Refurbished Commercial Bar Fridges

Not much, and the two names get used for the same cabinet. Both are low-height refrigerators built to sit under a counter at bar height, with the controls and the vent arranged so they can be boxed into a run of joinery. Suppliers in Australia use whichever name their market knows.

Where it does matter is what the cabinet is built to chill. A bar fridge holds bottles, cans and kegs of mixers at drinking temperature. A glass chiller is a different machine built to chill empty glassware, and a wine fridge runs warmer than either. They are three different machines, so it is worth checking which one the job needs.

Measure the opening before you order, not after. You need the height of the cabinet including its feet or castors, the width across the door when it is swung open, and the depth including the door handle and any rear vent clearance the maker calls for. Every one of those figures is on the product page for the unit you are looking at.

Then measure the path in. Bar counters are usually the last thing built, so the gap the fridge has to pass through can be narrower than the space it lands in. Doors come off most cabinets, but not all, and that is worth checking with us before delivery day rather than on it.

Glass sells what is in it and saves the staff opening the door to check, so it works hardest in a venue where customers can see the cabinet. Solid is the cheaper cabinet to buy and takes a knock without a panel to crack, which suits a back-of-bar fridge nobody looks at.

On running cost we would not claim either way without testing the two side by side. Glass doors are double glazed, and although glass may hold the cold slightly less well than a solid panel, staff can see the stock through it without opening the door, where a solid door gets opened and closed all night and loses some cold air each time. So the overall power use and cost of ownership may still come out lower with glass. If the drinks need to be visible to customers rather than staff, look at commercial drink fridges or the upright glass door fridges instead of forcing a bar-height cabinet to do a display job.

Condensation forms on glass when humid air meets a cold surface, and the air behind a bar is humid — ice wells, glasswashers, people. It is a property of the room as much as the fridge, so a cabinet that was dry in a showroom can mist up in your venue.

Some glass door cabinets are built with heated glass or a heated frame to deal with it, and the product page states whether a unit has that. Beyond the machine itself, better extraction over the bar, keeping the doors shut during service and not standing the cabinet directly beside a dishwasher or a glasswasher all reduce it.

Many under-counter cabinets are single phase and plug into a standard outlet, but it is not safe to assume. The power requirement is listed on each product page, and some cabinets need a 15 amp outlet, which takes a wider earth pin and will not accept a standard plug until an electrician fits one.

Give the cabinet its own circuit if the board allows it. A compressor draws a surge each time it starts, and a bar circuit shared with a blender, a coffee grinder and a point-of-sale terminal is the sort of thing that trips overnight and leaves warm stock in the morning.

Ask where the marks are. Scratches and dents are expected on refurbished stock and they are priced in, but if the cabinet is going somewhere customers can see it, you want to know whether the damage is on the front, the side or the back before it arrives.

Then ask about the parts you will replace. Gaskets, hinges, castors and shelves are the usual ones, and availability depends on the brand and how old the model is. Ask us about the exact model you are looking at. If the unit is one of a kind and you need a matching pair, tell us early, because refurbished commercial bar fridges rarely arrive two at a time.