Vaccine refrigerators, as well as laboratory refrigerators and freezers, are often considered capital purchases, but we at Thermoline tend to think more in terms of the cost of the materials being stored. A vaccine fridge can easily hold tens of thousands of dollars worth of vaccines. Laboratory refrigerators and freezers can hold hundreds, if not thousands, of hours of research work. Choosing the best solution to your refrigeration needs is critical to prevent the loss of any of these products or research due to refrigerated cabinets that are less than reliable or less suitable to the conditions.
Thermoline supplies a host of refrigerated products, although we will concentrate on the pharmacy/ vaccine fridges, laboratory fridges and laboratory freezers in this blog. When choosing any brand of fridge and freezer, there are several factors to consider. Thermoline has taken the approach that performance, reliability and customer support are the top things to consider to ensure that our customer’s vaccines and research are safeguarded during their low-temperature storage.
Evaporators
Thermoline does not use wet wall evaporators in any of its refrigerated cabinets. The wet wall setup typically has a much smaller surface area than aluminium-finned evaporators. The evaporator is housed in the refrigerated chamber using a wet wall setup. This can cause issues if any product comes in contact with it, and a colder surface causes temperature uniformity issues. It is also very difficult to have completely uniform airflow over a wet wall evaporator, which can lead to ice build on the surface of the wet wall.
As temperature uniformity is very important and the ability of the refrigerator to recover after loading, Thermoline uses cabinets with aluminium finned evaporators. The aluminium-finned evaporators are not housed inside the refrigerated chamber, and ensuring uniform airflow over the fins is far easier. This allows for easier temperature uniformity through the refrigerated cabinet's working space. It should be noted that in terms of freezers, we are referring to the auto-defrost TUF models. The TF model freezers are for a specific purpose, and the refrigeration cooling is through the fixed shelves.
Condenser and Fan
Small condenser and condenser fans limit the ability to run in higher ambient conditions. Thermoline sizes the condenser fan to suit the condenser used. There is a balance to be made between correctly sizing the fan and the available space as well as not oversizing (oversizing the fan is a waste as the performance is then restricted by the condenser). In most cases, we are comfortable with our cabinets holding temperature and uniformity up to 32°C (they will work at higher, but performance and uniformity will start to drop off).
Insulation
Thermoline fridges and freezers use injected high-density polyurethane foam known as Ecofoam during manufacture. This provides better insulation and allows for a smaller compressor (better energy efficiency).
Glass doors
While using a solid door for refrigerators gives the best insulation, it is not always practical for glass-door refrigerators. Thermoline uses triple-glazed argon-filled glass doors. Heat break strips are also used in the doors to thermally isolate warm from cold areas to reduce door sweating on door jams. It should be noted that Thermoline does not use heated glass doors on its refrigerators, which helps with temperature uniformity but can allow condensation in adverse conditions. Glass doors are not used on Thermoline freezers.
Parts availability
With most of the Thermoline range of fridges and freezers being manufactured in Australia and those that aren’t using components readily available, customers can be comfortable that in the unlikely event that they need replacement parts, these will be easy to obtain often.
Service availability
Thermoline utilises the service coverage of Williams Refrigeration and its list of preferred contractors throughout Australia. This offers coverage in many areas, including many more remote locations. Our in-house service and engineering team can provide support where needed.
TGA
Thermoline laboratory and vaccine/ pharmacy refrigerators are listed on the ARTG. The vaccine/ pharmacy refrigerators are also listed with the QCCP as suitable for use. Thermoline ensures its vaccine/ pharmacy refrigerators comply with the requirements for Strive for Five. This means the temperature controls, alarms, and alarm outputs are all suitable for use.
We believe there are many reasons to choose Thermoline for your next laboratory refrigerator, freezer, or vaccine/pharmacy refrigerator purchase. Please contact Thermoline directly; we will be more than happy to help with any questions you may have.
