How to choose a lab refrigerator or freezer? When you are looking for a lab freezer or lab refrigerator, the crucial thing you have to consider is the consistent performance that the units can provide to meet your special storage needs. Whether it is the viability of your research, the health of your patients or the life span of the medications that you are storing, the utmost importance is the uses of the product.

The medical refrigerator and freezer manufacturers learn that the stakes of storage laboratory and medical materials are high. So they are striving to produce refrigerators and freezers to meet the more stringent requirements of research laboratory and medical practice. So it comes to the reason that the cost of the medical freezers is higher than typical residential freezers in the market. If you consider on how to choose a lab refrigerator or freezer, the extra expense is well worth it.

You might be scratching your head when finding the best laboratory freezer or laboratory refrigerator. In this guide, we will share some tips to help you to choose the lab refrigerator or freezer to fit your needs.

What’s The Difference Between Lab Refrigerators & Freezers and Household Units?

You must know that the laboratory freezers and laboratory refrigerators are specially designed and built to meet stricter standards than household or commercial units you can find in the market. For example, you have to store the blood, pharmaceuticals and plasma within tight temperature range to avoid losing the spoilage or potency.

As the matter of fact, the organizations such as agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) strictly govern the storage of the blood, pharmaceuticals, plasma and other temperature-sensitive products. For example, if the vaccines are stored in improper condition, it might be result in loss of potency, which represents a tremendous cost in both lost product and the expense of re-vaccination.

So the vaccines, plasma, pharmaceuticals, blood and other temperature-sensitive products must be stored in particularly designed laboratory refrigerators and laboratory freezers, which can ensure the temperature control and constant temperature to keep the materials fresh.

Specification Guidelines for Lab Refrigerators and Freezers

Below are tips for you to consider when choosing a lab refrigerator or lab freezer.

Temperature Control and Display

High–precision temperature control and display is a good starter to choose a lab freezer or refrigerator.  Meling laboratory refrigerator and laboratory freezer comes with microcomputer temperature control system.  It can ensure the constant temperature in the cabinet. And it comes with high-brightness digital temperature display ensuring the display precision in 0.1℃.

Temperature Alarms and Temperature Recording

The CDC recommends checking and recording the temperature of the lab freezer and refrigerator twice a day. However, this is redundant if a person is arranged in viewing and recording the temperature. While Meling temperature alarm system and data logger feature enables you to control the temperature automatically. It has built-in USB data logger to record the temperature status and has secure audible and visual alarm system, ensuring secure storage of lab materials.

Manual and Auto Defrost Lab Freezers and Lab Refrigerators

After using the freezer or refrigerator for a long time, or due to improper operation of the units, the freezer or refrigerator will get heavy frost. So the auto defrost or manual defrost feature of the lab freezer or lab refrigerator should be taken into consideration. Most of the Meling laboratory freezers and laboratory refrigerators comes with auto defrost features, which can perfectly keep the temperature inside the cabinet and protect your products safely.

Where to Place the Refrigerator and Freezer in Your Laboratory?

When locating the laboratory freezer or refrigerator, please keep in mind that makes a certain distance in about 30mm between the unit and the wall.

When using undercounter freezer or refrigerator, there is no need to keep space at the sides and back for they are vented from the front.  

Other options to consider include:

Door locks and other security systems

Casters or levelers vs. legs

Insulated glass vs. solid doors

Reversed door hinges

Additional shelving

Drawers and baskets

Stainless steel vs. painted exteriors and/or interiors

Sensor ports to access internal scientific equipment