Choosing a Medical Refrigerator or Freezer

Medical facilities need cold storage for all sorts of things, from incredibly sensitive vaccines and insulin injections to space for the staff's lunch. These various needs require various cold storage machinery, but finding the right piece can be tricky, especially given that medical refrigerators and freezers come with a plethora of helpful features that not all medical establishments need. While medical refrigerators are, at the base level, very similar to a regular commercial refrigerator, medical cold storage pieces do everything with more precision and accountability. The exacting precision necessary to ensure medical supplies are kept safe sets medical pieces apart from a restaurant or residential refrigerator, and their long list of features helps medical operators keep records, customize storage, and prove that their materials are safe.

In this medical refrigerator buying guide, we'll cover the features that make medical refrigerators different from other commercial refrigerators as well as the functions that differentiate general-purpose medical refrigerators from lab and pharmacy options. Whether you need a basic cold storage unit or a highly specialized blood bank refrigerator, KaTom's scientific refrigerator buying guide will help you pick the right piece to keep your products safe.

General-purpose, Lab, and Vaccine/pharmacy Refrigerators

KaTom divides up our medical refrigerators into three major categories: general purpose, lab, and vaccine or pharmacy refrigerators. These different categories have different levels of controls, quality of materials, and features installed to make each uniquely useful. General-purpose units are the closest to a traditional commercial refrigerator but still have a handful of helpful features that make them especially useful to healthcare operations. Our lab refrigerators are typically used for blood bag storage at blood banks or similar institutions. Vaccine and pharmacy refrigerators cover all manner of more precise and multifunctional refrigerators. We'll discuss the unique features of each style to help you in choosing a medical refrigerator.

General-purpose Refrigerators

General-purpose refrigerators are the category of medical refrigerators closest to the normal commercial or residential fridges you're familiar with. These are insulated containers that hold food and supplies at a cold temperature, usually around 40 degrees Fahrenheit. General-purpose medical refrigerators often have additional features, including locks and monitoring ports or hardware. Locks are beneficial for any establishment that might hold valuable medical supplies in a general-purpose fridge for even a short period of time, while monitoring equipment can ensure that any medical supplies are maintained at an appropriate temperature. Some have alarms that'll sound if the temperature varies outside of a specified range so workers can remedy the problem before any supplies are ruined. General-purpose fridges are also frequently used for the same cold storage needs any business will run into: employee meals and drinks. These units are classified as medical refrigerators because they offer features that go beyond the average commercial or residential fridge but aren't the ideal piece for dedicated, long-term storage of sensitive medical supplies.

Lab Refrigerators

Lab refrigerators are made for specific medical purposes. The most common style of lab refrigerator is blood bag units, typically used by blood banks or other establishments that need to hold and organize blood bags. In place of the usual shelving, these medical refrigerators have stainless steel drawers, which enable the operator to organize, label, and store blood bags without exposing them to light. Lab refrigerators typically come with precise temperature control and temperature monitoring equipment or at least the hardware to install temperature monitoring equipment. These units are best for those who need drawers in place of shelving, but they aren't the best choice for general medical holding.

Pharmacy & Vaccine Refrigerators

Pharmacy or vaccine refrigerators hold delicate medical supplies, such as insulin, vaccines, and other sensitive medicines. To do this, vaccine refrigerators must maintain their temperature more accurately than a standard commercial refrigerator. Most of these options are lockable, which is important because medical supplies can be quite expensive. Other important features include the following:

• Temperature monitoring: Many vaccine or pharmacy refrigerators have an alert system in place to notify you if temperatures fall out of a safe range. For example, if the door isn't completely shut, this will warn you before the stored items are ruined.
• Expansion valve cooling: Expansion valve systems enable your fridge or freezer to expel heat at different rates. This means your machine can keep up with temperature fluctuations and maintain the appropriate temperature better than a machine without.
• Self-defrosting units: Some jurisdictions require your medical refrigerators and freezers to have a self-defrosting function, which ensures the machines are maintained and the condenser coils don't freeze up.
• Recordkeeping: Some models have automatic recordkeeping functionality. This prevents the operator from needing to keep records by hand, which saves time and ensures accurate records.
• Access ports: These provide power and/or data transfer access inside the cold container, meaning you can utilize different types of monitoring equipment without breaking the door seal.
• Tight temperature control: Most pharmacy and vaccine refrigerators have better thermostats than their commercial or residential counterparts, so when you set them to a temperature, they won't vary more than a single degree in either direction.

Not every refrigerator in this category will have every feature, so you'll need to consult the product specification page before making a purchase to ensure you're getting the level of precision that you need. For more information on storing refrigerated and frozen vaccines, consult our vaccine storage requirements guide.

Types of Medical Refrigerator

Our collection of medical refrigerators comes in many different types, which can be refined on the shopping page. These types refer to the size, mobility, and location intended for each refrigerator or freezer rather than a specific purpose. We'll go over the different styles to ensure you get a machine that fits in the space you have available and is most beneficial to your establishment.

Undercounter

Undercounter medical refrigerators and freezers are a good middle ground between convenience and storage space. These fit under an average countertop, meaning you won't necessarily need to allocate any of your existing floorspace to add cold storage. The drawback is that these don't offer the same volume of storage space that the full-size reach-in units do. Undercounter units need some space to vent, as well; double check the product specifications page to see exactly how much breathing room your machine will need and on which side to ensure your planned space can incorporate the new piece.

Other Features to Consider

Our medical refrigerators have a few other defining features that may make one more suitable for your location than another. We'll give a brief description of each here to help you in choosing a scientific refrigerator.

• ADA compliant: These units meet the requirements set forth by the Americans with Disabilities Act.
• Dual temp: These units have both a refrigerator and freezer, which is helpful if you need low volumes of both types of cold storage.
• Microwave: Some special medical refrigerators intended for breast milk come with a microwave to help operators reheat the milk before it's used.
• Glass doors: Glass doors enable operators to search for and locate the item they need before opening the door, which can save on utilities as less heat infiltrates the cold storage container. Glass doors aren't quite as well insulated as stainless steel doors, but this can be offset if the door is open for shorter periods of time.