perfect sense. If you’re staging a temporary event and are looking for a cold room to assist with the catering operation, then hiring a cold room is the perfect solution.

Mobile cold rooms are also available that you can take from venue to venue. You can also purchase these, but if your business is seasonal and you perhaps only operate from April to October over long weekends, then a hire contract might be the most appropriate choice.

Maintenance costs

One consideration that sometimes tips people towards hiring rather than buying is the perceived ongoing maintenance costs of a cold room. It does take time and some outlay to ensure that a cold room keeps working as efficiently as possible, but maintenance contracts are actually cheaper than many people realise.

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.

The affordability of regular maintenance is often something that isn’t reported by companies offering cold room hire which can lead to people opting for a hired option when buying a cold room would be more cost effective.

Permanent premises

If you operate a catering or hospitality business from permanent premises where you intend to stay for some time, then purchasing a cold room is always likely to be the most cost effective option. It really wouldn’t be practical or cost-effective to hire a cold room on a long term basis although it’s certainly possible to do so.

If you have a permanent premise and require significant storage space for perishable ingredients then you should try to budget for a walk-in cold room.

Affordable cold room installation

At Enviro Chill, we are cold room and refrigeration service experts. We offer both chiller and freezer cold room options, from small modular cold rooms to large cold room systems for warehouses. You can also choose from an extensive range of cold room shelving in order to make the most of your space.

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 Is it cheaper to buy or hire a walk-in cold room? appeared first on Enviro Chill.

For many catering businesses, a walk-in cold room is an optimal solution.

So, what exactly is a cold room and what benefits can it bring to your business?

What is a cold room?

A cold room is essentially a refrigerator on a much larger scale. It allows for the storage of perishable items at the correct temperature, in the quantities required for running a commercial operation. They are most commonly used in catering operations but are also found where pharmaceutical products need to be stored. A walk-in cold room is just that, a large, refrigerated unit that allows you to walk in, store and retrieve anything you require.

How do cold rooms work?

A cold room contains the following components:

● Compressor – compresses the refrigerant gas.
● Condenser – cools hot gas into a cold liquid.
● Expansion valve – controls the flow of liquid gas and cools the coil by absorbing energy.
● Refrigerator fans – circulates air over cold evaporator coils and cools the room.
● Cold room door – a rigid door with excellent insulation to help maintain the temperature in the cold room.

Why does a restaurant need a cold room?

A cold room is a key requirement for most restaurants. If you are catering on any scale, then the ability to store perishable goods for any length of time is vital. Cold rooms expand your capacity and reduce the need for daily deliveries. This, in turn, helps to drive down costs.

A cold room also allows you to store items easily, meaning that you won’t have to struggle to find things when your restaurant gets hectic. In a busy kitchen, this can make all the difference.

The amount of waste your business generates is also reduced by a walk-in cold room. This will ultimately have a positive impact on your overheads.

Enviro Chill can create the ideal cold room for your business

As one of the UK’s leading suppliers and installers of cold rooms, we understand what your business needs when it comes to cold storage. We can install both commercial chillers and freezer cold rooms in a variety of sizes, from small modular cold rooms, to larger units for bigger restaurants. We can also create an entirely bespoke solution.

Our engineers will work with you to find out your requirements, and how a highly functional cold room can be created within the space you have available. We also understand that every restaurant operates in a strict budgetary environment, and any solution we come up with will be firmly within your available budget. Whatever the size of your business and the scale of your ultimate ambition we can help.

Our team of professional engineers are always on hand to answer any questions you might have. Why not contact us to find out more about our commercial refrigeration services, and to book a free site survey and quotation? Or call us directly on 0151 285 1818 or email sales@enviro-chill.co.uk to chat to a member of our team about your cold room requirements.

The post Why a restaurant needs a walk-in cold room 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.