In the restaurant industry, storing large stocks of food and ingredients is a must to keep the business running. The daily consumption in such places is easier accounted for when the food stocks are kept at a certain level. Domestic refrigerators are inadequate to cater to this need. For this purpose, walk-in refrigerators are used.

Walk-in refrigerators, in simple terms, are large rooms that are temperature controlled. These can range in size, starting from 100 sq. feet and going up to 350 sq. feet or more, depending on the needs of the user.

Many of these state of the art machines integrate an LCD screen, suggesting what type of food should be stored at what temperatures and the expiry dates of the food stored. As these refrigeration units use filters to purify the air circulating within the room, they come with a filter status indicator. Walk-in refrigerators contain several cooling zones. Air from the freezer section is diverted to the refrigerator door, helping to keep milk or juice in the door shelf colder. A power failure warning is built in to alert the user, usually by flashing the temperature display. The maximum temperature reached during the power failure may be displayed, along with information on whether the frozen food has defrosted or may contain harmful bacteria. These features are mandatory in a walk-in refridgerator as huge quantities of food stocks are stored.

Walk-in refrigerators are easy to maintain since they are frost-free. Over time, atmospheric water vapor condenses onto the cooling coils and forms ice. In a refrigerator equipped for frost-free operation, a heater and a thermostat are fitted around the cooling coils. The cooling is periodically switched off and the heater is turned on until the temperature around the coils slightly exceeds the freezing point of water. Once the ice around the cooling coil melts, normal cooling is resumed.

Walk-in freezers are highly valued when storing large quantities of frozen foods. In other settings, laboratories use freezers to keep samples from contamination or degradation. Refrigerators have not only made life simple at home, but also brought about several conveniences at the commercial level, as well.