Are Cold Room Ancillaries Important?

Cold room ancillaries, or accessories, are essential little extras that can help maintenance staff keep on top of routine and emergency cold room maintenance and reparations.

Keeping a stock of cold room ancillaries brings with it many benefits, including:

• Saving your company money, thanks to lower refurbishment or maintenance costs
• Increased energy efficiency
• Extending the lifetime of your cold room
• Stopping business operation interference, so you won’t need to close the business to complete more extensive repairs
• Improving or increasing the insulation qualities of your cold room – making storing stock much more economical

But what are the key cold room ancillaries you should keep in stock?

1. Expanding Foams

Expanding foam is most commonly used to repair holes and gaps in building substrates. As such, cold room expanding foam is a great material to keep on hand for quick repairs, especially in environments that need to maintain increased sound or thermal insulation to keep in refrigerated air.

When used correctly, expanding foam is resistant to a wide range of factors, including, aging, chemical wear, and erosion.

2. Silicones

Silicones come in a range of styles, defined by their possible uses, and are best kept on-site so minor repairs can be patched up as soon as the damage is noted.

Silicone repair materials are designed to seal joints and cracks, filling in areas where food and water can become trapped, and keeping spaces hygienic and clean.

Food-safe silicone

If your cold room fridge or freezer regularly stores food or ingredients to be used in food and drink, it is important you choose a food-safe silicone – as they contain none of the harmful chemicals or fumes that can contaminate food.

When needed, food-safe silicones can fill in seals around the cold room with a watertight, flexible seal.

All food-safe silicones from MTCSS are tested and meet the requirements of NSF/ANSI Standard 51 for added certainty and are available in clear or white.

Ali silicone

If you need to seal both indoor and outdoor areas that are  located in cold climates, aluminium (or Ali) silicone is ideal for sealing cold room panel joints.

This helps cold room freezers and fridges to retain cool air and keep out the warm – making them more energy efficient.

3. Tapes

There are a variety of tapes that can be used to patch repair and prolong the use of the cold room until more intensive refurbishment can take place.

This can keep your cold room fridge or freezer in use for longer, helping stop business delays, and also stopping further damages from occurring.

Bituthene tape

Designed for architectural or building use, bituthene tape is ideal for use anywhere in your cold room freezer or fridge thanks to its increased strength, easy application, and stable waterproof seal.

Ali (aluminium) foil tape

Designed to safely secure cabling, Ali tape is fire, heat, and UV-resistant, and can easily be torn by hand for easy application.

This means that refrigeration and lighting system cables can be protected from accidental damage, while also ensuring cables cannot cause harm to staff. 

4. Fixings and Bolts

It is also very worthwhile keeping a variety of fixings and bolts in stock, as this can mean easy and fast repairs that will last – unlike the use of tapes.

This can mean business operations are uninterrupted and prolong the use of absolutely essential components, like cold room panels.

A good selection to stock will depend on the parts used in your specific cold room, but generally includes:

• Nylon-faced washers
• Round-headed nylon bolts
• Nylon washers
• Caps for nylon bolts
• MTH bolts
• MTH nuts

5. Industrial Cleaning Products

As we’ve discussed in previous blogs, regular cleaning is an essential part of maintenance and can directly increase productivity, energy efficiency, and the lifetime of your cold room.

So, whether you need to replace soft stockinette roll or food-safe, NSF-certified cleaning sprays – keeping a ready stock of both will prevent slips, trips, and falls, while also maintaining a hygienic environment for the storage of perishable goods.

Although it can be hard to keep on top of maintenance in the middle of rushes, it is at this time that your cold room fridge or freezer is more likely to sustain small damages – which can escalate into expensive problems if left to worsen.

Keeping a supply of cold room ancillaries at hand will help the appropriate staff make regular, minor repairs without delay, which in turn will limit how much small issues can spiral – saving you time, money, and stress in the long run.

To order cold room ancillaries, reach out to the team at MTCSS – you can call us on 01886 833 381 or email us at spares@mtcss.co.uk and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible!