The Importance of Replacing Your Cold Room Gaskets

MTCSS understand that a major element contributing to the functioning of your cold room (and as a result, your business) is your cold room doors and their furniture.

With all cold storage solutions, whether you’ve got a small chiller cold room for your milk or a walk-in freezer for your pharmaceuticals, it’s imperative that your cold room and cold room furniture is efficient and safe to use.

If your cold room isn’t running efficiently, then you run the risk of potentially ruining your products and increasing your energy costs – which is why cold room maintenance is both beneficial as soon as you notice that something isn’t quite right, as well as in advance so that you can take preventative measures to ensure this doesn’t occur.

What is a cold room gasket?

Cold room door gaskets are crucial for keeping the seals intact on your cold room, no matter the temperature-range requirement. The cold room door gasket is essentially the deal which fits around the door to allow for optimal sealing. As the main point of access to your cold room, the sealing on your cold room doors is critical to your cold room’s temperature and efficiency. 

This is due to it being reliant upon the cold room door being high-quality, insulated and working alongside a gasket. If your cold room gaskets aren’t sealing your cold room efficiently, this is where problems can occur.

Consequences of not replacing your cold room gaskets

When the cold room door seals aren’t properly maintained, they allow the refrigerated air to escape and the ingress of warm air – increasing the number of potential cold room problems you will face. Here are just some of the consequences for a poorly maintained cold room door gasket:

• Cold Storage Failure
  A faulty or improper seal is the number one reason for cold storage failure, and a broken cold room gasket can lead to spoilage or loss of everything in your cold room and even damage to the fridge / freezer itself.  
   
  This is because the refrigeration unit will attempt to lower its internal temperature with the faulty seal, therefore preventing the cold room door from closing properly and letting more refrigerated air out. 
• Health Hazard 
  Worn, brittle or cracked cold room gaskets (as a result of negligence) allow warm air to circulate past your insulated cold room doors, and into your cold room, causing the maintained temperature to drop.  
   
  From this, not only are your food products going to spoil, but a cracked cold room gasket also poses a serious health risk by providing a hard-to-clean breeding ground for bacterial diseases such as salmonella, caused by the increase in internal temperature and thus an inconsistent temperature. 
   
  It could also lead to serious health issues for customers if they consume any products that you sell, that have been affected by a change in your cold room’s temperature.  
   
  Any food products that you’re storing that need to be kept at a specific temperature (for example, high-risk foods) must be correctly refrigerated, otherwise you pose serious threats to your customers health, your health and the future of your business. 
• Increased Running Costs 
  As mentioned before, the running costs of your cold room may increase if your gasket is faulty. This is due to the intake of warm air from outside your cold room following a broken or cracked cold room gasket.A broken seal can even cause your door to lose cold air even when closed!This intake of warm air will combine with the already refrigerated air and cause your refrigeration unit, compressors and coolers to strain due to an increase in workload – meaning they’re having to work harder, and therefore could increase your running costs and shorten the lifespan of your refrigeration equipment.

Faulty cold room gaskets

If you’ve read this and decided you may need to replace your cold room gasket, you’re in the right place.

The condition of your refrigerated door seals is often assessed by the Environmental Health officer during your regular Environmental Health Inspection.

This means that any damaged or perished seals on your cold room doors will result in your business failing the inspection, meaning that your appliance could become condemned or in the worst-case lead to business closure for failing to meet required industry standards!

So, how do you solve this? We’re glad you asked.

To prevent any cracks or faults forming in your cold room gasket, you should inspect the gasket and its seal at regular intervals (the recommended advice is every 3 months) or have a qualified cold room engineer do a check as part of a quarterly cold room maintenance plan.

Even if you have a cold room maintenance plan in place, it’s essential that you clean your cold room gaskets and seals regularly, to prevent any build up of products or liquids that could have accidently been spilled – all factors leading to a broken or worn seal in the first place.

MTCSS has a wide range of cold room gaskets and cold room furniture available to help ensure that your cold room runs efficiently and stores your products safely. 

We hold a variety of cold room gaskets, bespoke to all our cold room door ranges and our refrigerated cabinets. So, no matter the cold storage solution you’ve got, we can provide a solution for you. 

Don’t see the product you’re after? Enquire today and one of our team will try and order your desired product in! 

If you have any questions or would like to know more about cold room gaskets or cold room maintenance, contact our expert team today. 

Email us at spares@mtcss.co.uk , ring us on 01886 833381 or fill in the enquiry form below!