What temperature should a commercial fridge be set to?

For chilled food, +2 to +8 °C, with dairy, deli and cooked product at the cold end of that band and beverages tolerant of 0 to +10 °C. Frozen storage should hold −18 °C or colder. Our catalogue publishes the working range per family, and a cabinet rated −2 to +8 °C is not a freezer with the dial turned down — the compressor, evaporator and control are different.

Is R134a or R404A better for commercial refrigeration?

Neither is better; they cover different temperatures. R134a is the standard choice for positive-temperature cabinets (+2 to +8 °C), and R404A is used for low-temperature freezers at −18 °C and below. Where a family offers both, our product pages list which model code carries which charge. Before importing R404A, confirm your market's position on high-GWP refrigerants, since restrictions that began in the EU have spread.

How many refrigerated worktables does a restaurant kitchen need?

One per prep station is the working rule, sized 350 to 700 litres with 2 or 3 doors. A worktable replaces both a shelf and a prep counter, so the count follows how many people are working at once, not how much stock you carry. Our HF and HZ series run 220 to 440 litres across 24 model codes, in chiller, freezer and dual-temperature versions.

Why does my freezer trip in summer in a hot climate?

Because the condensing unit was rated for a cooler room than it is standing in. When ambient reaches the 40 to 45 °C range common in Gulf and West African kitchens, a 32 °C-rated unit loses its margin, discharge pressure rises, and the high-pressure cut-out trips — usually in the afternoon, and usually after the first year. Specify a tropical ambient rating and larger condenser at order stage; it is a line on the invoice, not a modification afterwards.

When should I buy a cold room instead of another cabinet?

Roughly above six cubic metres of storage, or whenever you need to walk in with a trolley. A panel cold room costs less per cubic metre than the equivalent in cabinets, is easier to keep clean, and can be built to a chiller (+0 to +10 °C), freezer (−18 °C) or deep-freeze (−25 °C) specification. Our cold room line is sold as a custom panel set with the condensing unit matched to the box size and the ambient you report.

Home › Buying guides › Commercial refrigeration sizing: cabinet, worktable, walk-in or cold room

Selection notes from our catalogue / 2026-10-04

Commercial refrigeration sizing: cabinet, worktable, walk-in or cold room

A fridge is not sized by how much it looks like it holds. It is sized by what temperature you must hold, at what room temperature, with the door opened how often.

Key answers

Positive temperature for service (−2 to +10 °C), negative for storage (−18 to −22 °C). A single cabinet asked to do both is how most shops end up with warm milk and soft ice cream.
R134a is the positive-temperature refrigerant in our catalogue; R404A is the low-temperature one. Where a family offers both, the product page lists which model carries which.
Ambient rating matters more than volume in the Gulf and the Sahel. A unit designed for a 32 °C shop will trip on high-pressure protection in a 45 °C kitchen, whatever the brochure says about litres.
Glass sells, steel stores. Display doors cost you 2 to 3 °C of recovery every time they open, so back-of-house storage should be solid door and the front-of-house cabinet should be glass.
Worktable fridges replace a shelf and a prep counter in one footprint — the 220–440 L range with 2, 3 and 4 doors is the most ordered item in our refrigeration department for a reason.
Above roughly 6 m³ of storage, a panel cold room is cheaper per cubic metre than another cabinet, and it can be walked into with a trolley.
Ice makers are sized by kg per day at 32 °C water and air, not by bin size. A 100 kg/day machine in a hot kitchen with a small bin still runs out of ice at 8 pm.

Start with the temperature, not the cabinet

Every one of our refrigeration families is published with the temperature range the catalogue prints for it, and that range is the first filter. These are the bands you will see on our pages.

Temperature band	What it is for	Our families in that band
+2 ~ +8 °C	Deli, salad, cake display, short-term dairy	Salad & deli display case, cake display chiller, stainless solid door chiller
0 ~ +10 °C	Beverage and retail display, drinks at selling temperature	Reach-in beverage display cooler, upright glass door display fridge VF series
+3 ~ +9 °C (static)	Wine, dairy, product that must not be dried by a fan	Static cooling display chiller LG series
−2 ~ +8 °C (bi-valve)	One cabinet, two zones: chill on top, freeze or near-freeze below	Stainless solid door chiller, direct cool upright fridge VZ series
−6 ~ −18 °C	Frozen storage and ice cream serving	Upright glass door freezer LGD, gastronorm tray cabinet
−18 ~ −22 °C	Long-term frozen, meat and seafood	Supermarket island freezer, multi-door glass display chiller & freezer LG-P
+0 ~ +10 / −18 ~ 0 °C rooms	Walk-in for a kitchen or a store	Multi-door walk-in chiller LG-HB, custom panel cold room

Refrigerant: what the two names on the spec sheet mean

Refrigerant	Where it belongs	What to check before you import
R134a	Positive temperature: chillers, beverage cabinets, worktables in chiller mode	Nothing exotic — it is the common HFC for +2 to +8 duty
R404A	Low temperature: freezers, ice cream cabinets, cold rooms at −18 and below	Restricted for new equipment in the EU and some follow-on markets; confirm your importer can clear it
R22	Legacy systems, some ice makers and cold room plant	Phased out under the Montreal Protocol in most markets — we list it because the catalogue prints it, not because we recommend it
Mixed families	Some lines offer R134a on the chiller models and R404A on the freezer models	Specify per model code, not per family — the product page table shows which is which

Ambient rating: the number nobody reads

A condensing unit rejects heat to the room it stands in. Rated at 32 °C ambient, it has almost no margin left in a Jeddah kitchen in August or a Lagos back room, where 40 to 45 °C is normal. The symptom is not warm food on day one — it is high-pressure cut-out in the afternoon, a compressor that cycles, and a failure that appears after the warranty year has run.

Tell us the room, not just the country: air-conditioned shop floor, non-conditioned back kitchen, or rooftop.
For warm climates we move to a larger condenser and, on some lines, a different fan configuration. That is a specification, and it belongs on the proforma invoice.
Ventilation clearance is free and is the most common installation fault we see in photos: a cabinet pushed into a niche with no airflow at the condenser end.
Ice makers and blast chillers are the most ambient-sensitive of everything we sell, because their cycle is short and repeated.

How much space you actually need

Your operation	What to start with	Roughly
Cafe, juice or bubble tea bar	Undercounter or reach-in beverage cooler + a worktable	1 × 300–500 L chill
Butchery or deli counter	Salad/deli display case in front, solid door chiller behind	1 display + 1 × 500–700 L storage
Restaurant kitchen	Refrigerated worktables — one per prep station	2–4 × 350–700 L
Supermarket corner	Upright glass door display fridge, island freezer for frozen	1–2 display + 1 freezer
Central kitchen, catering	Walk-in chiller plus a freezer, trolley access	6–15 m³
Meat or seafood trader	Panel cold room at −18 to −25 °C, deep-freeze grade	10 m³ and up

Count your door openings per hour, not just your litres. A cabinet that is opened 60 times a day in service needs either a bigger compressor or a smaller amount of product in it, and that is the point at which buyers should be talking to us rather than reading a chart.

Fan-forced or static

Fan-forced (no-frost) holds an even temperature and recovers fast after the door opens. It also dries uncovered product — herbs, dairy, cake — unless it is wrapped.
Static keeps humidity and is right for wine, dairy and short storage, but the temperature varies more from shelf to shelf.
Glass doors are a heat load: every opening lets in humid air that the defrost system then has to remove. In humid coastal markets, heated glass and a good door gasket are worth more than an extra 50 litres.

The catalogue, by family

Commercial Upright Glass Door Display Fridge VF Series 5 models · Upright Glass Door Fridge · catalogue source: FH制冷设备.pdf p44-45

Model / Capacity	Capacity	Temp. range	Power	Voltage
VF1.0L2-CPL	940 L	0~+10℃	450 W	220V/50Hz
VF1.0L2-FPL	940 L	-6~-18℃	710 W	220V/50Hz
VF1.0L4-GCPL	940 L	0~+10℃	450 W	220V/50Hz
VF1.6L3-GCPL	1465 L	0~+10℃	410 W	220V/50Hz
VF1.6L6-GCPL	1465 L	0~+10℃	410 W	220V/50Hz

Stainless Solid-Door Upright Chiller VF Series 9 models · Upright Chiller · catalogue source: FH制冷设备.pdf p43-44

Model / Capacity	Capacity	Temp. range	Power	Voltage
VF04L2-CPL	419 L	-2~+8℃	320 W	220V/50Hz
VF04L2-FPL	419 L	-6~-18℃	390 W	220V/50Hz
VF04L2-HMPL	397 L	-2~+8℃ / -6~-18℃	390 W	220V/50Hz
VF1.0L4-CPL	940 L	-2~+8℃	450 W	220V/50Hz
VF1.0L4-FPL	940 L	-6~-18℃	710 W	220V/50Hz
VF1.0L4-HMPL	467 L	-2~+8℃ / -6~-18℃	710 W	220V/50Hz
VF1.6L6-CPL	1465 L	-2~+8℃	640 W	220V/50Hz
VF1.6L6-FPL	1465 L	-6~-18℃	920 W	220V/50Hz
VF1.6L6-HMPL	727 L	-2~+8℃ / -6~-18℃	840 W	220V/50Hz

Refrigerated Work Table HF / HZ / KK Series 24 models · Refrigerated Work Table · catalogue source: FH制冷设备.pdf p22, p45, p49

Model / Capacity	Capacity	Temp. range	Size W×D×H (mm)	Power
HF0.3L2-CHL	346 L	-2~+8℃	1800x750x800	320 W
HF0.3L2-FHL	346 L	-6~-18℃	1800x750x800	320 W
HF0.3L2-HMPL	346 L	-2~+8℃ / -6~-18℃	1800x750x800	320 W
HF0.4L2-CHL	440 L	-2~+8℃	1800x750x800	320 W
HF0.4L2-FHL	440 L	-6~-18℃	1800x750x800	320 W
HF0.4L2-HMPL	440 L	-2~+8℃ / -6~-18℃	1800x750x800	320 W
HZ0.3L2-CPL	350 L	-2~+8℃	1500x750x800	180 W
HZ0.3L2-FPL	350 L	-6~-18℃	1500x750x800	180 W
HZ0.3L2-HMPL	340 L	-2~+8℃ / -6~-18℃	1500x750x800	180 W
HZ0.4L2-CPL	350 L	-2~+8℃	1800x750x800	200 W
HZ0.4L2-FPL	350 L	-6~-18℃	1800x750x800	200 W
HZ0.4L2-HMPL	340 L	-2~+8℃ / -6~-18℃	1800x750x800	200 W
KK-M220LP	220 L	0~+8℃	1200x760x800	195 W
KK-M220LG	220 L	0~+8℃	1200x760x800	205 W
KK-M315LP	315 L	0~+8℃	1500x760x800	210 W
KK-M315LG	315 L	0~+8℃	1500x760x800	220 W
KK-M410LP	410 L	0~+8℃	1800x760x800	235 W
KK-M410LG	410 L	0~+8℃	1800x760x800	245 W
KK-D220LP	220 L	-12~-18℃	1200x760x800	225 W
KK-D220LG	220 L	-12~-18℃	1200x760x800	235 W
KK-D315LP	315 L	-12~-18℃	1500x760x800	250 W
KK-D315LG	315 L	-12~-18℃	1500x760x800	260 W
KK-D410LP	410 L	-12~-18℃	1800x760x800	285 W
KK-D410LG	410 L	-12~-18℃	1800x760x800	295 W

Supermarket Island Chest Freezer LDX / GH Series 7 models · Chest / Island Freezer · catalogue source: FH制冷设备.pdf p62

Model / Capacity	Temp. range	Size W×D×H (mm)	Power
LDX-1.45	-18~-22℃	1450x850x870	—
LDX-1.85	-18~-22℃	1850x850x795	—
LDX-2.1	-18~-22℃	2100x850x870	—
LDX-2.5	-18~-22℃	2500x850x870	—
GH-1900	-18~-22℃	1900x920x940	—
GH-2100	-18~-22℃	2100x920x940	—
GH-2500	-18~-22℃	2505x920x940	—

Commercial Cube Ice Maker Machine 10 models · Ice Maker · catalogue source: FH制冷设备.pdf p2 (KK, company-provided) + p53 (ZB)

Model / Capacity	Capacity	Power	Voltage
KK300	150 kg/day	800 W	220V/50Hz
KK600	260 kg/day	1000 W	220V/50Hz
KK800	400 kg/day	2200 W	220V/50Hz
KK1000	500 kg/day	2900 W	220V/50Hz
KK160Y	80 kg/day	700 W	220V/50Hz
KK300Y	150 kg/day	900 W	220V/50Hz
ZB-150B	150 kg/day	—	220V/50Hz
ZB-250B	250 kg/day	—	220V/50Hz
ZB-500B	500 kg/day	—	220V/50Hz
ZB-1000B	1000 kg/day	—	220V/50Hz

Custom Panel Cold Room (PU Insulated) 3 models · Custom Cold Room · catalogue source: FH制冷设备.pdf p60-61

Model / Capacity	Temp. range	Size W×D×H (mm)
CR-PLUS-10	0~+10 degrees C chiller room	定制 Customized
CR-MINUS-18	-18 degrees C freezer room	定制 Customized
CR-MINUS-25	-25 degrees C deep-freeze room	定制 Customized

Send us the room temperature, the product, and how many times a day the door opens. We will tell you which of these families fits — including when the honest answer is that a walk-in is cheaper than a fourth cabinet.

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Before you order: the electrical check

Refrigeration is the equipment class where a frequency mistake costs the most, because the compressor is the machine. Saudi Arabia and Peru run at 60 Hz while the Gulf's other markets run at 50 Hz, and the winding is a build change, not an adapter. The full table is on our voltage and frequency guide.

Q&A / Questions buyers ask us

Questions buyers ask us

What temperature should a commercial fridge be set to?: For chilled food, +2 to +8 °C, with dairy, deli and cooked product at the cold end of that band and beverages tolerant of 0 to +10 °C. Frozen storage should hold −18 °C or colder. Our catalogue publishes the working range per family, and a cabinet rated −2 to +8 °C is not a freezer with the dial turned down — the compressor, evaporator and control are different.
Is R134a or R404A better for commercial refrigeration?: Neither is better; they cover different temperatures. R134a is the standard choice for positive-temperature cabinets (+2 to +8 °C), and R404A is used for low-temperature freezers at −18 °C and below. Where a family offers both, our product pages list which model code carries which charge. Before importing R404A, confirm your market's position on high-GWP refrigerants, since restrictions that began in the EU have spread.
How many refrigerated worktables does a restaurant kitchen need?: One per prep station is the working rule, sized 350 to 700 litres with 2 or 3 doors. A worktable replaces both a shelf and a prep counter, so the count follows how many people are working at once, not how much stock you carry. Our HF and HZ series run 220 to 440 litres across 24 model codes, in chiller, freezer and dual-temperature versions.
Why does my freezer trip in summer in a hot climate?: Because the condensing unit was rated for a cooler room than it is standing in. When ambient reaches the 40 to 45 °C range common in Gulf and West African kitchens, a 32 °C-rated unit loses its margin, discharge pressure rises, and the high-pressure cut-out trips — usually in the afternoon, and usually after the first year. Specify a tropical ambient rating and larger condenser at order stage; it is a line on the invoice, not a modification afterwards.
When should I buy a cold room instead of another cabinet?: Roughly above six cubic metres of storage, or whenever you need to walk in with a trolley. A panel cold room costs less per cubic metre than the equivalent in cabinets, is easier to keep clean, and can be built to a chiller (+0 to +10 °C), freezer (−18 °C) or deep-freeze (−25 °C) specification. Our cold room line is sold as a custom panel set with the condensing unit matched to the box size and the ambient you report.

→ / Equipment this guide points at

Shop by product line

Commercial Upright Glass Door Display Fridge VF Series

CE50/60Hz

Upright Glass Door Fridge

Product lines

Solutions

Buying

Commercial refrigeration sizing: cabinet, worktable, walk-in or cold room

Key answers

Start with the temperature, not the cabinet

Refrigerant: what the two names on the spec sheet mean

Ambient rating: the number nobody reads

How much space you actually need

Fan-forced or static

The catalogue, by family

Before you order: the electrical check

Questions buyers ask us

Shop by product line

Commercial Upright Glass Door Display Fridge VF Series

Stainless Solid-Door Upright Chiller VF Series

Refrigerated Work Table HF / HZ / KK Series

Supermarket Island Chest Freezer LDX / GH Series

Commercial Cube Ice Maker Machine

Custom Panel Cold Room (PU Insulated)