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Glass Door Fridge
A glass door fridge is a huge convenience, whether in a commercial kitchen or in the typical home.
With a glass door, users can look inside the refrigerator without opening the door. In a commercial kitchen, the staff can spot items that may need restocking before it becomes a problem. And the door needs to open fewer times, creating fewer traffic jams in the kitchen's flow. The downside: Many glass doors aren't as energy efficient as the solid door version.
Often refrigerators with glass doors are placed in a front-of-house location at an eatery, food store or grocery to allow customers to help themselves to the products. In those cases, the refrigerator can come in a few styles, either a swinging door, which can disrupt the flow of passers-by, or a sliding door, which doesn't have that traffic flow problem.
The upright, reach-in glass door fridges are really just like their solid door counterparts, except they are more stylish and easier to use. There are also a version of glass door fridge called a pass-through, which typically has doors on both sides of the unit to allow for maximum versatility.
What buyers should look for
As with other types of commercial fridges, potential buyers of a glass door unit should pay close attention to where the compressor is located on the refrigerator. In most cases, the compressor on the glass door fridges will be situated either on the top of the unit or on the bottom. Each of those locations has some upsides and downsides. When the compressor is located at the bottom, that pushes the interior of the refrigerator higher, which reduces strain on the user's back because they don't have to bend as far. The problems, however, is that when the doors are open, some of the heated air from the compressor will seep into the refrigerated compartment and make the unit work harder to keep things cool.
While the refrigerated interior of a glass door unit is situated lower to the ground when the compressor is located atop the refrigerator, the location reduces the problem with hot air. Instead of rising into the refrigerator when the door is opened, the hot air rises to the ceiling.
How much will a glass door fridge cost?
Prices for a commercial glass door fridge can range from $1,500 for a 32-inch reach-in refrigerator by Arctic Air to a $12,700 56-inch glass door pass-through refrigerator with two sets of swinging double doors made by Delfield.
There are products from numerous manufacturers that populate the price range in between. A 27-inch Turbo Air is considered an economy buy at about $2,250 while a 55-inch True double-door reach-in is considered a great value at $3,400. Also thought to a be a good value is the 77-inch three-door glass door fridge by Delfield, which as a price tag of $5,800.
There is also the higher-end units such as the 78-inch Beverage Air model that offers pass-through feature and sells for about $9,700. And the $11,150 Delfield 56-inch sliding door reach-in fridge on casters. Despite the prices, both of these models are considered by some to be good deals.
For more information, visit this page on commercial refrigerators or undercounter fridges.