It's The Heat And The Humidity: Choosing Refrigeration For Your New Floral Business

If you're just starting out in a floral business, it pays to be extra careful when shopping for your floral shop's refrigeration units. Delicate cut flowers need special care that ordinary refrigerators can't provide.

Here are 3 features you need to look for when shopping for refrigeration for your floral business:

The Correct Humidity.

You may think that any old refrigerator will do for storing cut flowers, or you may believe that a glass-fronted beverage cooler will work just fine as a bouquet display. However, normal commercial refrigerators are designed to have low humidity that will cost you plenty if you use them for your flowers.

That's because flowers need refrigeration with a humidity of at least 80%, and preferably it should be between 90 and 95%. In this lush environment, flowers will absorb water from the air inside the unit as well as from their containers, so they will not wilt easily.

A standard dry refrigerator with low humidity will cause the flowers to dry out faster, as their moisture content will be released into the dry air and they will fade more quickly. Make certain to purchase refrigerators that are designed to deliver high humidity for your chilled-flower inventory.

Proper Temperature Control

Most cut flowers depend on refrigeration to get them from the farms where they are grown to the floral shop. Once they reach your business' doors, they'll need cooler care, too. Be certain your coolers have good temperature controls and plenty of thermometers to keep an eye on temps.

The most ideal temperature for your cut flowers is between 33°F to 35°F, which seems downright arctic. But the proof is in the blooms.

When flowers are kept cold, their normal respiration process is slowed down and they go into a semi-dormant state which retains their freshness. This delay will keep the flowers fresher in your shop and in the homes of your happy customers.

Energy Efficiency

Older models of floral refrigerators don't have the energy efficiency of today's sustainably-engineered units. While it's fine to start out with used floral coolers, you may pay more in utility costs to run any older refrigeration units.

Older piston-type compressors are now being replaced with modern scroll compressors that can save you 20% on your electric bill. Better insulation, internal LED lighting and variable-speed fan motors are also features of newer floral refrigerators.

Whether you want a portable display unit or a large walk-in cooler, have a chat with your commercial refrigeration experts, like Pro-Tech Equipment Service, to learn about the advances made in technology and sustainability. They will help you design a cooling system that keeps your blossoms up and your expenses down.

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