If you are equipping your medical facility or laboratory with a new medical fridge, it can be difficult to know what style to choose and which features should be included.
Here is our guide to choosing the right medical fridge and the factors you should consider.
Use of the fridge
The top priority in choosing your fridge is what its use will be. If primarily storing vaccines, there are refrigeration options specifically for doing so. Pharmaceutical contents must be stored at precise temperatures, so make sure you choose a fridge that suits your medical category rather than settling for a generic unit.
Regardless of the contents, your refrigerator must be tough and able to withstand everyday use for many years.
Type of fridge
All medical refrigeration units, which are available from suppliers such as https://www.fridgefreezerdirect.co.uk/medical-refrigeration, are designed to satisfy rigorous standards; conversely, domestic fridges can put your medical supplies at risk, as they are susceptible to temperature inconsistencies.
A domestic fridge can easily freeze medical samples or vaccines, which can be a serious and costly mistake.
Due to temperature instabilities, it is recommended that you do not purchase a refrigerator-freezer for laboratory storage.
Size of fridge
Size is, of course, an important consideration. You want a fridge that complements your needs without choosing one that is too large.
Conversely, a fridge that is too small can create overpacking. This pushes the contents to the back of the fridge, which could compromise the potency of samples or vaccines.
Placement
Placement directly influences which unit you can purchase; for example, is the fridge going to be built-in or free-standing?
Compact units that fit under or on countertops are best for facilities with small spaces. If you want a large fridge but do not want to sacrifice too much floor area, an upright fridge would work well.
Features
Modern medical-grade fridges offer many features, one of which is the defrost system. Do you need a manual defrost or an automatic function? This will depend on the contents you store.
Ensure that your fridge has a combination lock or keypad, as security is essential in most facilities. Self-closing door mechanisms ensure that the temperature is not disrupted in case a member of staff forgets to close the door. Finally, hospital-grade cords are far more durable than standard wiring.
