Using Commercial Refrigerator In Residential Kitchen?

[jyl]

We have talked about the pros and cons of using a commercial range in a home kitchen.

Any thoughts about the pros and cons of using commercial refrigeration in a home kitchen? What are the differences between commercial refrigerators and residential refrigerators? Convenience, noise, efficiency, servicing, etc?

Something like this http://www.akitchen.com/store/product2150.html Looks cool, 40 cu ft with three doors refrigerator and one door freezer. I'm sure is much cheaper than a Sub Zero residential model of equivalent size.



3/4 refrigerator, 1/4 freezer. Capillary tube. 5" Casters. Top-Mounted Compressor & Evaporator Coil. CFC-free R-134a & R-404a Refrigerant. Foamed-in-place Polyurethane Insulation. Electric Condensate Evaporator. 2 Epoxy-Coated Wire Shelves per Door. Fully Coved Interior Corners. Exterior Digital Temperature Control. Snap-In Magnetic Door Gaskets. Energy-Saving Half Door Design. Interior Lights. 6' Cord & Plug. Assembled in the USA. INTERIOR: 304 series stainless steel interior for durability and appearance. Epoxy-coated wire shelves. EXTERIOR: Stainless steel cabinet and doors. 49.6"L x 32.5"D x 76.2"H. 4 doors. 40 cubic feet. 8 shelves. 1/4, 1/4 HP. 115/60/1, 10.7 Amps. 5-20P NEMA. NSF.

[tabs]

What does the thing suck up in electricity, and the corresponding monthly payment to the local utility company. This ain't bein kind to the planet and global warming..GO GREEN down wiith the lackeys of the imperialist USA.

[island911]

Good point tabs. Why John needs to HOARD so much food is worrisome. He must not buy locally grown fair-trade, GMO-free, sustainable produce on a regular basis.

[island911]

Too funny... A Prius ad comes up (below) after my post of green-speak rhetoric. --they know their suckers. . .er market.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

John, here's some good info to start: http://www1.eere.energy.gov/femp/technologies/eep_crf.html

note that commercial equipment has a separate compressor for the fridge and the freezer, not sure how that plays into cost/day as well as maintenance.

Given the 3 doors on the model you are looking at, you will either save a lot of e- or waste a lot. Putting all high traffic items into one of the three cubes should end up saving e- as you are warming up a smaller space on regular basis than one big space as in a typical residential style fridge. If you mix up things so you are constantly opening all the doors searching for something will certainly add to your e- bill. So it does require some planning.

it does look the part, I'll give you that. looking forward to any calc's you come up with.

[HardDrive]

You don't want an actual commercial unit. Loud, and they eat up electricity. A commercial unit is designed to get the temperature back down as quickly as possible after the door has been opened, so the compressors really crank. You could also get irritating vibration throughout the house.

You can get the benefits of a commercial unit with a high end European model, and it will be far easier to live with. We just installed a Miele fridge about 3 weeks ago. The dual compressors allow differing humidity levels between the fridge section and freezer. Your produce keeps much longer.

[gtc]

Living in a fraternity during college, we had commercial fridges in our kitchen. Here's my thoughts:
Good:
Large volume. Good if you have large containers to refrigerate (think Costco size Mayo jars)
Digital temperature display makes setting temp easy
Efficient (like any appliance, check the power consumption... we saved big money on electricity when we bought a new fridge.)
Easy to clean
Bad:
Shelving is deep, can be inconvenient to reach stuff in back.
No ice maker.
No small shelves/pockets for small jars etc
No crisper/deli drawers, if that matters to you

[myamoto1]

A much cheaper, but nice looking, alternative is the commercial look fridge/freezer from (I think) Samsung. It's two seperate units, but when installed side by side, it looks like one big commercial unit. I think they go for around $800 each. I think DeWhitt on Airport Way has them, or at least they did. I'm sure there are other manufacturers that make similar units, as I'm not sure of the quality on the Samsung units.

[sailchef]

A lot of commercial refers/freezers have a "vacume down" cycle that sucks the warm air out immediately after you close the door, it lasts for maybe 5 -10 seconds, it sounds like a hissing sound. So, if the door accidentally closes on you and you want to pull it open quickly , you can't, it's being held shut by this vacume. You have to pause and wait until the vacume cycle is complete, or, yank the door hard enough that you move the fridge away from the wall even with the wheel locks on. A real PIA in a big kitchen, especially when you're trying to get back in ,and out, quickly. The one's you're looking at may not have that feature.

[Tidybuoy]

Originally Posted by myamoto1

A much cheaper, but nice looking, alternative is the commercial look fridge/freezer from (I think) Samsung. It's two seperate units, but when installed side by side, it looks like one big commercial unit.

I saw something like this at Lowes and it looked very cool - very similar to the commercial unit in this thread. It was basicaly two seperate units (fridge & freezer) that were placed side-by-side but had a stainless frame built aroung both and a single trim piece at the top that made it look like one giant unit.

[jyl]

Originally Posted by island911

Good point tabs. Why John needs to HOARD so much food is worrisome. He must not buy locally grown fair-trade, GMO-free, sustainable produce on a regular basis.

Its the small children, they take up a lot of shelf space.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally Posted by jyl

Its the small children, they take up a lot of shelf space.

I've found that if you take the arms and legs off of small children (need a good butcher's knife), you can stack the legs together, arms together and line the torsos up on another shelf. You could probably fit 20 children in one of those fridges you are looking at.

[island911]

Originally Posted by jyl

Its the small children, they take up a lot of shelf space.

LOL

Well, if it's for the children I suppose you get a pass. --I'll have to check my PC decoder ring.


I will say, that fridge you posted is like a Humvee of a refrigerators.

[jyl]

I have a shelf in the current refrigerator labeled "small children" (right under the one labeled "science experiments"). This was/is meant as a disciplinary threat to my kids. So far, no guest has commented on it. It appears this must be a common practice.

I would actually have to move a wall to fit that refrigerator. 50" wide. But it is non-load-bearing.

[LWJ]

Some thoughts:
I looked into this same thing before my kitchen remodel. I found that they suck energy and are loud. We got a Sub Z because we needed the size for our family. They whole two compressor pitch from Sub Z is BS. Food goes just as bad with an expensive refrigerator as a cheap one. Other thoughts are Leibher (sp?) or Frigadaire (I think - maybe other manufacturers) makes a reefer / freezer combo that looks great. They look like a 60 inch built in units but it really is two paired together with opposing doors. They run about 1/3 or less that of a Sub Z and have more space.
Good luck.
Larry

[Joeaksa]

Originally Posted by Shaun 84 Targa

I've found that if you take the arms and legs off of small children (need a good butcher's knife), you can stack the legs together, arms together and line the torsos up on another shelf. You could probably fit 20 children in one of those fridges you are looking at.

You guys are silly.

Put them in the sausage grinder and you could prolly fit 30-40 of them in there!

[look 171]

You must like noise. Too noisy, I wouldn't do it.

[Joeaksa]

You guys really sleep in the kitchen? Mine is 50 feet from the bedroom and could care less how noisy it is.

[URY914]

Originally Posted by Joeaksa

You guys really sleep in the kitchen? Mine is 50 feet from the bedroom and could care less how noisy it is.

Do you talk in your kitchen?

Is your A/C designed to handle the heat that thing kicks out?

It's a dumb idea. Commerical reefers are made to hold big containers, not 3 oz leftovers in Tupperware.

[look 171]

Originally Posted by Joeaksa

You guys really sleep in the kitchen? Mine is 50 feet from the bedroom and could care less how noisy it is.

that's like saying I drive an F1 car to and from the office everyday( with traffic). I would, but for how long.