Cold storage installers: frequently asked questions
Honest answers to the questions cold-chain buyers actually ask — from setpoints and running cost to refrigerant choice and audit readiness. Updated for 2026.
These are the questions we hear most from operations directors, engineering managers and QA teams at food producers, distributors and 3PLs. Every answer leads with a straight response and a real number where one exists. If your question is not here, ask us through the quote form and we will answer it directly.
What temperature should my cold store run at?
Chilled storage typically runs 0 to +5°C, frozen storage -18 to -25°C, and blast freezing uses air as cold as -30 to -40°C to pull product cores down fast. The right setpoint depends on the product and your HACCP plan; we set and validate it with calibrated probes and temperature mapping so the store is audit-ready.
How much does a cold room or cold store cost to install in the UK?
A small walk-in chiller starts around £4,000, medium commercial rooms run £8,000 to £20,000, and walk-in freezers £6,000 to £25,000+, with £1,000 to £5,000 more for groundwork, drainage and power. Full design-and-build refrigerated warehouses run from £500,000 into the millions depending on pallet capacity and plant.
What does it cost to run a cold store each year?
Refrigeration is the dominant cost, 70 to 80 per cent of the electricity bill, and a refrigerated facility costs up to four times more per square foot to run than an ambient warehouse. Efficient plant, a tight insulated envelope, door discipline and offsetting the load with solar are the four biggest levers on that figure.
Should I choose a CO2, ammonia, R290 or HFC system?
For new stores we design around natural refrigerants that sit outside the HFC phase-down: CO2 (R744) transcritical for most chilled and frozen duties, R290 (propane) for smaller packaged plant, and ammonia (R717) for the largest industrial stores. These avoid future refrigerant-scarcity costs; a transcritical CO2 store has been shown to cut energy against R404A by around 19 per cent.
Will the installation meet HACCP and BRCGS requirements?
Yes. We build to food-grade hygienic standards and commission with validated temperature mapping, calibrated probes and alarms, so the store is auditable from handover. HACCP-critical steps such as blast-freeze pull-down are validated with recorded times and core temperatures.
How long does a cold store installation take?
A walk-in cold room is usually a few days to a couple of weeks. A full design-and-build refrigerated warehouse or CA store runs several months from survey through envelope, plant, commissioning and validation. Modular containerised units can be deployed in days where speed matters.
Can solar cut my refrigeration electricity bill?
Yes, and cold storage is one of the best matches for it because the refrigeration load runs 24/7, so self-consumption of on-site solar is very high. It does not replace efficient plant, but it directly reduces the biggest cost on site. Our sister service at solarpanelsforcoldstorage.co.uk sizes the array against your half-hourly load.
What PIR panel thickness and insulation spec do I need?
Chilled rooms typically use 80 to 120mm PIR insulated panel, frozen rooms 120 to 200mm, with vapour-sealed joints and a frost-heave-protected floor on freezers. Correct thickness and sealed detailing cut heat ingress and directly lower the running cost, so under-specifying insulation is a false economy.
Where should the condenser and plant be sited?
Condensers need free airflow, clearance for maintenance and adequate distance from boundaries to meet noise limits (assessed to BS 4142). Siting affects both efficiency and compliance; we position plant to keep pipe runs short, airflow clear and noise within limits.
What is N+1 redundancy and do I need it?
N+1 means installing one more compressor than the load strictly requires, so if one fails the rest still hold temperature and your stock is protected. For any store holding significant value it is strongly recommended, a single plant failure without redundancy can spoil an entire store overnight.
What is a blast freezer and how is it different from a walk-in freezer?
A walk-in freezer holds product at -18 to -25°C; a blast freezer uses much colder, high-velocity air (-30 to -40°C) to drive the product core temperature down rapidly through the ice-formation zone. Fast freezing protects texture and shelf life and is a HACCP-critical step for many producers, so it is sized on kilograms per cycle and pull-down time.
How do defrost cycles and door openings affect running cost?
Frost builds on evaporator coils and must be cleared by scheduled defrost cycles, which use energy and briefly add heat to the room. Every door opening admits warm, humid air that the plant must then remove. Strip curtains, air curtains, rapid-action doors and dock seals cut these losses and are among the cheapest savings available.
What accreditations should a cold storage installer hold?
For refrigeration work the core credentials are F-gas company certification (REFCOM registered), Institute of Refrigeration (IoR) membership, and FETA/British Refrigeration Association affiliation, backed by ISO 9001/14001/45001 and CHAS or SafeContractor. MCS and NICEIC are solar and electrical marks and are not the relevant accreditations for cold storage.