Cold Rooms: How Long Do They Last?
MTCSS are the experts when it comes to designing and installing cold rooms and temperature-controlled solutions for your requirements. We have a range of industry knowledge and a wealth of experience, meaning you can be confident that our team are the right fit for your cold room installation.
Cold rooms are suitable for a wide range of industries – ranging from the food & drink industries all the way to pharmaceutical, medical and agricultural industries – so no matter your industry or requirements, we can design a cold room solution that’s perfect for you.
As part of our range of cold rooms – walk-in fridges, freezer cold rooms and ambient areas – MTCSS can offer bespoke cold rooms, modular cold rooms, and complete turnkey projects to adhere to your specifications.
So, you know we have a range of temperature-controlled solutions available, but do you know how long a cold room lasts?
Different Types of Cold Rooms
Before we can understand the lifespan of a cold room, we must first understand that there are a variety of cold room options available, and that each type of cold room may vary slightly.
The cold rooms that MTCSS can design, supply and install for you include:
- Walk-In Fridges – also referred to as chiller cold rooms, suitable for temperatures ranging from +0 to +8 degrees
- Walk-In Freezers – also known as freezer cold rooms, suitable for a temperature range between -1 and -40 degrees
- Ambient Areas – a temperature range of +10 to +30 degrees
- Dual Compartment Cold Rooms – one cold room split into two separate compartments; whether you want two chillers, two freezers or one of each!
- Multi Compartment Cold Rooms – You can also have a multi-compartment cold room with more than two different refrigerated areas
As well as the above, we can also install external cold rooms if you don’t have enough space inside! (Like in the photo on the right!)
However, the type of cold room you require may be different to what you think you need – our experts will select a cold room that is the perfect solution for your requirements; the products you will be storing; or the sole reason you require a cold room.
Factors Affecting the Lifespan of A Cold Room
Typically, the average lifespan of a cold room can range between 5 and 20 years. The reason there is such a difference in length is because there are different types of cold rooms and factors affecting your cold rooms that can influence its lifespan.
These other factors are:
- Damage
- Levels of foot traffic
- Geographical location (external factors)
- Maintenance and refurbishment
It is important to understand these factors, as they may not be as simple as you first think!
1. Damage: Damage to your cold rooms can occur in a variety of ways. However, no damage is healthy for your temperature-controlled room in the long run. One of the most detrimental pieces of damage that your cold room can sustain is from the misuse of large vehicles such as forklifts.
In the event that a forklift or vehicle hits the exterior of your cold room, your cold room panels could become damaged and as a result, become less efficient in insulating your cold room due to impact damage – which could cause a whole array of further issues for your products!
Avoiding damage on this scale can be managed by ensuring you have a suitable cold room door solution for your access requirements. If you know that your cold room experiences high levels of foot and vehicle traffic, then a high-speed door from Nergeco could help to prevent further damage.
The more damage you can prevent – the longer your cold room should work efficiently without needing to replace it!
2. Levels of Foot Traffic: Similar to above, your cold room’s level of foot traffic can have an impact on how long it lasts.
If your staff are constantly walking in and out of your cold room (for example, within the food and drink industries) then this could pose a health and safety issue if your cold room flooring becomes worn.
When your cold room flooring becomes worn, there is a greater chance of staff injury from tripping or falling. On top of this, cold room flooring that has worn away increases the chance of ice build-up on your floors and therefore posing an even greater risk to both your staff and products.
Your cold room flooring should be both suitable for your foot traffic levels, your staff and your products to ensure maximum lifespan.
3. Geographical Location & External Factors: Your geographical location could have a larger impact on your cold room than you might first think! External factors such as weather and erosion should be considered when questioning how long your cold room will last.
External cold rooms are much more prone to weather-related damage than an internal cold room would be. Naturally, this is because the weather (especially in the UK) is unpredictable and therefore can impact your temperature-controlled room in various ways. For example, water leaks from the roof if your roof gets damaged by a storm.
As well as the weather, your location could impact the lifespan of your cold room. If you are based by the coast, then you should take into account the potential for erosion and deterioration due to the levels of salt in the air. The levels of salt can cause rust which, again, poses a health and safety risk as well as significantly decreasing how long your cold room will function for in the long-term.
4. Cold Room Refurbishment: Refurbishing your cold room is one of the best ways to improve and extend the longevity of your cold room, as well as ensuring all components in your cold room are working efficiently.
On average, a cold room that undergoes regular cold room refurbishment and maintenance checks can last between 10-20 years, and potentially longer! Whereas a cold room that doesn’t have regular maintenance might only last between 5-10 years.
Pre-planned cold room maintenance and refrigeration plant checks can help to improve your cold room efficiency levels, as well as the lifespan of your cold room. Get in touch with our team today for more information.
Additional Factors Affecting Cold Room Lifespan
Along with the above factors, if your cold rooms were installed correctly initially, then this would prolong the life span as well, which in turn could add a few extra years onto the life expectancy!
For example, walk-in freezers need to be a completely sealed box with the appropriate thermal breaks to prevent any warm air from passing through and altering the temperature of your freezer cold room. This is also true for walk-in fridges.
However, the opposite is also true – if your cold room is not installed correctly, then this could reduce its lifespan. This demonstrates that investing in a quality cold room contractor you can trust is extremely important, as it can affect more than just your products!
As well as quality contractors, investing in high-quality products from your contractors and suppliers can also help to prevent your cold room from deteriorating faster because the quality is able to withstand many potential issues.
MTCSS can handle all aspects of your cold room project – from supplying and installing cold rooms to cold room spares, we’ve got you covered.
If you need any cold room spares and parts for your temperature-controlled solution, head over to our E-commerce shop here to browse our wide range. Don’t see the part you’re after? Contact us today and we will always endeavour to source the part you require!
Get in touch with a member of our team today to discuss your requirements. Email us at sales@mtcss.flywheelsites.com, call us on 01886 833381 or fill in an enquiry form here.
