How you can make savings on commercial refrigeration by spending more!

Sounds counter-intuitive, right? If you need to save money then you spend less!

In most cases yes, but not so when it comes to essential commercial refrigeration that your business relies on. In hospitality and retail settings where storage and display refrigeration is critical to operations, and especially in a time when the economy is uncertain and prices are rising, saving money is a prime concern for many businesses.

Whether you’re looking for display fridges, multidecks or glass lid chest freezers for shop settings or storage refrigeration for catering kitchens, and your primary focus is saving money, natural instincts tell you to buy lower priced equipment, after all, it does the same job as premium models with a higher price tag, doesn’t it?

Yes, but it’s not that black and white. Rather than addressing the initial outlay, you instead need to look at the bigger, or longer, picture.

Think Long Term

Commercial refrigeration is all designed and manufactured to perform in business settings, to maintain chilled temperatures and create a safe storage or display environment for food or drink intended for public consumption.

However, just because equipment does the same job, it doesn’t mean it does so equally.

Think long term and consider potential expense in terms of the lifetime of the equipment, not just the initial upfront cost, when it comes to making and measuring savings.

Whatever equipment you’re looking for, there will be a range of budget and premium brands to choose from, each often with a wide variation in price. Let’s do a brief comparison.

Budget

• lower upfront cost
• typically use lower quality components
• generally has standard industry insulation
• generally 1-2 years manufacturers warranty – may be parts only or full parts and labour
• often lower efficiency (MEPS) ratings

Premium

• higher initial price tag
• high quality components, materials and features
• better insulation improves performance and efficiency
• typically comes with a longer, more comprehensive manufacturers warranty
• generally high efficiency (MEPS) ratings

These points generally (although not in all cases) point to;

Budget brands have 

• lower efficiency, resulting in higher energy usage, 
• have more likelihood of breakdown, 
• overall shorter equipment lifespan that needs to be fixed and/or replaced more frequently.

Premium brands have 

• advanced energy efficiency features that reduce energy costs, 
• have more durable components and are built to last with a longer life span 
• have longer, more comprehensive, warranties. 

One premium unit that is correctly maintained and serviced, may last as long as two or three budget units.

Cost Saving Conclusions

It’s clear that spending more initially can result in monetary savings throughout the lifetime of equipment.

Businesses might understand the reasoning and sense behind spending more to save more by buying premium brands, however this doesn’t mean that the available budget magically multiplies to accommodate buying preferences.

Luckily there are a number of great mid-range brands that offer the ideal solution to the cost vs. quality conundrum. With quality manufacture and durable components, attractive design and A & B ratings, energy efficient commercial fridges ensure that the best points of both budget and premium equipment are achievable – balancing initial cost and outlay with ongoing savings.