Month

September 2022

6 Ways to Effectively Maintain a Cold Room 

6 Ways to Effectively Maintain a Cold Room  Food processing industries, pharmaceuticals, and supermarkets rely on the efficiency of their cold rooms daily to provide their customers with the best user experience. However, if this equipment experiences a breakdown, they will suffer a drastic decrease in profit due to the interruption in workflow. We cannot underestimate the power of planned maintenance, as it remains one of the leading factors in the effectiveness of the refrigeration system.  What Could Possibly Make A Cold Room Break Down?  If you have ever wondered what could possibly make a cold storage facility breakdown, then read on for some answers. The top causes of cold room storage breakdown include: 1. Excessive moisture in the cold room environment 2. Poorly maintained refrigeration equipment 3. The presence of contaminants such as mold, bacteria or fungi 4. Lack of sufficient ventilation and warm air exchange, among other factors. Related: 5 common Cold Room Problems and Recommended Solutions How Does Planned Maintenance Contribute To The Efficiency Of My Cold Room? In order to ensure that the equipment remains in good condition, it is important that you have a regular maintenance program in place. It will help you to save money on repairs or replacements and also allow you to identify potential problems before they become large-scale problems that require costly repairs or replacement. The best way to start a maintenance program is by keeping track of what needs to be done. A daily checklist can help you remember all of the items that need immediate attention. Each day, you should inspect your cold room storage for any signs of wear and tear. Once you identify these issues, make sure that they are fixed right away.  For example, if there are holes in the walls or ceiling of your cold room storage, patch them immediately. If mold is growing on the floor, replace it with fresh wood flooring. This will prevent moisture from building up and causing damage over time due to rotting wood or debris collecting underneath it. What Are The 6 Ways To Effectively Maintain Your Cold Room? 1.  Optimize Energy Consumption  Optimizing energy usage and monitoring refrigeration equipment in your storage facilities has become critical to lowering costs while enhancing food safety and operating efficiency.  Anytime you experience fluctuating temperatures, food decaying faster than usual, or a spike in your electricity bills, you have a faulty electrical connection. You can prevent this by monitoring your digital thermostat and recording every day to check for temperature swings. A few degrees of variation here and there is okay, but abnormal fluctuations indicate that you need professional electrical engineering service. 2. Manage Emergency Repairs Quickly Learn to fix emergency repairs as soon as possible. Get a multi-skilled site team that can handle emergency repairs and has the experience to get the job done immediately, without delay. Emergency repairs may be simple or complex, from modifying insulated panel walling to replacing a broken door hinge, repairing a track, or replacing a strip curtain. In the case of an emergency, an experienced and accredited supplier is the right choice. 3. Proactively Examine The Integrity Of Major Parts Today’s consumers are demanding. A business break due to a cold room breakdown can massively disrupt your business, impact the bottom line and damage your brand.  Planned preventative maintenance should include a full audit and thermographic scanning to verify insulation integrity, compressor, condenser, and evaporator efficiencies, etc. Record the results of these audits and scans; so that you can accurately identify and replace any worn parts before they fail. It is often the most cost-effective way of preventing disruption to a business while ensuring optimal efficiency and minimizing running costs. 4. Refit And Renovate To Improve Thermal Efficiency A redesign and refit might improve the thermal efficiency of your cold storage. Conduct a review to determine whether the existing cold room space is optimum; check for failing doors; or old, inefficient structures compromising the energy efficiency .  In a cold room, a refit is economically better than a repair because it generates a rapid ROI due to improved energy consumption. Hence, a specialist supplier can plan and deliver an improved thermal efficiency project to suit your needs and budget. 5. Clean Daily Clean your cold room daily to avoid a long-term buildup of dirt. However, some cleaning may require engineers and technicians trained in catering-level food hygiene standards. You should frequently call suppliers to provide specialist services for hygiene-safe environments. Such services may include cleaning and sanitizing complete interiors, including walls and high ceiling-mounted plants. 6. Only Use A Manufacturer With A Proven Track Record  Selecting a manufacturer with a proven track record is essential. Qualified manufacturers will exhibit effective health and safety management practices, including continuous improvement programs with key performance indicators. It is best to have in-house design and manufacturing capabilities that produce tailored panels, doors, and trim; repairs are sometimes time-consuming, but this ensures prompt and easy production of customized parts. Conclusion  Overall, proper maintenance is critical to keeping your cold room storage operating at maximum efficiency. Those who neglect the maintenance of their cold room or cold storage unit are likely to damage the integrity of these units, which can make them ineffective and costly to operate. If you need a professional HVAC/R company to help you maintain, build, or install a cold storage facility, then you should talk to us at Ofin Global.   Contact us via mail at info@ofinglobal.com.ng or WhatsApp chat on +2348063150242. 

Why are cold rooms so important?

Why are cold rooms so important? Cold rooms are very important because they help to prolong the shelf life of fresh goods. They are also effective in reducing the amount of waste and in lengthening the timeframe for marketing these foods. The primary purpose of a cold storage room is to refrigerate fresh, pre-cooled and also frozen foods. What can we store in a cold room? Cold storage/freezer room is ideal for storing products such as: Fresh fruit & vegetable produce Frozen food products Meat products Seafood processing food Frozen meals Dairy food Pharmaceutical products Chilled or ambient products that need to be frozen any products which are required to be stored under 10°C.(under 0°C, 0°C – 10°C) If you are looking for cold storage for sale, At OFIN GLOBAL, the best is the least we can do  Why is OFIN GLOBAL HVAC& R Engineering different?  At OFIN GLOBAL HVAC & R Engineering, we specialize in the production and fitting of highly energy-efficient cold rooms.  Our products are intended for use in commercial and industrial applications. These industries include: Hotels Restaurants Airports Public sector buildings Retail Leisure Production  logistics What Advantages does a Cold Room Provide? Cold rooms offer a wide range of advantages over standard cooling apparatus. For starters, your system can be built to specifically address your individual requirements. This keeps running costs down and also safeguards convenience. It is also much more convenient for workers to use cold rooms than traditional fridges and freezers, particularly when the door will be opened and closed often. Cold rooms are designed in such a way that minimizes heat and moisture ingress. They are an essential feature for commercial kitchen refrigeration. How do you clean a cold storage room? A good cold room cleaning procedure includes keeping the floor and surfaces clean and clear at all times. You can also use a vacuum cleaner for any build-up of dust on the floor and tackle surfaces with a cloth, warm water, and mild detergent or specialist cold room cleaning products. For instance, if there are any spillages, clean and discard spoiled products immediately. This will help prevent bacteria growth. After cleaning, you should also check that the cold room is dry. Aside from causing a slippery floor, excess water can be a safety hazard by creating a buildup of ice in your cold room. OFIN GLOBAL HVAC & R ENGINEERING is specialized company which is always available 24/7, at your service for all types of cold room design and it installation together-with, cold room facilities and its equipments. Also, we plan and install Blast freezers for foodstuffs or fresh products i.e. iced cream, vegetables, fish etc.  ‘’Can you imagine a world without refrigeration? We can tell you one thing; it would be very difficult to live in it and many of the things that surround you would be practically non-existent, including your business’’.

5 common Cold Room Problems and Recommended Solutions

Cold storage rooms are most commonly used for purposes like the storage of raw meat or fish, vegetables even, for long periods of time, for wholesale and retail purposes.  See: Is the cold room business profitable in Nigeria?  As someone who uses a cold room for storage and business, running into problems is not an unusual occurrence. In fact, you will most certainly agree with me that there are just some types of problems you are almost used to facing when using your cold room.  Now, to navigate these problems, you may have found short-term solutions, for example, placing a container or rag to prevent or manage any spills in or near your cold room.  Conversely, you may be one of those that just can’t be bothered and you outright ignore these problems.   Whichever category you fall into, in this article I will discuss 5 of the most common problems you may encounter while using your cold rooms and how to best deal with them in the long run. What are some common cold room problems and  their solutions? 1. Rotting products  You walked into your cold room to take out something you needed for business, and then immediately after you opened a particular compartment, your nostrils were immediately ambushed by a horrid smell. You took your time to do some investigating and found out that some of your products were rotting.  You definitely don’t need Einstein to tell you how rotting products are bad for business.  What exactly is causing your products to rot?  You were supplied with near-rotting or already rotten products before you stored them.  The temperature of your cold room was too high.  The product was too warm to immediately be stored in your cold room.   How can you solve this?  Always make sure to double check your products to make sure they are not already rotting or close to rotting.  Work out the best temperature for storing products that are prone to rotting if the right temperature is not applied.  Stack your products wisely. For example, you could store these products that are prone to damage, rotting, or shriveling lower on your cold room shelves. This is because warm air travels upwards. 2. Water buildup on your products  You may have noticed once or more times before—since we are dealing with common problems here—that your products seem to be sweating or they are moist when you touch them. This is what is called “water build up.”  This water could very easily seep into the products somehow and eventually spoil them if not dealt with early enough.  What causes this?  Your defrost drain tubes may be leaking, which may cause water to drip onto your products.  The products already in the cold room might have come into contact with moist air from recently placed products.  Already frozen products have come into direct contact with warm products. How best can you solve this? Check for any leaks in your defrost drain tubes and call on professionals to get them fixed if you find any. Reduce the number of times you open your cold room doors to reduce the infiltration of warm air into your cold room.  Stack newly stored products away from already frozen products.  3. Moldy cold room walls As someone who continuously uses a cold room for business, you must have definitely come across moldy walls in there.  It’s uncomfortable to look at, can get smelly, and leaves your cold room looking unkempt and unattractive.  What exactly causes moldy walls?  There is excessive moist air mixing with your cold room air.  The insulation on your cold room walls and ceiling is worn out.  How can you solve this problem?  Reduce the number of times you open your cold room door to reduce the amount of air mixing that may occur.  Remove worn out insulation and look into using spray foam insulation. Spray foam insulation is an insulation and air barrier material that clogs walls, floors, and ceiling cavities against air movement in your cold room.  The advantage of spray foam insulation is that it doesn’t lose its shape or compress over time. That’s why it’s a great solution to moldy or even condensating walls.  Provide better ways for air to flow around and out of your cold room.  4. Temperature of your cold room is warmer than you desired Just maybe you noticed that the air in your cold room was warmer than you would have wanted for the products you have in there.  What causes this?  The refrigeration unit is not strong enough to sustain the temperature for the amount of product you have stored.  The weather is hot and you have a dark roof surface. Your thermostat is located in the wrong place.  How can you solve this?  Install a higher refrigeration cooling capacity. Paint your roof chalk white so that when your attic temperatures get too high, it doesn’t adversely affect your cold room temperature.  Avoid situating your thermostats outside cold walls, near doors or close to the cold air leaving the evaporator coils. Instead, install thermostats in the return airflow to evaporator coils.  Install extra fans to circulate the air around more.  See also: Chiller cold rooms  5. Electricity consumption is increasing  When the amount of electricity that your cold room consumes is way more than it used to be,  Here are possible causes:  You’re storing way more products than you initially did. Your cold room insulation is wet, missing, or totally worn out.  Your evaporator coils are dirty.  Your cold room doors have loosened. Your equipment isn’t working properly.             Here’s what you can do to solve this problem: Install more refrigerant as the amount of products you are storing increases. Clean your evaporator coils. Switch to spray foam insulation to prevent the recurrence of wet insulation. Retighten your cold room doors as they may have loosened over time.   Contact a professional to service your cold room.  How can we help?  Sometimes the problem with your cold storage room is