With superficially similar appearances and layouts, walk-in cold rooms and walk-in freezers could easily be confused for one another. While they look alike, particularly from the outside, very different demands are placed on each of them, with very different temperature ranges, and the applications for which they are used vary enormously.
The walk-in freezers and walk-in fridges from MT Cold Storage Solutions have several key differences in their designs and capabilities, equipping them well for different applications – consider the following when you are choosing your ideal cold storage solution:
The Temperature Difference Between a Walk-In Cold Room and a Walk-In Freezer
By their very nature, the temperature of a walk-in freezer must be maintained at a much lower level than the temperature required by a walk-in chiller. Most commercial walk-in cold rooms operate at an average temperature between 0°c and 5°c, remaining above the freezing point of water and acting like a large refrigerator, while a walk-in freezer can operate at temperatures as low as -40°c, freezing everything inside. This makes them unsuitable for many kinds of products and materials, especially those which would be damaged by below-freezing temperatures and ice crystals, or those which need to be used imminently, with no time for them to defrost – in these cases, a cold room is the perfect solution.
Applications of a Walk-In Fridges Compared to a Walk-In Freezer
As mentioned above, the applications of a walk-in cold room differ considerably from the applications for a walk-in freezer, largely due to the temperature difference between the two rooms. Walk-in chillers are normally used to store products at low temperatures above freezing, making sure that they are available for imminent use without requiring defrosting. This lends them well to use storing and chilling anything which must be preserved without freezing – like fresh food, hospital medical supplies, and even cadavers before their funerals, in areas such as the Chapel of Rest in funeral homes.
On the other hand, a walk-in freezer uses considerably lower, sub-freezing temperatures to preserve a range of products, biodegradable items and materials, greatly prolonging the natural lifespan of food products and pharmaceuticals, as well as preventing the decomposition of laboratory specimens or of cadavers in morgues and mortuaries. This preservation is thanks to the very low temperatures, which prevent any microbes present from multiplying, inhibiting decomposition while frozen.
Storage Space in a Walk-In Fridge Compared to a Walk-In Freezer
The amount of storage space within a cold room and a walk-in freezer doesn’t vary anywhere near as much as the temperatures and applications do. In a cold room or walk-in freezer with the same internal volume, the available storage space should be the same, despite the much more powerful cooling unit found in a walk-in freezer. You can maximise the storage space within your walk-in freezer or cold room by using any of the storage options available from MT Cold Storage solutions, such as space-efficient shelving units which allow you to neatly organise and store your goods, and other space-saving storage options which provide the maximum room for you to get the best out of your walk-in freezer or cold room!
Cold room storage isn’t just a space issue, however – with the cold room and walk-in freezer storage options available from MTCSS, you’ll be able to organise your wares in a way that makes it easy to locate a particular item, rotate stock, and keep track of levels, saving yourself and your staff enormous amounts of time and effort. Well stocked, well organised and well preserved, your goods will be kept perfect for your business in one of our cold rooms!
Safety in a Walk-In Fridge Compared to a Walk-In Freezer
Some of the products stored within a cold room or walk-in freezer must be stored securely to prevent theft or tampering – particularly pharmaceuticals and other medical supplies, which may be deliberately targeted for theft or accidentally contaminated or ruined. Luckily, when it comes to the safe storage of goods, both walk-in chillers and walk-in freezers from MTCSS offer the same high-quality safety solutions, allowing both of them to store your products and goods in a safe, organised fashion, and making sure you have easy access when you need it. Both cold rooms and freezer rooms can be upgraded with secure locking systems and identity authentication systems like time-delay locks, key-card and keyfob locking systems, fingerprint scanners and even retina scanners, depending on the level of security you need.
Both walk-in freezers and walk-in cold rooms provided and installed by MT Cold Storage Solutions offer exceptional performance and adhere to any building, hygiene and safety standards that may apply, though they are designed for different uses and to fulfil different requirements, ultimately providing a different user experience. With this in mind, by evaluating the abilities of each cold room against your business’ requirements, you will be able to find a cold storage solution that is perfect for your needs.
If you are interested in a cold room or walk-in freezer from MT Cold Storage Solutions, or you would simply like more information on the differences between walk-in cold rooms and walk-in freezers, then you can get in touch with MTCSS at any time using our telephone number, 01886 833381, by emailing us on sales@mtcss.flywheelsites.com or by using the contact forms on this site!
Similarly, if you would like to request a quote for a cold room or walk-in freezer, or place an order from our expert teams, you can do so with the same contact information – just call us on 01886 833381 or use our online contact channels! The team at MT Cold Storage Solutions are experts in their fields and have been helping people and businesses to find the perfect cold storage solution to suit their needs for decades – they will be happy to help you find the cold room or walk-in freezer that meets your requirements perfectly!
What are you waiting for? Contact us today!