At any given time, your home refrigerator probably has enough food to feed you and your family for about a week. A restaurant refrigerator, on the other hand, must be stocked each day with enough food to keep a dining room full of paying customers happy, with surplus for good measure. That’s why restaurant kitchens need commercial refrigeration units instead of standard residential refrigerator models.
But what is the difference between the two? In addition to the large volume of food that must be stored inside, commercial refrigerators have several advantages that help them meet high performance expectations in a restaurant setting. Whether you own a home or a business, when your refrigerator breaks down, you want to hire the right person to fix it, and for a commercial model, you’ll need a repair technician with specialized training, license, and experience. to do the job well.
size and design
It may seem obvious, but commercial refrigerators need to be significantly larger than residential models, which are typically designed to be as sleek and unobtrusive as possible in a home kitchen. Also, while residential refrigerator models often feature a variety of shelves and drawers to separate food, commercial models tend to be utilitarian on the inside: two to four shelves designed for easy access and stacking of food. . A home unit may have an attached freezer, icemaker, and water dispenser, while in commercial kitchens, these are often separate appliances.
cooling power
Commercial refrigeration systems are much more powerful than standard models. This is partly because they are larger and need to cool more food at once. Also, in a restaurant setting, there are health department codes related to the temperature at which food should be stored. A commercial refrigerator must keep food at a constant temperature so that all food that leaves the kitchen is safe for customers to eat. Keep in mind that residential refrigerator models are typically more energy efficient than commercial units; To produce consistent cooling in a large space, a commercial refrigerator must run constantly.
Esthetic
Residential refrigerators can come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and materials. You can choose a colored exterior, a plastic finish, or a shiny metal surface, depending on your kitchen décor. However, with commercial refrigerators, aesthetics is not really a consideration. Most commercial units have a stainless steel exterior for easy cleaning. There are also fewer options for size and shape, because in a commercial kitchen, form matters less than function.
repair considerations
Due to these differences between residential and commercial refrigerators, not all refrigerator repair technicians will take both home and business calls. In general, it’s always a good idea to make sure the appliance repair professional you hire has experience or training to work on your specific unit, and this is even more vital in a commercial setting. Delayed or improper refrigerator repairs in a restaurant kitchen can shut down business or make customers sick, resulting in lost revenue and possible fines from the health department. If you have a commercial refrigeration unit that isn’t doing its job, don’t trust the health of your appliance to an unqualified technician. Call someone with experience in commercial appliance repair.
