Convenience Store Refrigeration for Retail and Petrol Stations

Refrigeration for shops, supermarkets and petrol stations

Climate Flow Limited installs, repairs and maintains convenience store refrigeration across London and surrounding areas. That covers multideck chillers (open-fronted display chillers with several shelves, used on the shop floor for chilled food and drinks), glass-door chillers, the display freezers, and the cold rooms behind the shop. The same service covers supermarket refrigeration and retail refrigeration more widely: forecourt shops at petrol stations, food halls and other retail units. Each job is planned around the store's trading hours.

Why does a shop chiller stop holding temperature?

A shop chiller usually stops holding temperature for one of two reasons. The first is that air is not moving across the evaporator, which is the cold coil inside the cabinet. The second is a fault in the refrigeration circuit itself. Danfoss explains that humidity, the evaporator's surface temperature and airflow cause ice to build on a display case evaporator. Without regular defrosting, that ice restricts or stops the airflow and the case cools poorly (Danfoss on display case defrost).

The defrost settings on the controller decide how often that ice is cleared. Depending on the controller fitted and how it is set up, some controllers can also raise an alarm when airflow is restricted or the evaporator ices up.

Shop-floor chillers work hard. Doors open all day, shelves are restocked during trading, and the cabinet sits in a warm, busy space. When a case runs warm, the engineer finds the cause before changing anything.

What happens to stock when a chiller fails?

When a chiller fails, the stock inside starts to warm, and the law sets a limit on how warm it can get. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, chilled food must be kept at 8°C or below. GOV.UK guidance also advises setting fridges at 5°C or below, so food stays cold enough even when the temperature changes (GOV.UK: chilling and freezing). The same guidance says chilled food can be kept out of the fridge for up to 4 hours, after which it must be thrown away. Scotland has its own rules, and a business's own food safety procedures apply.

That is why a failed multideck or cold room turns into lost stock quickly. A store is better placed if it has already decided which other units can take the stock and who to call.

The equipment a shop runs

Most convenience stores, supermarkets and forecourt shops run some or all of the following. Our commercial refrigeration services page covers each service in full.

• Multideck chillers: the open-fronted shelves along the shop floor that hold sandwiches, dairy and drinks.
• Glass-door chillers: display chillers with doors, often used for drinks and chilled food along a wall or near the till.
• Display and upright freezers: the cabinets that hold frozen stock on the shop floor.
• Cold rooms and freezer rooms: insulated walk-in rooms behind the shop that hold stock before it goes on display, covered on our cold room installation page.
• Condensing units: the unit, usually outside or on the roof, that holds the compressor and condenser and rejects the heat taken out of the cabinets or the cold room.

What do the F gas rules mean for a shop?

F gases are fluorinated gases used as refrigerants, and the law sets duties for both the store and its engineers. Any company that installs, repairs, maintains or decommissions F gas equipment for others must be certified by an approved body (GOV.UK: certification for companies working on F gas equipment). Climate Flow is F-Gas certified.

The leak check rules depend on how much refrigerant a system holds, measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. Equipment above the threshold must be leak checked at least once every 12 months, and larger systems more often. Equipment holding the equivalent of 500 tonnes or more must also be fitted with a leak detection system (GOV.UK: checking F gas equipment for leaks). Responsibility for preventing leaks is shared between the business that uses the equipment and the technicians who install, maintain or dispose of it.

Some existing refrigeration systems cannot be refilled with virgin gas, meaning new, unused refrigerant. This applies to systems holding the equivalent of 40 tonnes or more of carbon dioxide on a high global warming potential refrigerant (GOV.UK: banned F gas for refilling equipment). For those systems, the options are reclaimed or recycled gas for a limited period, a retrofit to a lower-impact refrigerant, or replacement. Whether a system is affected depends on its charge, and an engineer needs to check yours.

What does a maintenance visit cover?

Planned preventive maintenance (PPM) is a schedule of visits agreed in advance, so that refrigeration is checked and cleaned before it fails. How often the visits happen is agreed per site. On a shop visit we check:

• Cabinet and cold room temperatures against the controller set point
• Evaporator coils for ice, and the defrost settings
• Fans, air grilles and door seals
• Condenser coils and condensing units
• Controller alarms
• Leak checks where the F gas rules require them, with records kept

How is work planned around trading hours?

Work in a shop is planned with the store manager before the engineer arrives. The plan agrees which units can be switched off and when, where the stock goes while they are off, when deliveries come in, and how the work area is kept clear of customers. An installation or replacement starts with a site survey, and the timing of each job is agreed with the store.

Retail refrigeration project: Shell Luton Petrol Station

Our featured retail project is the commercial refrigeration installation at Shell Luton Petrol Station.

Places we've worked include Shell (Luton), Lidl and Bath Dairy (Borough Market).

Talk to Climate Flow about your store

For convenience store refrigeration, supermarket refrigeration or retail refrigeration in London and surrounding areas, call 020 3488 5452 or request a quote. Climate Flow Limited, 2 Engineers Way, Wembley, London HA9 0JS.

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.