Underbench Fridges vs. Upright Fridges : This guide compares both options for Melbourne cafés, restaurants, and bars, covering space, capacity, energy use, and best applications to help you choose right.

Underbench Fridges vs. Upright Fridges: Which Is Right for Your Melbourne Hospitality Business?

Walk into any commercial kitchen in Melbourne and you’ll find both underbench fridges and upright fridges in action, often side by side. But while both are classified as commercial refrigeration, they serve quite different purposes, and choosing the wrong configuration for your operation can cost you space, efficiency, money, and even food safety compliance.

This guide breaks down everything Melbourne café owners, restaurant operators, bar managers, and hospitality professionals need to know to make the right call between underbench and upright commercial refrigeration.

Understanding the Fundamental Difference

What Is an Underbench Fridge?

An underbench fridge (also known as an under-counter fridge) is a commercial refrigeration unit designed to fit beneath a standard bench height of 900mm. Typically standing 600–850mm tall, underbench units are available in widths ranging from approximately 600mm through to 1,800mm+, and can accommodate anywhere from 130L to 400L+ depending on configuration.

They are designed to bring cold storage to the point of use, directly at the workstation where ingredients will be used. Their top surface typically forms part of the bench workspace, making them dual-function: cold storage below, work surface above.

What Is an Upright Commercial Fridge?

An upright commercial fridge is a tall, full-height refrigeration unit, typically 1,800mm–2,000mm high, designed to maximise cold storage capacity in a compact floor footprint. They are available in solid or glass door configurations, with single, double, or in some cases triple door options. Upright fridges are the primary cold storage workhorses of a commercial kitchen, typically positioned along kitchen walls or in dedicated cool storage areas rather than inline with prep benches.

Space and Layout: Where Each Unit Belongs

Underbench Fridges : Built for Workflow

The defining advantage of an underbench fridge is its integration into the kitchen workflow. Rather than requiring chefs to walk to a central storage fridge, retrieve ingredients, and return to their station, a movement that adds up to significantly accumulated time over a service, underbench refrigeration keeps cold ingredients at arm’s reach.

In Melbourne’s typical inner-city restaurant kitchens, where space is at an absolute premium, underbench fridges allow every centimetre to work twice: providing both cold storage and work surface area without consuming additional floor space.

The ideal locations for underbench fridges in a Melbourne commercial kitchen include:

• Below prep benches in the main kitchen brigade line
• Behind the bar for immediate access to garnishes, condiments, and pre-prepped components
• In the service pass or plating area for final components and sauces
• In the pastry section for butter, cream, and temperature-sensitive ingredients
• In the sandwich or deli section beneath the prep counter

Upright Fridges : Built for Capacity

Upright fridges are volume storage units. When you need to hold large quantities of raw protein, dairy, produce, or prepped ingredients between deliveries, nothing competes with the sheer capacity an upright fridge provides. A double-door upright storage fridge can hold 1,000L+ more than double or triple what most underbench units offer.

In a Melbourne restaurant kitchen, upright fridges are typically positioned:

• Along the back wall of the kitchen for primary stock storage
• In a dedicated cool room or storage area adjacent to the main kitchen
• Near the dry goods store for dairy and produce storage
• In the butchery or fish preparation area for raw protein storage

Capacity Comparison: What You Can Actually Store

For Melbourne operators, getting the capacity equation right is critical. Let’s look at realistic storage volumes:

• Single underbench fridge (600mm wide): approximately 130–175L of storage
• Double underbench fridge (1200mm wide): approximately 260–340L of storage
• Triple underbench fridge (1800mm wide): approximately 380–500L of storage
• Single door upright fridge: approximately 400–600L of storage
• Double door upright fridge: approximately 800–1200L of storage

For a Melbourne restaurant running 80–120 covers with multiple deliveries per week, a typical refrigeration setup might combine 2–3 underbench units for workstation access and 2 upright units for primary storage, providing a total of 2,000–2,500L of refrigerated capacity across the kitchen.

Temperature Performance and Food Safety

Both underbench and upright commercial fridges are designed to maintain food-safe temperatures of 1°C–5°C under normal operating conditions. However, there are some practical performance differences worth understanding:

Door Opening Frequency

In a busy Melbourne kitchen, an underbench fridge at an active workstation may be opened 50–100+ times per service. Every door opening allows warm ambient air to enter the unit, temporarily raising the internal temperature and increasing the compressor load. This is normal for purpose-built commercial units, they’re designed to handle it, but it’s important to specify underbench units from commercial-grade manufacturers (not domestic or semi-commercial products).

Heat Load Considerations

Upright fridges, particularly those positioned near cooking equipment, face greater ambient heat loads. Proper kitchen design should account for this, ensuring adequate separation between cooking equipment and refrigeration units, and specifying appropriate compressor capacity for warm kitchen environments. A condenser unit working against a 35°C ambient kitchen temperature works significantly harder than one in a cool storage room.

Defrost Cycles

Both underbench and upright units use automatic defrost cycles to prevent frost buildup on evaporator coils. During defrost, temperatures may temporarily rise slightly, a factor that should be considered when positioning units and selecting food storage locations. Always ensure defrost cycles are calibrated not to breach food safety temperature limits.

Glass vs. Solid Doors: A Decision That Matters

Both underbench and upright commercial fridges are available in glass or solid door configurations, and the choice has operational implications:

Glass Doors

• Allow visual inventory checking without opening, reducing door opening frequency and temperature fluctuations
• Reduce staff handling time during busy service periods
• Ideal for bar fridges, service pass fridges, and display units where product visibility drives decisions
• Slightly higher purchase cost and potentially slightly higher energy use vs. solid equivalent

Solid Doors

• Better insulation performance, lower energy running costs
• Preferred for primary ingredient storage where product type is known and door opening is purposeful
• Slightly lower purchase price than glass equivalents
• Better suited to high ambient kitchen temperatures due to superior insulation

Energy Efficiency: The Long-Term Cost Comparison

In Melbourne, where commercial electricity costs are significant, the energy efficiency of your refrigeration choice has a direct bearing on your operating costs. Some key considerations:

Underbench fridges, due to their smaller volume, typically consume less absolute energy than large upright units, but this doesn’t make them more efficient per litre of storage. A large, well- insulated upright fridge may actually achieve a lower energy cost per litre of storage than multiple smaller underbench units covering the same total volume.

For Melbourne operators, the best energy strategy is usually to right-size your total refrigeration system, neither over-specifying (buying too much capacity for your actual needs) nor under-specifying (buying too little and running units at full load constantly). Our team can help you find the optimal configuration for your specific kitchen.

Cost Comparison: What to Budget

As a general guide for Melbourne hospitality operators budgeting their refrigeration investment:

• Quality commercial underbench fridge (single, 600mm): $1,500–$3,000+ new
• Quality commercial underbench fridge (double, 1200mm): $2,500–$4,500+ new
• Quality commercial underbench fridge (triple, 1800mm): $3,500–$6,000+ new
• Upright single door storage fridge: $2,500–$4,500+ new
• Upright double door storage fridge: $4,000–$7,500+ new

Quality refurbished commercial fridges are available at Melbourne Refrigeration & Catering Equipment at significant savings versus new, typically 30–50% less, making them a compelling option for startups or budget-conscious operators.

The Melbourne Verdict: Do You Need One, the Other, or Both?

The honest answer for most Melbourne commercial kitchens is: both, in the right combination. Underbench fridges optimise workflow efficiency and space utilisation at the point of use. Upright fridges provide the bulk cold storage capacity that keeps your kitchen stocked between deliveries.

If forced to choose one for a very small operation, your decision comes down to your primary need: if space is the constraint and workflow efficiency is paramount (say, a 20-seat inner-city café), underbench units may serve you adequately. If raw storage volume is the priority (a catering operation, a production kitchen, or a high-volume restaurant), an upright fridge is your non-negotiable starting point.

The best approach? Talk to the experts. Melbourne Refrigeration & Catering Equipment has been helping Melbourne hospitality operators design refrigeration systems since 1984. We can assess your kitchen layout, menu, and volume requirements and recommend the precise combination of underbench and upright refrigeration that will serve your operation best.

Explore Our Range at Melbourne Refrigeration & Catering Equipment

We stock an extensive range of commercial underbench fridges and upright storage fridges from leading brands including Skipio, Skope, and more in both new and quality refurbished conditions. Visit our showroom at 15 Station Street, Dandenong, call our team on (03) 9794 8627, or shop online at our online store.

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Monday to Friday : Sales/Service : 9:00am – 5:00pm | Admin : 8:30am – 3:30pm

Saturdays : By Appointment only (*please call during the week to arrange)

We Are Closed on Public Holidays.

Contact Us:

PHONE : (03) 9794 8627

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EMAIL : sales@melbournerefrigeration.com.au

Our Location: 15 Station Street, Dandenong, Victoria 3175