When specifying commercial refrigeration, it is worth looking beyond cabinet size, capacity and price. One of the most useful specifications to understand is the temperature class, because it tells you what type of food storage performance the cabinet has been tested to provide.
For professional refrigeration, two classifications you will commonly see are M1 and L1.
What does L1 temperature class mean?
L1 is a temperature classification for frozen food storage. Under the recognised testing criteria for professional refrigerated storage cabinets, an L1 freezer must keep the highest temperature of the warmest test package at -15°C or below, while the relevant lowest temperature of the warmest test package must reach -18°C or below.
In practical terms, L1 provides a recognised benchmark showing that the cabinet has been tested for the demanding temperatures required for professional frozen food storage.
How is L1 different from M1?
The key difference is straightforward:
M1 is for chilled food storage. L1 is for frozen food storage.
An M1-rated refrigerator must keep the warmest test package at +5°C or below, while ensuring the coldest test package does not fall below -1°C. By comparison, L1-rated equipment is designed for frozen storage, where significantly lower temperatures must be maintained.
These classifications relate to tested product temperatures within the cabinet, rather than simply the temperature shown on the controller.
Why does the temperature class matter?
For dealers, consultants and foodservice operators, temperature classification provides a useful way to compare the actual performance of different commercial refrigerators and freezers.
Two cabinets may look similar and offer comparable capacity, but they may not have been tested to the same temperature class.
So when specifying your next commercial refrigerator or freezer, don’t just ask:
How big is it?
Ask:
What temperature class is it?
How this applies to SKOPE refrigeration
Across SKOPE’s professional refrigeration range, fridges are specified for M1 chilled food storage, while freezers are specified for L1 frozen food storage. That means SKOPE cabinets are designed and tested against recognised product-temperature classifications for the job they are intended to do. For chilled models, M1 confirms controlled storage performance for refrigerated food, while L1 provides the corresponding benchmark for frozen storage. SKOPE ReFlex fridges, for example, are certified to M1, while ReFlex and ActiveCore freezer models are designed for L1 frozen storage performance.
This gives dealers and operators a clearer way to compare SKOPE equipment by actual food-storage performance, rather than relying only on cabinet dimensions, capacity or the temperature shown on the controller.
Talk to Hubbard Systems about the correct temperature and climate class for your application. Call us on 01473 350046 or complete our enquiry form
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