Wednesday, September 2, 2020

Freezer Rooms & Blast Freezers – What Are The Differences

 When deciding on a blast freezer and freezer room it is critical that you understand your available options and how they best meet your business requirements. This can significantly impact how you store your products and whether or not they fulfill the regulations that apply to them.

In fact, when you make a comparison between some freezers, they may not be as identical as they initially look. So how do you discern what freezer you require & why you require it? Depending on the type of business you run, you may need a blast freezer, a freezer room, or both.

Freezer room:

Freezer rooms are designed to store an array of materials and products at subzero degrees which will extend the lifetime of food. However, a freezer room can’t freeze products at a quick pace like a blast freezer. You’ll also want to remember that freezers are not suitable for products & materials that will spoil in below-freezing temperatures. Products that need to be used imminently, with no time for them to defrost are also not the ideal materials to be stored in freezers.

Blast freezer:

Blast freezers are also popularly known as shock freezers. The idea of this sort of freezer is to very quickly bring down the temperature of foodstuffs, freezing them very quickly.

Blast freezers hold temperatures between -28 degree down to a chilly minus 40 degree which is why the ice crystals that form in the process are tiny, causing less damage to the stored materials. This detains the freshness & nutritional value of the products.

A blast freezer is ideal for storing foods like:

  • Poultry
  • Meat
  • Ready meals
  • Frozen vegetables
  • Fish
  • Gelato

Different sizes of blast freezers are usually needed as they’re employed in various types of the food industry. Fortunately, blast freezer panels can be manufactured for any application, whether it is needed as an industrial walk-in blast freezer room, an ins-tore blast freezer, or blast freezer panels for a truck.

Here at Africhill, we specialized in supplying top-notch blast freezers and freezer rooms to Africa’s supermarkets, fast food, hospitality, and agriculture industries. We use modular insulated panels which are energy efficient & easy to maintain. They’re environmentally friendly & meet strict African standards. Whether you’re in search of a pre-assembled freezer room or want a DIY cold room kit, we have your needs covered. For any blast freezer or freezer room related queries, contact us on +27 (0) 11 979 1885.

Friday, August 7, 2020

The Significance of Investing in Structural Insulated Panels

 Structural insulated panels are highly durable materials used for buildings ensuring excellent level of thermal performance. The compact and flat panels are made by sandwiching different composite materials together.

Generally, structural insulated panels are lightweight that can be put together to build the walls, floor and roof of a modular building. They stand out as the robust and air tight product that provides you with superior level of insulation.

Here are a few reasons why structural insulated panels should be used over traditional types of building materials:

Thermal Performance – The composition of insulated panels are exceptionally air-tight that offers excellent level of insulation to your building. Rooms that are built using these panels will feel much warmer and take less amount of energy for heating purposes.

Compact and Lightweight –Structural insulated panels are compact and thin; so they take less space than ordinary walls. This means, you can get the most out of your available space, providing the additional room within your interior that would be usually taken up by thicker walls.

Eco-Friendly – These panels offer superior insulation which means they are excellent alternative to the environment. There’ll be no heat loss virtually through the air tight panels. Using structural insulated panels, you can make an energy efficient building that minimizes waste.

Cold and Damp Resistant – Usually, buildings that are made from timber or other traditional materials may be susceptible to issues like compression shrinkage as wood shrinks in humid conditions and cold bridging where poorly insulated area of the building allows cold inside and increases the chances of condensation. Buildings constructed from these insulated panels remain protected from these issues.

Perfectly Suited for Modular Construction – As compared to traditional building materials, structural insulated panels can be put together for modular construction. They are lightweight and can be installed when the building is almost done. These panels are ideal for sites where disruption from building work should be kept to minimum.

Our insulated panels have the highest level of structural strength and are thermal resistance. We use these insulated panels to manufacture cold rooms, freezer rooms, blast freezers as well as several other construction industry needs. We use the best quality materials for manufacturing the insulated panels, hence ensuring the highest level of insulation and strength.

Final Consideration –

Africhill is a premier manufacturer of perfectly-engineered insulated panels. Our panels are ideal to use in cold rooms, and refrigeration rooms. These structures are made of superior quality pre-fabricated panels and trimmings.

At Africhill, our panels are made out of EPS insulators and two ply polyurethane glued to 0.5mm aluminum or Zink sheets. These sheets guarantee you with structurally durable and thermally resistant structure.

The insulated panels deliver an exceptional tongue and groove joining procedure ensuring accurate sealing and stability. For more information about our insulated panels, feel free to contact us as soon as possible at https://africhill.co.za/contact-us/.  We’ll get back to you as soon as possible with a quotation on insulated panels.

Tuesday, July 21, 2020

When To Replace Or Repair A Condensing Unit

While settling on the choice to supplant condensing units as opposed to fixing it might be a troublesome one, a few experts have rules set up to assist property owners with settling on such a choice somewhat less troublesome.



Reason for failure of condensing unit

Numerous things can make an outside condensing unit quit working, the most widely recognized of which are failure of compressor and coil.

Compressor failure is, by a long shot, the most costly segment to fix. The compressor is the motor or heart of the framework. The genuine expense of the substitution compressor and the work to introduce will regularly surpass the expense of a fresh out of the plastic new condensing unit. This remains constant in most residential units.

The absence of preventive maintenance is regularly the fundamental reason for condenser unit failures as told by experts associated with repair and replacement of condensing units. Maintenance can be a cheap method to prolong unit life and help give vitality savings.



The failures we see are common because of the absence of support, and filthy condenser coils appear to be an enormous supporter of failures. Failures can run from as cataclysmic as a condenser to a failed run capacitor, and the capacitor is a typical fix. Compressor substitution is by a long shot the most costly, particularly if the unit is an R-22 framework.


Deciding the time of death 

While deciding if a unit is hanging on by a thread, most experts concurred that run time and working conditions are the most significant variables to consider.


Age, electrical issues, and consumption — particularly in a saltwater domain — all influence the life of the unit. If one of these parts is out of the guarantee period, it is coherent to think about supplanting the whole unit.


For more seasoned units encountering compressor failure, experts said it is regularly not justified, despite any potential benefits to fix the unit, particularly since there is typically an explanation it turned bad. In this way, in addition to the fact that you have an over the top expensive compressor, yet you likewise have another difficult you cannot analyze until you supplant the compressor.


The big decision 


When the expense of a fix is more than 40 percent of the all-out cost of another introduce or framework or the unit is over 10 years of age, at that point, it may be a great idea to investigate the alternative of substitution.



Changing innovation might be the central factor for hardware 10 years of age or more established, since the vitality savings, potential refunds, and the guarantee of another framework can be increasingly applicable. A few clients want to keep away from a crisis circumstance largely, and this is one method of doing as such.


The changing market 


During the Great Recession, numerous property holders put off the choice to supplant hardware and selected rather fix. That is beginning to change, nevertheless, as property owners are deciding to supplant even more regularly, yet in addition to move up to higher-productivity hardware with more alternatives.



To have the best of condensing units it is wise to rely on Africhill. They have the experience and knowledge to customize their units according to your specific requirements. Call at +27 (0) 11 979 1885 to talk with their experts to discuss your requirements.

Friday, July 3, 2020

Why You Should Consider Investing On A Cold Room

A cold room is a refrigeration unit which can be used inside any kitchen setting or even in external locations. As the name says, a cold room has a lower temperature compared to a standard room. However, this doesn’t entail that it’s similar to a room in which the windows have been left open during a cold night. Instead it’s a unit designed to control its internal temperature with top-notch insulation to avert unnecessary fluctuations in the cold room conditions.



Cold rooms are generally used by businesses (usually inside the food and hospitality industry) or large households to keep foods in large quantity, which wouldn’t be feasible when making use of a typical refrigerator. If you own a food business that need to make sure a large number of stuffs are chilled, then you must give cold rooms a consideration.

There’re innumerable benefits of having a cold room installed into your premises. Here is how a cold room can benefit you:

Large capacity: Because of the significant internal capacity of a cold room it’s more cost-effective to operate a solitary cold room compared to multiple smaller refrigerators. Having cold room mean that there’ll no longer be a need to buy, maintain and clean several units which you’d otherwise need. Moreover, you don’t have to make multiple shopping trips as you can purchase your food items in large volume and keep them fresh for longer.

Boosts stock distribution: For catering business it’s essential to keep track of food conditions & expiry dates and also retaining an orderly view and inventory to optimize usage. Because of their size & layout, cold rooms make it far simpler to rotate & organize food stores assuring efficiency and preventing any nuisance which may be felt when trying to organize the contents.

Flexibility in location: It’s feasible to install a cold room nearly anywhere as long as there’s adequate space to place it. For domestic installations there’s the option of availing a custom-built cold room which can be fully integrated with any kitchen design & layout. However, in case you need to install a cold room in an external area, it’ll need weather proofing to make sure longevity.



Here at Africhill we can manufacture & install cold rooms for a wide range of applications. Whether you’re looking for a pre-assembled cold room or wish a DIY cold room kit, we got your needs covered.

Sunday, June 21, 2020

Freezer Room: Embracing Reliable Storage Procedures

Businesses that thrive much better in a competitive environment need to be professional in their dealings. The fact is that a few disappointing moments from your company can chase your clients to the next competitor. Therefore, you need to put in all the best measures to remain in business and exceed expectations. Perhaps, you are a restauranteur, and you want to gain customers from all works of life. It would be best if you did not hesitate to run a reliable storage system. The fact is that you need to retain the freshness of your goods at all times. This way, you can sustain high demands for your food services daily. Fortunately, a freezer room can help you deal with challenges related to mass food storage. Therefore, here are some of the essential highlights of installing a freezer room for your business.


  1. Wastage control
Do you receive a lot of orders from your clients daily? Perhaps, your restaurant is along the streets in a busy city. You need to be at the forefront of storing a lot of raw food in large quantities. This way, you can meet the demands of your clients professionally. Unfortunately, you may resort to wasting your fresh meals if your storage capacity is unreliable. Moreover, you may end up losing more money, because you have failed to render bacteria activities inactive on your produce. However, getting freezer rooms can help you preserve your meal, thereby creating no avenues for wastage.
  1. Nutrient retaining feature
One of the exciting features of freezer rooms is that it can retain nutrients for your produce. The fact is that some food items lose nutritional potency by a slight exposure to light or temperature. Therefore, you need a device that can freeze such delicate foods quickly whenever you decide to use them.


Also, you can use freezer rooms to retain the taste of cooked food. Perhaps, you have very little time to spare for daily cooking. You can embrace freezer rooms to help you with your busy routines. All you have to do is heat your meals and store them in the freezer later.
  1. Efficiency
If you are planning to establish businesses in the food line, you should opt for an efficient storage plan. Therefore, you should be keen on embracing the best practices to facilitate the smooth running of your business. Perhaps, you are thinking of establishing a food business on a large scale. Your focus should consider installing freezer rooms to improve your services. The reason is that these freezer units can take any form of length or dimension. Therefore, you do not have to acquire a lot of refrigerating sets. After all, you can work with a customized freezer unit that can give you the best preservation offer.





Finally, you can become a food service that prioritizes its clients' nutritional tastes through a reliable preservation practice. Therefore, you should be ready to invest in freezer units to have control over produce wastage. Perhaps, you need to get this vital gadget for your business. You can always place a call today for more inquiries.

Sunday, June 7, 2020

Why Insulated Panels are Prevalent in Commercial Refrigeration Industry?

Do you own a business? If yes, then you probably understand that your commercial establishment needs some specific requirements. When it comes to certain industries like catering and hospitality that handles lots of perishable goods, you may realize that temperature control of your storage unit is significant.



For instance, if you deal with fruits, foods or even wine, you should maintain the right temperature for storage. While a cellar or fridge may suffice, it’s not suitable for large quantities of goods and that’s why you should reinforce your cold room with insulated panels.

These panels are versatile, durable, lightweight and energy efficient materials ensuring superb thermal insulation properties. One of the important reasons behind investing in panels is that they’re excellent in controlling storage temperature of your commercial refrigerated room.

The insulated panels used in the catering industry have the superior level of structural strength and thermal resistance. They are used specifically to manufacture cold rooms, freezer rooms, blast freezers and several other construction industry requirements. Besides, other insulated structures are made of top-quality pre-fabricated panels and trimmings.

Generally, these panels are manufactured by using the best quality materials ensuring the highest level of sturdiness and insulation. The panels are made out of EPS insulators and two ply polyurethane glued to 0.5mm aluminum or zinc sheets.



These sheets are structurally durable and thermal resistant. They give an exceptional tongue and groove joining method for ensuring accurate sealing and stability. In addition, there are no thermal bridges or air gaps in between the panels when commissioned and erected. They protect sealants further and act as a water-sealed structure.

Insulation –

One of the main reasons behind investing in insulated panels is their excellent insulation properties. These properties are paramount, especially when you want to have the complete control of your refrigeration room. Therefore, you can expect superb thermal performance in the long run.

Energy-efficient –

Every panel ensures that there’s no occurrence of thermal drift. It can save you from spending hundreds dollars in the long run. Additionally, the panels are so efficient that they will significantly minimize your operational costs.

Temperature Control –

Likewise the freezer working mechanism, an insulated panel offers temperature control benefits that not only allow additional efficiency, but also offer a unique and comfy feel inside the refrigerated rooms.

Design Flexibility –

Panels used in commercial refrigeration industry are synonymous with versatility. These panels are available in colors like crème, white and beige, shapes and sizes. They are key building materials for both large and small scale refrigeration. Walk-in freezers and refrigerators are aligned with insulated panels to maintain the desired temperature.

Safety –
When it comes to safety, the insulated panels are not only hygienic but allow for superior level of safety. For example, most of the panels come with a high fire rating and possess higher performance to keep your goods in top condition.

Bottom Line –



Do you really think insulated panels could improve your commercial refrigeration requirements? At Africhill, we specialize in providing industry-standard insulated panels specifically manufactured and engineered for cold storage.

Our panels are ideal for walk-in freezers and blast freezers, as well as temperature-controlled rooms in industrial, commercial or retail spaces. For information about our products, feel free to contact us right now at info@africhill.co.za.

Monday, May 25, 2020

Why Routine Maintenance Is Essential For Your Commercial Refrigeration Unit

A commercial refrigerator is indispensable to your establishment, cooling all your beverages & ingredients to perfection. That is why it is critical to conduct routine maintenance on your unit between routine service visits. So what you should be doing on a regular basis. Being a leading supplier of commercial freezer rooms, we think we can better guide you on this.



Prevent the dreaded emergency breakdown:

Just the assumption of your walk-in freezer breakdown is perhaps enough to elevate your blood pressure. When your refrigeration system is checked regularly by an expert, issues can be identified & sorted out prior to the equipment malfunction and you lose an entire consignment of meat or ice-cream. Investing in the significantly small cost of regular upkeep entails you won’t have to pay larger refrigeration repair bills afterward.

Schedule a qualified refrigeration service company at least 2 times a year to perform the below-listed tasks:
  • Check lines for condensation
  • Clean evaporator & condenser coils
  • Clean fan blades & inspect the fan motor
  • Check integrity of insulation
  • Check for air leaks via cracks, holes, and worn parts like gaskets & seals
  • Lubricate door hinges & handles
  • Check for loose electrical connections
  • Clear drain lines of debris
  • Check temperature and defrost settings and calibrate thermometers
Check the gasket regularly:

The door gaskets are vital to any commercial refrigeration system. Any sort of spilt or damage can prevent the door from sealing shit, making chilled air to exit the freezer’s interiors. If a gasket is broken, ensure to replace it with the correct manufacture recommendation.

If there’re no cracks or splits, you should still clean the gaskets routinely to steer clear of any damage. This must be done frequently if the refrigeration unit is in a commercial kitchen where grease is used regularly. Excess grease & dirt can make your gaskets to wear out over time.

Clean drain pans & tubes regularly:

A large commercial freezer can attract a huge volume of sludge & slime, which can make your refrigeration unit to freeze up. Ensure to examine your drain pan & tubing that could experience recurrent buildups.



Africhill is your one-stop solution if you are looking for installation of top-quality freezer rooms. Regardless of your business type and size, we can manufacture a freezer room suitable for your food business.

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