Commercial refrigeration for Island businesses
Coolers, freezers, display cases and ice machines, looked after from a shop in Qualicum Beach. The refrigeration line is answered around the clock.
Who we keep cold
Most of what we do is commercial, on equipment that has to hold temperature whether anyone is watching it or not.
The equipment behind a kitchen, a bar, a cold room or a retail case carries your stock and your inspection record at the same time. When it stops, the cost lands on stock first and on an inspection second.
We work on that equipment across Oceanside and the Central Island: walk-in coolers and freezers, reach-ins and prep tables, display cases, ice machines, condensing units and the controls that tie them together.
One shop and one number, answered by the people who do the work.
What we work on
The five refrigeration calls we take most often, plus the HVAC side of the same building.
When it goes down at 2 a.m.
A breakdown gets worse by the hour, so the call is short and the first question is what the box is holding.
- 01 You call the shop 250-797-2829 is answered around the clock for commercial refrigeration, holidays included. You reach the shop rather than a call centre.
- 02 You tell us what it is doing What the equipment is, what it is holding now, and what changed. Model and serial numbers off the data plate help, so have them to hand if you can.
- 03 A technician comes out Red Seal certified, on equipment that works through a wet coastal winter. You hear what we find before anyone goes further.
The rules your equipment has to meet
Two pieces of BC regulation decide what your refrigeration has to do and who is allowed to open it.
Temperature, and a thermometer that agrees
Potentially hazardous food has to be stored or displayed at not more than 4 °C, frozen food at not more than −18 °C, and every piece of refrigeration has to carry a thermometer accurate within 1 °C. The equipment also has to be of a type and capacity that can actually hold those temperatures, which is the line an inspector reaches for when a box is struggling.
B.C. Reg. 210/99, Food Premises Regulation, sections 14 and 19.Who is allowed to open the system
Only an approved person may service refrigeration or air conditioning equipment, and releasing refrigerant is prohibited. The duty sits with the equipment owner too: you must not knowingly have the work done by anyone who is not approved. It is a fair question to ask any contractor before they put gauges on.
B.C. Reg. 387/99, Ozone Depleting Substances and other Halocarbons Regulation, sections 4 and 7.
New installs and inherited equipment
Opening, expanding or replacing a system is a sizing job before it is a shopping job. We quote the equipment, the refrigerant it is allowed to run on and the work to get it in and commissioned.
Since January 1, 2020 new commercial refrigeration imported into or manufactured in Canada has been capped on the global warming potential of its refrigerant: 1,400 for a stand-alone medium-temperature system, 1,500 for a stand-alone low-temperature system, and 2,200 for centralized systems and condensing units. That is why the unit you are replacing is not always the unit you can buy.
Equipment somebody else installed is normal work here. Send the model and serial numbers and your last service invoice, and you will hear what we think of it before you commit to anything.
Towns we cover for refrigeration
From the shop in Qualicum Beach through Oceanside and Nanaimo, then along Highway 4 into the Alberni Valley and out to the West Coast.
Parksville
The next town over, on the same call-out. Restaurants, grocery, strata buildings and resort kitchens.
DetailsQualicum Beach
The shop is here. Walk-ins, ice machines, bar and kitchen equipment, and the after-hours refrigeration line.
DetailsNanaimo
Down Highway 19 from the shop. Refrigeration for kitchens, grocery and walk-ins.
DetailsPort Alberni
The Valley grocery stores, kitchens and pubs, and the walk-ins, ice machines and bar coolers behind them.
DetailsTofino
A coast town where the kitchens and lodges all run refrigeration, with the condensing units living outside in salt air. We specify and site them to the coastal rules the manufacturer publishes.
DetailsUcluelet
Harbour businesses running one or two coolers and an ice machine rather than a plant room. Small systems, and the same rules about refrigerant and parts as a big one.
DetailsFurther out
For scheduled commercial work outside those towns, ask. We will tell you straight whether we can cover it properly, which matters more than saying yes.
Questions we get from businesses
Do you really answer at night?
Do you work on equipment another company installed?
Are your technicians certified to handle refrigerant?
Do you offer maintenance contracts?
Call the refrigeration line
250-797-2829 reaches the shop at any hour for commercial refrigeration. For anything that can wait for morning, book a service call and we will come back to you.