Quick Answer
Professional storage fridges and freezers sold in Great Britain carry an energy label showing an efficiency class and annual energy use in kWh. Storage cabinets use an A+++ to G scale; display fridges and bottle coolers use the newer A to G scale. To estimate running cost, multiply the kWh per year by your electricity price: a 350 litre Tefcold UR400W1 rated at 237kWh a year costs about £59 a year at 25p per kWh.
Caterzone sells commercial refrigeration with full energy data on the product page, and the energy label is the quickest way to compare what two fridges will really cost you over their life. A cheaper cabinet that uses twice the electricity can cost more within a few years, and on a fridge running 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, small differences add up.
This guide explains how commercial refrigeration energy labels work in the UK, how to read the class, the kWh figures, and the climate class, how to calculate running costs, and how to cut them. Browse the commercial refrigeration collection as you read.
Which commercial fridges need an energy label in the UK?
Two main groups of commercial refrigeration carry energy labels in Great Britain. The rules were inherited from EU law and kept in GB legislation after Brexit, so the labels look much the same as those used in the EU. Northern Ireland follows EU rules directly.
- Professional refrigerated storage cabinets: upright and undercounter fridges and freezers used in kitchens to store food, such as solid-door uprights and gastronorm cabinets. These have carried an energy label since 2016.
- Refrigerating appliances with a direct sales function: display fridges, back bar coolers, bottle coolers, ice cream freezers, and supermarket display cabinets, where the customer sees or takes the product. These have carried the newer A to G label since 2021.
Some equipment sits outside these schemes or has its own rules, including blast chillers, walk-in cold rooms, saladettes and serve-over counters in some configurations, and certain specialist cabinets. If a product page has no label, it may simply be out of scope rather than inefficient, so ask for the declared energy consumption instead.
Alongside labelling, ecodesign rules set minimum efficiency levels, which means the least efficient designs can no longer be placed on the market. The exact thresholds change over time, so compare declared figures rather than assuming every labelled product is efficient.
How do you read a commercial fridge energy label?
A label shows the efficiency class, the annual energy consumption in kWh, the net volume in litres, and, for storage cabinets, the climate class the cabinet was tested in. Display cabinet labels also show the total display area and, where relevant, the lighting class.
The class letter reflects the Energy Efficiency Index (EEI), a percentage that compares the cabinet's measured consumption with a standard cabinet of the same type and size. The lower the EEI, the better the class. On Tefcold's product pages you can see both: the Tefcold UR200W1 undercounter fridge has an EEI of 11% and is class A+, while the 429 litre RK500 has an EEI of 36.4% and is class C.
Two different scales. Storage cabinet labels still use the older scale running from A+++ down to G. Display and beverage coolers use the rescaled A to G scale, where class A is very hard to achieve. That means an "A" on a back bar cooler and an "A" on a kitchen storage fridge are not directly comparable. Compare like with like, and always look at the kWh figure as well as the letter.
kWh per year and kWh per 24 hours. Labels show annual consumption in kWh per year; spec sheets often also quote kWh per 24 hours. They are the same measurement: multiply the daily figure by 365. The Tefcold UR400W1, for example, uses 0.65kWh per 24 hours, which is the 237kWh per year on its label.
Most current labels also carry a QR code linking to the product's entry in a product database, and Tefcold product pages list an EPREL registration number, which is the reference in the EU product registration database.
What is climate class, and why does it matter for running costs?
Climate class tells you the room conditions the cabinet was tested and rated for. The common classes for commercial refrigeration are:
| Climate class | Room temperature | Relative humidity |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | 25°C | 60% |
| 4 | 30°C | 55% |
| 5 | 40°C | 40% |
| 7 | 35°C | 75% |
Labels on professional storage cabinets are based on testing in climate class 4 or class 5 conditions, so the declared kWh assumes a warm room. A fridge in a hot kitchen beyond its rated class will run longer, use more electricity than the label suggests, and may not hold temperature. A cabinet rated for a higher class is usually the better choice next to ovens, fryers, or in a bar cellar with little ventilation.
Check the stated maximum ambient on the spec sheet too. The Tefcold UR400W1 and UR600X1 are climate class 4, rated to +30°C at 55% humidity; the Tefcold ISC302SD bottle cooler is climate class 7, rated to +35°C at 75% humidity.
How do you work out what a commercial fridge costs to run?
Take the annual consumption from the label and multiply it by your electricity price per kWh. The examples below use 25p per kWh, a round figure for illustration. Business tariffs vary widely, so check your own bill and swap in your unit rate, including any climate change levy and VAT you pay.
Annual running cost = kWh per year x price per kWh. For a daily figure, divide by 365, or multiply the kWh per 24 hours figure by your unit price.
| Cabinet | Volume | Class | Declared use | Approx. cost per year at 25p/kWh |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tefcold UR200W1 undercounter fridge | 119L | A+ | 215kWh/year (0.59kWh/24h) | £54 |
| Tefcold UR400W1 upright fridge | 350L | A | 237kWh/year (0.65kWh/24h) | £59 |
| Tefcold UR600X1 GN 2/1 upright fridge | 570L | A | 288kWh/year (0.79kWh/24h) | £72 |
| Tefcold RK500 GN upright fridge | 429L | C | 409kWh/year (1.12kWh/24h) | £102 |
| G-Line GUC70 GN 2/1 upright fridge | 395L | C | 445kWh/year (1.22kWh/24h) | £111 |
| Tefcold UF400 upright freezer | 340L | Not stated | 840kWh/year (2.3kWh/24h) | £210 |
| Tefcold BA21H back bar cooler, 2 glass doors | 188L | A (display scale) | 394kWh/year (1.08kWh/24h) | £99 |
| Tefcold DB202H back bar cooler, 2 glass doors | 185L | D (display scale) | 467kWh/year (1.28kWh/24h) | £117 |
| Tefcold ISC302SD sliding top bottle cooler | 232L | B (display scale) | 205kWh/year (0.56kWh/24h) | £51 |
Declared figures are taken from the specifications on each Caterzone product page and are measured under standard test conditions. Real-world use will be higher in a hot room, with frequent door openings, or with warm stock loaded in.
Worked example: two back bar coolers
The Tefcold BA21H and DB202H are both two-door glass back bar coolers of almost the same volume. The BA21H costs £1,070.40 and is rated at 394kWh a year; the DB202H costs £972 and is rated at 467.2kWh a year. The difference is about 73kWh a year, roughly £18 a year at 25p per kWh. Over eight years that is around £146, which closes most of the £98.40 price gap. The BA21H also has a larger display area (0.52m² against 0.256m²). Neither choice is wrong, but the label lets you see the trade-off clearly.
Worked example: GN upright fridges
The Tefcold UR600X1 (570 litres, GN 2/1 shelves, £1,430.40) is rated at 288kWh a year. The G-Line GUC70 (395 litres, GN 2/1, £1,689.60) is rated at 445kWh a year. The UR600X1 offers more volume and uses about 157kWh a year less, saving around £39 a year at 25p per kWh. The GUC70 brings a stainless steel interior, castors, and R290 refrigerant, so the decision is about build and features as well as energy, but the label shows what each feature costs to run.
Why do display fridges use more energy than storage fridges?
Glass doors, open fronts, and interior lighting all let heat in. A solid-door storage fridge with a thick insulated door loses very little cold when closed; a glass-door display cooler loses more through the glass, and an open-fronted multideck loses cold air constantly. That is why display cabinets are labelled on their own scale, and why their kWh figures are typically higher per litre.
If you need display, choose doors over open fronts where your trade allows, specify LED lighting, and use night blinds on open multidecks. If you only need storage, a solid-door cabinet will almost always be cheaper to run.
How can you cut commercial refrigeration running costs?
- Site it well. Keep fridges away from ovens, fryers, dishwashers, and direct sun, and leave the ventilation gap the manual asks for. Match the climate class to the room.
- Clean the condenser. Dust on the condenser coil makes the compressor work harder. Clean it every few months, more often in greasy kitchens.
- Check door seals. A torn or flattened gasket lets warm air in constantly. Close the door on a sheet of paper; if it slides out easily, the seal needs attention.
- Do not overfill or block airflow. Fan-assisted cabinets need space around the evaporator fan to circulate cold air.
- Never load hot food. Cool it first, ideally in a blast chiller, then refrigerate.
- Set the right temperature. Keep chilled food at 5°C or below as good practice (the legal maximum in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland is 8°C). Running colder than you need wastes energy.
- Defrost and service. Defrost manual-defrost freezers before ice builds up, and book an annual service. Any work on the refrigerant circuit must be done by an F-gas certified engineer.
- Replace the worst offenders first. An old fridge with failing seals and an inefficient compressor can use several times the energy of a modern A-class cabinet.
Does refrigerant affect energy efficiency?
Natural hydrocarbon refrigerants such as R600a (isobutane) and R290 (propane) are now standard in new plug-in commercial refrigeration. They have a very low global warming potential and good thermodynamic efficiency, which helps cabinets achieve better energy classes. Under GB F-gas rules, new hermetically sealed commercial fridges and freezers can no longer use HFC refrigerants with a global warming potential of 150 or more. Most of the Tefcold cabinets above use R600a, and the G-Line GUC70 uses R290.
Frequently asked questions
What energy rating should a commercial fridge have?
Choose the best class your budget allows, and compare the kWh per year figure rather than the letter alone. For kitchen storage fridges, class A or better is a strong result on the A+++ to G scale. For display coolers on the newer A to G scale, a B, C, or D can still be a reasonable product.
How much electricity does a commercial fridge use?
A modern single-door upright storage fridge typically uses around 0.6 to 1.3kWh per 24 hours, or roughly 220 to 450kWh a year. The Tefcold UR400W1 uses 237kWh a year. Upright freezers use considerably more; the Tefcold UF400 is rated at 840kWh a year.
How do I calculate the running cost of a commercial fridge?
Multiply the annual energy consumption on the label (kWh per year) by your electricity price per kWh. At 25p per kWh, a fridge rated at 288kWh a year costs about £72 a year. Use your own business tariff for an accurate figure.
Why is an A-rated back bar cooler not comparable to an A-rated storage fridge?
They are rated on different scales. Storage cabinets use the older A+++ to G scale, while display and beverage coolers use the rescaled A to G scale introduced in 2021. Compare products within the same category, and use the kWh per year figure to compare costs.
Does climate class change how much a fridge costs to run?
Yes, indirectly. The label figure is measured in a set room temperature for the cabinet's climate class. If the fridge runs in a hotter room than its rating, it works harder and uses more electricity than the label states, and it may struggle to hold temperature.
Where to buy energy-efficient commercial refrigeration in the UK
Caterzone stocks commercial fridges, freezers, and display coolers from Tefcold, G-Line, Serrco, Combisteel, and more, with energy class and consumption listed on product pages. Browse the commercial refrigeration collection, the freezer collection, and the bottle cooler collection.
For efficient storage, the Tefcold UR200W1 A+ undercounter fridge is £696, the Tefcold UR400W1 A-class 350 litre upright is £1,118.40, and the Tefcold UR600X1 A-class 570 litre GN 2/1 upright is £1,430.40. For the bar, the Tefcold BA21H A-class back bar cooler is £1,070.40, and the Tefcold ISC302SD B-class sliding top bottle cooler is £1,012.80.
For more on choosing refrigeration, read our commercial refrigeration buyer's guide and our guide to cutting catering costs with energy-efficient equipment. To compare running costs on specific models, call Caterzone on +44 7787 069044 or email info@thecaterzone.co.uk.
