A: Michigan follows the FDA Food Code as adopted by MDARD: cold-holding foods must stay at 41°F or below, and the temperature danger zone for time/temperature-control-for-safety foods runs from 41°F to 135°F (Michigan food safety guidance; MDARD Fixed Food Establishment SOP). A cooler that's drifted even a few degrees warm can put you out of compliance before you notice a problem — which is exactly why routine calibration and inspection matter as much as the repair itself.
A: More than most owners expect, and the cost compounds fast. It's not just the product sitting in a failed walk-in — it's the labor to move or discard it, the lost sales during the closure, and in some cases a health department report if temperatures crossed into the danger zone before you caught it. For a restaurant or grocery operation, a refrigeration failure on a Friday night isn't an inconvenience — it's a food-loss event and a potential closure. That's the math behind why we prioritize refrigeration emergencies and keep techs on call for exactly this scenario.
A: Walk-ins, reach-ins, display cases, and under-counter units should all be professionally inspected at minimum twice a year, with high-use equipment in busy kitchens or grocery cold sides often needing quarterly attention. Between visits, keep an eye on door seals, condensation buildup, and any drift in temperature readings — small issues here are cheap to fix and expensive to ignore.
A: Call us immediately — this is the scenario our on-call emergency service exists for. While you wait for a technician, move the most perishable and highest-value product to any working cold storage you have, keep the door closed as much as possible to hold in remaining cold air, and start logging temperatures if you haven't already, since that record matters if a health inspector asks. We prioritize active refrigeration failures over scheduled work because we understand the clock is running against your product the moment the unit goes down.
A: We're a certified True refrigeration dealer, which means we're factory-trained on their equipment specifically — but our technicians are certified to service, repair, and maintain refrigeration equipment across all major makes and models, from walk-ins and reach-ins to display cases, ice machines, and bar refrigeration. Whatever brand is already installed in your kitchen or cold side, we can service it; when it's time to replace equipment, we'll tell you honestly whether True or another manufacturer is the better fit for your specific operation.
A: The tipping point is usually a combination of repair frequency, refrigerant type, and energy cost. Equipment that's needed multiple repairs in a year, still runs on older refrigerant that's becoming harder to source, or is visibly driving up your utility bill is often costing you more to keep than to replace. We'll give you the real comparison — repair cost versus replacement cost versus what you're losing in energy efficiency and downtime risk — so the decision is based on your numbers, not a guess.
