Refrigeration for Pubs and Bars

What refrigeration does a pub or bar need?

Climate Flow Limited installs, repairs and maintains refrigeration for pubs and bars in London and surrounding areas. That means the cellar cooler, the keg coolers that chill beer on its way to the tap, the bottle fridges behind the bar, the kitchen fridges and freezers, and the ice machine. If one of them stops, the bar feels it the same evening.

This page sets out what each piece of kit does, what tends to go wrong with it, and what the law expects of the venue running it.

How is beer kept at the right temperature in the cellar?

A cellar cooler is a refrigeration system that holds a beer cellar at a steady temperature. It has an evaporator inside the cellar that takes heat out of the air and a condensing unit outside that rejects that heat. Cask and keg beer should be held at the steady temperature the brewer specifies, and the cooler's job is to hold it there through a busy shift and a hot afternoon.

The usual problem is a cellar that drifts warm in hot weather. Pub cellar cooling work, from a new installation to a replacement cooler, is covered on our cellar cooler installation page.

How is beer chilled on its way to the tap?

A keg cooler is a refrigeration unit that chills beer from the keg as it is drawn to the bar. Installation, repair and servicing of these units is on our beer and keg coolers page.

Bottle fridges and kitchen fridges

Back-bar bottle fridges work hard: doors open all night, warm stock loaded straight in, and little room for air to move around the unit. Where a pub serves food, the kitchen fridges carry a legal limit. GOV.UK states that chilled food must be kept at 8°C or below, and its guidance is to set a fridge to 5°C or below so food stays cold enough even if the temperature changes. That limit applies to food, not to beer or bottled drinks. A fridge that struggles to hold temperature needs an engineer before it becomes a food hygiene problem.

Why does a bar ice machine need servicing?

A bar ice machine needs servicing because ice is treated as food. Council environmental health guidance states that ice is considered food under food legislation, and that ice can contain harmful microorganisms and become contaminated just as chilled food can. The same guidance says to follow the manufacturer's guidance on servicing and to keep records of servicing and maintenance. Cleaning, descaling, repairs and service visits are covered on our ice machine repair and maintenance page.

How is work planned around trading hours?

Planned work is booked at a time agreed with the venue, so a service visit or an installation fits around opening hours and deliveries. Planned preventive maintenance (PPM) is a schedule of regular service visits that checks each unit. When a cooler does fail during trading, we offer 24/7 emergency callouts.

Who is responsible for F-gas leak checks on a cellar cooler?

The venue running the cellar cooler is responsible. F-gas is the group of fluorinated gases used as refrigerants in refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment. GOV.UK states that if you use stationary refrigeration or air-conditioning equipment, you're responsible for getting it checked for F gas leaks. How often depends on the refrigerant charge, which is how much refrigerant the system holds: equipment in the lowest band needs a check at least once every 12 months, and larger systems more often.

The work itself has to be done by qualified people. GOV.UK states that it is against the law to work with F gas without the correct qualifications, and that a company servicing stationary equipment containing F gas operated by others must be certified by an approved body. Climate Flow is F-Gas certified.

A cellar cooler project in Southwark

For a busy hospitality venue in Southwark we installed a J&E Hall cellar cooler. The job is written up in our case study, cellar cooler installation in Southwark. Places we've worked include Oxford Arms (Camden) and Salisbury Conservative Club.

Refrigeration for pubs and bars across London

Pubs and bars are one of the sectors we work in; the others are listed on our sectors page. Climate Flow Limited, 2 Engineers Way, Wembley, London HA9 0JS, covers London and surrounding areas for refrigeration for pubs and bars: cellar coolers, keg coolers, bar and kitchen fridges and ice machines. Call 020 3488 5452 or request a quote.

This guide is general information, not a survey or a quote for your site; every system is different, so an engineer needs to see yours before any work is priced.