Freezers
Commercial display freezers are refrigerated cabinets that hold food and drink at -18°C or below for retail display or bulk frozen storage, used across pubs, cafes, hotels, convenience stores, care homes and forecourts wherever frozen stock needs to stay visible and accessible. Choosing between them comes down to format (chest, upright glass door, or specialist ice cream display), footprint, and how much of the stock needs to be customer-facing versus back-of-house.
Key specifications
This head category spans display chest freezers, upright glass door freezers (single, double, triple door and countertop/undercounter formats), impulse coolers, supermarket freezers and the large ice cream display freezer family (static, ventilated, sliding-lid, mobile and soft-serve). Across the range, expect capacities from around 100 litres in countertop units up to 600-1000+ litres in supermarket and multideck formats, external dimensions scaling from roughly 600mm wide countertop units to 1900-2500mm wide multi-door uprights, and internal temperatures held at -18 to -22°C. Power typically runs from 150W to 500W+ depending on size, on a standard 13A single-phase UK supply, with modern units built around R290 or R600a refrigerant for lower environmental impact and better energy efficiency. Noise levels for well-specified units sit around 40-55dB, suitable for front-of-house placement in pubs and cafes; climate class 4 rating is the sensible minimum for UK ambient conditions in working kitchens.
Freezers — FAQs
How do I choose between a chest freezer and an upright display freezer?
Chest freezers offer better energy efficiency and more capacity per pound spent, suiting bulk back-of-house storage; upright glass door freezers suit front-of-house retail display where customers need to see and select stock themselves.
What temperature should a commercial display freezer run at?
Most commercial display freezers are set between -18°C and -22°C to keep frozen food safely below the -18°C legal minimum for retail display, allowing for door-opening temperature fluctuation.
Do display freezers need a lot of ventilation clearance?
Yes — most static and fan-assisted models need 50-100mm clearance at the back and sides to allow the condenser to dissipate heat properly; check the manufacturer’s spec sheet as clearance requirements vary by model.
Typical brands across this category include Tefcold, ISA, Polar and Blizzard, spanning budget pub back-bar units through to heavy-duty farm shops and forecourt freezers.