Commercial Glass Door Fridges

It comes down to what the fridge is doing for you. An upright glass door fridge gives you height, capacity and visibility, so it is the right call when the fridge is part of your display, like a drinks wall in a bottle shop or a merchandiser near the till. For drinks-first venues, see our commercial drink fridges. You get far more stock in the same floor footprint, and customers can see the full range at eye level.

An under counter glass door fridge trades capacity for position. Sitting beneath the bar or a prep bench, it puts stock within arm's reach of whoever is serving, which is what matters during a rush. This is the classic commercial bar fridge position. Plenty of venues run both.

Nobody can tell you which one is cheaper to run without testing the two cabinets side by side. Glass door fridges are double glazed, and while the glass may hold the cold slightly less well than an insulated solid door panel, that is only half the picture. When staff can see the stock through the glass, the door spends far less time open. A solid door gets opened and closed all day while someone checks what is in there, and cold air is lost every time. So the overall power use and cost of ownership may still come out lower with glass. Double glazing, LED lighting and refrigerants like R290 all help, and many units in our energy efficient refrigeration range are glass door models.

Back of house, where no customer ever sees the fridge, the solid door cabinet is usually the better buy for different reasons: the same cabinet in solid door costs less than it does in glass, and it takes a knock from a trolley or a crate without a panel to crack or scratch.

In most Australian venues, yes. A double glazed glass door fridge holds temperature better, cuts compressor run time and is far less prone to fogging. In humid or coastal locations, or where the unit sits near a dishwasher or cooking line, it is the difference between a clear display and one customers cannot see into.

Triple glazing and heated frames exist for the most demanding positions, and are worth specifying for freezers or for fridges in unconditioned spaces.

Glass door fridge condensation is a humidity problem rather than a fault. It appears when warm, moist air meets cold glass, which is common in summer and in kitchens with steam in the air.

Units with double glazing and heated door frames are designed specifically to prevent it. Keeping door seals clean and in good condition also helps, since a leaking gasket lets humid air straight onto the cold surface.

A sliding glass door fridge is the better choice wherever a swinging door would block a walkway, which usually means narrow service areas, tight back-bar runs and anywhere staff pass behind each other during service.

The trade-off is that sliding doors are typically a little less airtight than a hinged door with a good gasket, so for long holding periods or temperature-critical stock a hinged unit has the edge.

For packaged food, generally yes. Sandwiches, salads, drinks and pre-packed items are exactly what a glass door display fridge is designed around. Check the stated operating range on the product page, because drinks-focused units sometimes run a little warmer than food service requires.

For open or unwrapped food you will usually want purpose-built refrigerated display instead, such as our deli display fridges or cake display fridges.

They do. Every refrigerated unit needs to shed heat, and if the condenser cannot breathe the fridge works harder, runs hotter and fails sooner. Manufacturer clearances are on the product page and should be treated as a minimum.

This catches people out most often with under counter installs that get boxed into cabinetry with no airflow path. If you are building a fridge into joinery, check whether it is specified for built-in or free-standing use before the cabinetry is made. If you want a second opinion on a layout, request a callback and we will go through it with you.