Give Grocery Store Refrigerators Regular Attention—Or Prepare for Failure

Refrigerated cases require regular maintenance. Without it, these expensive pieces of equipment clog, leak, and waste huge amounts of electricity all before dying an early death. So why don’t front-line managers service their grocery store refrigerators more often?

Because grocery store refrigeration maintenance is hard. Managers do have a few options. They can ask hourly employees to take on the unpleasant task. They can pay an outside HVAC specialist to tackle the work. Or they can put the whole thing off, an easy choice considering the mess is largely hidden under shelves and behind casings.

Of course, that mess doesn’t stay hidden for long. Telltale leaks, bad odors, and lost product set off doom spiral of added expense, equipment failure, and, in the worst case, health code violations and customer illness.

There is a way to make grocery store refrigerator cleaning faster, easier, and far less expensive. The Refrigerated Case Cleaner from Kaivac is designed just for the task. This cleaning machine simplifies and standardizes the process, making it easy for hourly employees to get the job done.

The Problem with Refrigerated Cases

Refrigerated cases are everywhere in your store. ENERGY STAR estimates that grocery stores have one refrigerated display case per 1000 square feet, adding up to over 1.5 million cases across the U.S. Each unit costs approximately $1500, a $2.5 billion capital investment.

These cases are designed to last between 15-20 years, but deferred maintenance slashes their lifespan to just ten. That’s because cases with clogged intake vents work harder to draw in air and maintain the same level of cooling. This extra effort stresses the machine, shortening its life while eating up more electricity. In fact, just 0.042” of dirt on condensing coils drops efficiency by 21% while increasing energy use by 35%.

But it’s not just the coils that need maintenance. Food shed in produce cases stops up drains causing clogs and leaks. These little bits of vegetable matter are also great places for dangerous bacteria to take up residence. After a while cases start to smell, liquid pools by the bases, and the health department may even stop buy for a surprise health code violation visit.

Commercial Refrigeration Cleaning Solutions That Help

Cleaning grocery store refrigerator cases regularly prevents all these problems. But tasking employees with the job yields uneven results. That’s because cleaning display cases is tedious and time consuming, especially with conventional cleaning tools.

Third-party HVAC professionals will clean grocery store refrigerator cases but be prepared to pay a premium. How much? Calls to HVAC professionals account for a whopping $33,900 per location per year, adding up to one/third of a stores repair and maintenance budget.

The Refrigerated Case Cleaner from Kaivac gives hourly workers the tools to deliver clean fresh cases as well as an HVAC professional—at a far lower price. The advanced cleaning machine delivers consistent, repeatable results no matter who is using the device. Managers no longer have to postpone the task, or farm it out.

The Refrigerated Case Cleaner is easy to learn and works much faster than traditional cleaning methods. Everything employees need for the task is located right on the machine. Staff follow a set procedure and never have to wing it with whatever they find in the supply closet.

Learn more on how to standardize and optimize grocery store refrigerator cleaning here.