Cold Rooms & Walk-in Fridges
Cold rooms and walk-in fridges are large, walk-in refrigerated or frozen spaces built from insulated panels, used where a kitchen’s bulk chilled or frozen storage needs exceed what upright units can hold. Hotels, dark kitchens, care homes, wholesalers and busy pubs handling high delivery volumes rely on them, choosing between modular panel builds (flexible, site-assembled) and fully built GRP rooms, sized by floor area and refrigeration unit output.
Key specifications
Panel thickness commonly runs 60-150mm depending on temperature (chill vs freeze) and ambient conditions, with insulated floors on freezer rooms to prevent ground-frost heave.
Cold Rooms & Walk-in Fridges — FAQs
Modular or built cold room — which for a new kitchen fit-out?
Modular panel cold rooms suit new fit-outs and future reconfiguration since they bolt together on site to any floor plan, while pre-built GRP rooms suit fixed spaces needing fast installation with fewer site variables.
What size cold room does a commercial kitchen need?
Sizing depends on delivery frequency and menu volume, but as a guide a small pub or cafe may need a 6-9m³ room, a busy restaurant or hotel 10-20m³, and a central production kitchen 20m³ plus, usually specified with the refrigeration unit sized separately to the room volume.
Do cold rooms need three-phase power?
Larger cold room refrigeration units generally require a three-phase supply, though smaller modular chill rooms with a single monoblock unit can often run on a 13A single-phase or 16A/32A single-phase supply — always check the unit’s rated power draw before installation.
What temperature range should a walk-in fridge or freezer run at?
Walk-in fridges typically run at +1 to +4°C for chilled storage, while walk-in freezers run at -18 to -22°C for frozen stock; both need digital controllers with door alarms and defrost cycles to hold range consistently.
Well-known cold room brands stocked in this category include Tefcold, Cambro and Polar, each offering panel systems and refrigeration packs suited to pubs, dark kitchens, hotels and care home catering units.