Designing and Building Cold Rooms Externally
Space can be a major factor when it comes to deciding whether to expand your business’ temperature-controlled storage with a cold room. If you don’t have the space to replace upright fridges and freezers with a cold room internally, you may be asking the question whether you can install a cold room outside of your building…
Can a Cold Room Be Installed Outside?
The answer is yes! Cold rooms – both walk-in fridges and walk-in freezers – can be installed outside if you have the space available, or if it’s simply more practical for you and your business.
Cold rooms built externally must be designed to take into considerations factors such as: weather, external conditions, security and location.
Design Considerations For External Cold Rooms
Components that should be considered when designing an external cold room include cold room panels, the roofing, refrigeration systems and security systems.
Cold Room Panels
Cold room panels, also known as insulated panels, form the cold room walls and ceilings. Because the cold room panels are likely to be exposed to external conditions – including rain, snow, and temperature fluctuations – ensuring they have a weatherproof finish is vital to ensure longevity.
The location of your business can also have an impact on the cold room’s design. If you are located near the sea, then additional protection to the cold room panels may be required – such as stainless steel sheet protection – due to the increase likelihood of rusting due to the moisture and salt in the air.
If there are vehicles or transport being used in the area surrounding the cold room, further protection may be required to reduce the risk of impact damage. Bump rail or crash guard around the perimeter of the cold room can protect the cold room panels from vehicle impact.
Weatherproof Roof
External cold rooms also require a form of weatherproofing for the roof – this can come in the form of a pre-built cover (such as a lean-to), or the cold room can be designed with a weatherproof roof.
Weatherproof roofing is fitted to the cold room’s ceiling panels with a reinforced polyester roofing membrane. This offers UV resistance, durability, secure seams to stop moisture penetrating the panel joints and offer watertightness.
If weatherproof roofing is fitted, then often guttering is installed around the cold room to direct the flow of water from roof as required.
Refrigeration Systems
Similarly to cold room panels, the refrigeration systems selected must be suitable for an external environment – whether that’s resistance to rain and other weather, or to withstand the location eg. on the coast.
Not all refrigeration systems are suitable for external use, and your selected cold room design company should take into consideration the duty required to ensure internal conditions are maintained with annual temperature fluctuations.
Security
Dependent on where the cold room is installed, additional security may be required for access. Security options for external cold rooms include:
- Locking cold room doors
- Biometric locking systems
- Cold room alarms
External cold rooms can be an asset to your business to save on space and enhance your storage and processes. Ensuring the facets of your cold room are designed to suit external installation is key to the protection of your products and the longevity of your cold room.
MTCSS are here to help design an external cold room which is perfect for your application and your individual business requirements.
If you’d like to discuss an external cold room project, or if you’d like a quote, get in touch with our team! Call us on 01886 833381, email us at sales@mtcss.flywheelsites.com, or fill in an enquiry form here!
