How Do Hot Climates Affect Your Business’s Commercial Refrigeration Needs?

Nevada's hot and dry climate can have many benefits, but it can also pose challenges for businesses that rely on commercial refrigeration and freezer units. Food and beverages kept at appropriate storage temperatures are necessary to keep them fresh, tasty, and safe.

However, hot days, little precipitation, and long periods of sunlight can stress even the best refrigeration and air conditioning equipment.

These factors affect your business's refrigeration systems and are crucial for every stage of the equipment's life cycle, from installation to maintenance and repairs. This guide will cover a few things you should know about operating refrigeration equipment in a desert to ensure yours operate as efficiently and reliably as possible.

Choose the Right Equipment



A room such as a freezer or walk-in refrigerator cold is surprisingly challenging to keep cool. HVAC specialists must account for heat loading from numerous sources, including the exterior environment, stored products, infiltration through the door, and internal heat sources.

A well-insulated room will have a relatively small thermal loading from exterior sources, but some heat will always make it in.

The larger the differential between the desired internal and average external temperature, the more thermal loading the system will experience. In other words, thermal loading due to the environment will be more severe in hot climates. External thermal loading can be a major factor for climates such as Las Vegas, where temperatures remain relatively high year-round.

Ambient temperatures can also be a concern for system efficiency. The condenser unit must disperse heat into the outside environment, and warmer environments can impact condenser efficiency. When combined with the effects of thermal loading, these factors make it crucial to work with a skilled contractor to select an appropriately-sized system for your business's needs.

Keep Your Equipment Maintained

Proper equipment installations are only the first step to keeping your inventory cool and fresh, even when temperatures outside are soaring. You must also keep your equipment well-maintained. Poorly maintained refrigeration equipment will struggle to maintain your cold room's thermostat set point while also stressing critical components such as the compressor.

Routine maintenance tasks include cleaning the evaporator and condenser coils, checking for refrigerant leaks, examining room gaskets, inspecting condensate drains, and more. A maintenance call for a commercial refrigeration system is often far more complex than a maintenance call for a residential air conditioning system. Be sure to leave this job to a professional.

Remember that every part of your system must work harder when the ambient thermal loading is higher. In other words, poor maintenance practices will lead to major system failures more quickly than in colder climates. Since a faulty refrigeration system can result in substantial inventory losses, proper maintenance is a small price to pay to avoid costly failures.

Repair Problems Quickly

Heat will quickly build in any cold room without a functional refrigeration system. You can control some sources of heat loading during a failure, such as by limiting entry to the cold room or no longer adding new inventory until you repair the problem.

However, external thermal loading is one variable you can't control. Your cold room will slowly gain heat through the walls, ceiling, and floor as the temperatures outside rise.

Businesses in hot climate need to address repair problems as soon as possible due to the threat of external thermal loading. Even a seemingly minor problem may result in temperatures increasing surprisingly quickly. The sooner you contact a professional to help you resolve the issue, the more likely you'll be to save your perishable inventory.

Gordon Mechanical NV has experience working with all aspects of commercial refrigeration systems in the hot Nevada climate. We can help you through every stage of your equipment's life cycle, from installation to maintenance and repairs. Don't hesitate to get in touch with us for any of your commercial refrigeration needs!