We’re all guilty of walking to the fridge to find something that can stave our random cravings, only to find that it’s empty, which doesn’t stop us from going back 5 minutes later as if something will have magically appeared that wasn’t there before.
But fridges aren’t just made with our midnight cravings in mind, there are actually multiple types of fridges that all have their own purpose. We’ve listed three of these down for you below.
Medical Fridges
Foods and drinks aren’t the only items that need to be stored in the fridge in order to preserve their quality and useability/consumability, but certain medicines also require refrigeration.
Take veterinary practices, for example. They store a wide range of medicines and vaccinations used to treat animals, many of which must be kept at an optimum temperature in order to maintain their potency.
This is why they use special medical fridges. These fridges are slightly higher tech than domestic or other commercial fridges, since they carefully monitor and display the temperature inside at all times, sounding an alarm if the temperature falls out of the ideal range (between 2℃ and 8℃).
These can be made with either solid doors (providing extra security and protection from natural light) or glass doors (allowing medication inside to be more easily found and identified).
Retail Fridges
You may think that retail fridges wouldn’t differ that much from commercial fridges – afterall, they are similar in appearance and used for the same purpose. There are, however, some discrepancies.
Since retail fridges are regularly opened by customers taking out their desired items (and sometimes leaving the door open whilst they browse the products) as well as routinely having new, warm stock placed in them, they require a lot of power to effectively stay cool inside without malfunctioning.
There are large internal and external fans that are used in a commercial fridge. The internal fan continuously distributes call air inside the fridge, whilst the external fan removes excess heat from the compressor and rear coils to stop the system from overheating.
Retail fridges exclusively feature glass doors, allowing customers to view the products within, with various shapes, designs and sizes being available depending on what items the fridge is holding. For example, you may see cake fridges, bar fridges or multideck fridges.
Mortuary Fridges
One fridge that many people rarely think about nor will ever see is a mortuary fridge.
These types of fridges are used to store the bodies of the deceased. They maintain a suitable environment to prevent decomposition from occurring, allowing a body to be preserved for up to three to four weeks.
Most modern healthcare facilities, such as hospitals, will feature a cold room that has one or more mortuary refrigerators inside. They are also found at funeral homes.
There are a number of different purposes for preserving bodies this way. For example, a common reason is to keep the body in good condition to allow an autopsy to be performed, allowing a cause of death to be determined in the case that it was not obvious or only based on speculation.
If there is a delay between someone’s death and their funeral, then storing the body in a mortuary fridge will also keep it in good condition for when an undertaker prepares the body for burial or cremation.
Commercial Fridges Gloucester
If you’re in need of refrigerator related services in Gloucester, Mitchells is who you should turn to.
We can assist in the installation or repair of all kinds of commercial fridges, including retail fridges, catering fridges and walk-in freezers.
Give us a call today on 01452 302206, or email us at webenquiries@mitchells-glos.co.uk.