How to Choose a Commercial Cool Room Installation Type for Your Facility

A commercial cool room is often needed for any type of restaurant or eating establishment, as well as many medical facilities. You may also need a cool room for your production facility in order to keep certain materials at a safe temperature overall; this can be very important if your facility includes any processes that make it hotter than average, such as welding equipment, smelting areas, and the like. When you're ready to have a cool room installed in your facility, note a few important tips for making the right choice and having it installed properly, and then discuss these with a contractor. 

1. Temperature requirements

Most cool rooms will have classifications and ratings that tell you the temperatures they can maintain. You will need to choose the cool room classification or rating according to the items you'll be storing inside. A medium temperature range, or class D, is used for storing frozen foods including meat and seafood. For items that need a deep freeze, such as ice cream, you would need a class J cool room. Some cool rooms have even lower temperature ratings and these would be needed for blood banks, medical supplies, and the like. Don't opt for a cool room that can provide lower temperatures than you need as this often means overspending on the materials themselves and on the energy needed to keep it cooler.

2. Assembled versus constructed

A constructed cool room is built around the brick of the basement or another area of your building, and the walls are sprayed with an insulating polyurethane or foam coating. Wiring is added for temperature control if needed. Panels are then placed over this to finish the room.

An assembled cool room is like a prefabricated construction. These panels are freestanding and made in a factory; they are shipped to your location and then assembled onsite. Assembled cool rooms have the advantage of being available in a wide range of sizes; if your facility is very small or you want the cool room in the center of the facility rather than built in a corner around the brick foundation, this can be the better choice. Note too that constructed cool rooms need to be built according to local codes, so you may need to get permits in place before construction begins. This can add to the cost and the time needed to construct a cool room, whereas an assembled structure typically doesn't need to work around building regulations; this makes it a faster installation and in many cases, a more affordable option.