How to keep your chilled food cabinets working in a heat wave

The recent heatwave in the UK may be great for barbecues but they may badly impact the operation of chilled food cabinets and displays in convenience stores and catering outlets across the country.

The twin desires to put your products attractively on display but still maintain a safe operating temperature, that keeps the food safe, tend to work against each other. In England cold food must be kept at 8˚C or below in order to be safe for human consumption so very hot temperatures around any display causes problems.

Counterline chilled displays have a target temperature of between -1 and +5 deg C in all areas of the cabinet with a high ambient temperature of 25 deg C and a RH of 60%.

So what can you do to help your chilled food cabinets carry on in a heat wave?

Operational Tips for Chilled Food Cabinets

There are some easy wins that come from simply ensuring that your team is following our best practices. The good news is that these will also keep your energy consumption down.

• Keep the temperature in the area surrounding the display below 25 deg C and make sure units are not too close to the shop doors where ambient temperatures will be highest.
• If your unit is fitted with doors for customer’s to take their product choice, make sure they are always kept closed.
• Similarly when staff are loading produce the rear access doors should be left open for the shortest possible time.
• Some chilled food cabinets are also fitted with blinds and you should pull these down during quieter periods and advise customers why you’re doing it. I am sure most will fully appreciate the reasons and not be put off making a purchase.
• Stock the cabinet with pre-chilled food. This is a must for all units irrespective of the weather. Chilled food cabinets are designed to hold the temperature of the product, not to chill it down to that temperature after loading. So only add pre-chilled items when filling the shelves.
• Raise the setpoint temperature slightly. Keep it still at the safe level, but we often see units operating well below the level they need to. Chilled drinks for example are just as good and 4 deg C as they are a 2 deg C but your units don’t have to work as hard to keep the higher temperature.
• Chilled displays rely on the flow of cooling air from louvres at the front and rear of the display area. These louvres must not be obstructed by placing items too close to them, otherwise the display will not be able to function correctly and food will not be held at a safe temperature.
• Food temperature in the chilled display system is maintained at or below 5°C by a stream of re-circulated cold air. The air blows across the display deck, coming from grilles or holes on the operator’s side and returning to the fans via a grille at the customer’s side. It is essential that neither of these grilles be obstructed in any way, as the airflow and efficiency of the refrigeration system will be restricted.

Maintenance Tips for Chilled Food Cabinets

• Plan ahead. Fortunately we generally have advanced notice of these hot weather events so this allows you to take steps to prepare for the upcoming warm period. If your units have not been serviced for some time, book an engineer for a maintenance visit to ensure everything is working properly so your cabinets have the best chance of handling the unusual conditions.
• Your operating manuals contain several maintenance routines we recommend for your display. Of these, keeping your condensing unit clean is vital for efficient operation and particularly in hot weather conditions where it will be working hardest.
• Check the condensing unit fins are not clogged. These fins become choked with dust and airborne particles. They should be cleaned using a soft brush to loosen the dust and a vacuum cleaner to remove it.

If you need any assistance with any of these or are facing another issue then please contact our team and we can take a look at your specific site issues and help you get the best from your system.