Restaurants need a lot more than just a set of refrigerators to make keep their storage cool. Certain manufacturers build larger areas called walkin coolers to greatly expand their storage options and increase the cooling efficiency as well. Even if you are just getting started with your own restaurant, using walk in cooler refrigeration technology can save a lot of hassle and make your workflow in the restaurant more organized.
About Walk In Cooler Refrigeration
At a glance, walk-in coolers look like much larger versions of refrigerators that use the same means in cooling the things inside. However, the cooling process is much closer to the way air conditioners work. Instead of using the freezers to generate chill, walk in cooler refrigeration uses condensers. These condensers switch between their on and off states alternately in order to maintain the set temperature based on the thermostat. There are also fans that assist in achieving this by pulling in air from outside and spreading it all over the condenser. It has an evaporation coil as well which help bring the temperature down as air passes through. These components are important in preventing the condenser from freezing too.
Buying Guide
With walkin coolers priced well over $4,000 you need to carefully choose the right walkin cooler for your needs. You can start by determining how much space you have available so you won’t buy a larger walkin cooler that does not fit. This also makes it easier to shop since you are filtering the list of available coolers. The different walkin coolers posted online have dimensions and may have extra pictures of the interior so you know what to expect. If the various specs are not very convincing, you can consider every single cubic foot of open storage to be equivalent to around 28 lbs. of frozen food.
Another important thing to consider is the walk in cooler’s insulation. If you are seeking an ordinary model, make sure that the cooler has at least 2 inches of Styrofoam insulation to keep the surroundings airtight and well-insulated. You may encounter 4-inches of insulation which is fine as well. Anything more than 4-inches is decent if you want energy efficiency. This is necessary to ensure that the condenser only cools the air inside so outside temperatures do not affect the cycle.
Several companies like Kolpak and Amana manufacturer walk in cooler refrigeration solutions and while they may advertise themselves differently, you should make sure that they have the standard features including the option to choose from a right or left hinged door and deadbolt locking handles. The doorframes should be reinforced with heavy-duty hinges.
The primary reason why the prices vary is the materials that the walkin cooler is made of. If you want to go for the strongest materials that are resistant to dents and corrosion, get the stainless steel models. Aluminum and Galvalume fall in the middle while G 90 Galvanized serves as the least expensive and most vulnerable of the materials.
If you order a walk-in cooler online, expect a do-it-yourself process but the panels are precision formed to ensure that the panels accurately fit. Depending on the size, you may need a forklift to handle these panels.