Whether you work in a restaurant or in a central kitchen, the cold room is one of the essential pieces of equipment in your business. Looking after it is a crucial step in keeping it working properly, yet it is very often the last thing anyone gets to. So why does cold room maintenance matter? And how do you clean the various refrigeration parts it is made of? Here is our advice on doing it well.
Why do cold room maintenance and cleaning matter?
Cold room maintenance is not simply compulsory. It is essential, for a number of reasons.
Save energy and cut costs
It is worth having your refrigeration system checked by a professional. They can spot problems caused by a bad setting or a build-up of dirt, and give you advice on saving energy.
Make your equipment last
Making your equipment last, and preventing motor failures, calls for frequent inspection and cleaning of your cooling system. So check and clean it regularly.
Keep cooling output at its best
Looking after your cold rooms properly is crucial if you want to avoid losing capacity and keep cooling output efficient. Neglected installations may not run at full capacity.
Meet safety and environmental regulations
You must check the refrigeration system for leaks regularly, so that refrigerant gas cannot escape.
Keep your food free from contamination
Last but not least, check cold room temperatures every day to limit bacterial growth. A cold room held at the right temperature considerably reduces the risk of bacteria multiplying, which is a crucial part of the HACCP method. Checking the temperature of these spaces daily is essential to stop bacteria spreading, because they can grow even at low temperatures.
The checks your equipment must undergo
Leak testing: a legal obligation
Leak testing a cold room means checking several things: the seal on the door and the gaskets. The point is to hold the temperature inside the room steady. That matters, because an air leak drives the temperature up and wastes energy, which in turn risks spoiling the food stored in the cold room before its time.
If you spot air leaks, take action immediately to repair them. Regular leak tests are compulsory in any case, as set out in the French decree of 29 February 2016. They are carried out by qualified people holding the certificate of competence defined in Article R543-99 of the French Environment Code. Once the check is done, that professional will give you a test certificate.
Maintenance contracts
To keep your cooling equipment working properly, a maintenance contract can be worth taking out. As well as giving you someone to call when you need them, it puts your equipment through regular checks.
In practice, an engineer will check a number of things, such as:
-
- Vibration and noise levels
- The compressor oil (oil level, oil acidity)
- How clean the refrigeration circuit is
- The evaporator
- Temperatures
- Pressures in the refrigeration circuit
- Mountings and fixings
- Safety components (checking the indicator lights, testing the alarms)
- Disinfecting the condensate tray with a germicidal treatment
Cleaning the surfaces
Beyond the checks, looking after your refrigeration equipment properly is essential to keeping it viable and safe. Cold room maintenance comes down to regular habits: cleaning and caring for the parts it is made of.
How you clean the surfaces of a cold room depends on the material. There are three main surfaces: the walls, the floor and the ceiling.
Tip: for effective cleaning, start at the top and finish at the bottom.
How do you clean a cold room ceiling?
Clean the ceiling once a week.
How do you clean the walls?
As with the ceiling, wash the walls of your cold room weekly, using a disinfectant cleaner suitable for surfaces that come into contact with food.
How do you clean a cold room floor?
The floor should be the last step in any cold room cleaning and disinfection routine. Clean it at least once a week, more often depending on how dirty it gets.
Method:
-
- Use a plain sponge soaked in warm water mixed with a cleaning product made for the job.
- After cleaning, rinse the cold room floor thoroughly and let the space air for a reasonable time. Then remove any protective material you used on the floor.
- Finish with a mop soaked in a cleaning and disinfecting solution, avoiding aggressive products such as harsh detergents.
For steel, stainless steel, acrylic or polycarbonate surfaces, use warm water and a neutral soap. Use a soft cloth or a chamois leather to avoid scratches. Avoid abrasive products, alcohol, acetone and solvents, which can cause corrosion or scratching.
For glass surfaces, use products made for windows to avoid limescale marks.
Take care never to wet the electronic parts, to avoid damaging them.
Cleaning the electrical parts
How do you clean a cold room condenser?
Clean the cold room condenser at least once a month to avoid bad smells and corrosion. Regular cleaning can also improve energy efficiency.
Do not let residues such as blood, milk or pieces of meat sit in the condenser. They cause unpleasant smells and corrosion. To clean it, use a vacuum, an air blower or bristle brushes.
How do you clean a cold room evaporator?
The evaporator of a cold room is a crucial component for holding the right temperature inside it. Clean it every six months to keep it running properly and working efficiently.
Here are the steps for cleaning a cold room evaporator:
-
- Switch the cold room off: make sure the cold room is disconnected from the power supply before you start cleaning.
- Clear the ice: if ice has built up on the evaporator, use a tool to free it. You can use a dehumidifier or a hairdryer to melt the ice.
- Clean the evaporator: use a soft cloth and warm water. Avoid aggressive chemicals, which can damage the evaporator’s surface. If it is very dirty, you can use a mild detergent.
- Rinse the evaporator: once cleaned, rinse it with clean water to remove any detergent residue.
- Dry the evaporator: make sure it is completely dry before starting it up again. A dry cloth will remove any traces of water.
- Finally, restart the cold room: once the evaporator is clean and dry, reconnect the cold room to the power supply and check that it is running correctly.
Which products should you use to clean a cold room?
It is important to check that the cleaning products you use on cold rooms actually work. Professional companies can take this on to guarantee proper cleanliness and hygiene, which also protects the cold room’s thermal insulation.
Here is our advice.
-
- Use a detergent that meets the regulations on products in contact with food to clean and disinfect the cold room.
- Do not mix cleaning products together.
- Follow the doses the manufacturer recommends and the product’s instructions for use.
- Store equipment and cleaning products away from food.
- Keep a calendar to track the cold room cleaning plan.
Worth knowing: cleaning removes dirt, while disinfecting destroys germs and moulds by wiping down or spraying. Cleaning always comes before disinfecting. Products that do both exist, in line with the hygiene rules for food surfaces.
Frequently asked questions about cold room maintenance
My cold room will not come down to temperature. What should I do?
Temperature problems in a cold room can come from various causes, often connected, such as:
-
- A fault in the refrigeration system (compressor, evaporator, fans or control system)
- Poor or damaged insulation
- Poor air circulation
- An ineffective defrost cycle
- Electrical problems, such as faulty circuits, blown fuses or trouble with the control system
Several fixes and preventive measures can answer those problems:
-
- Carry out regular maintenance to make sure every part of the refrigeration system is working properly. That includes cleaning the coils, checking refrigerant levels and inspecting the electrical and mechanical components.
- Make sure the cold room’s insulation is in good condition and meets the required standards. Repair or replace damaged insulation, and consider thickening it to improve energy efficiency.
- Check and replace worn door seals, and make sure the doors close properly so that as little warm air as possible gets in.
- Make sure air circulates properly inside the cold room, with no stored products blocking the airflow. That may mean reorganising the storage space or adding extra fans.
- Make sure the defrost cycles are effective and well programmed, so that frost does not build up excessively without affecting the overall temperature.
- Use real-time temperature monitoring and alarms to spot temperature differences quickly and respond to them.
- If the existing system is outdated, oversized or undersized, consider upgrading it or replacing it with one that is more efficient and better suited to what you need now.
