Refurbish or replace a cold room?

Start with a survey, not a quote

A room that keeps breaking down is usually a symptom. Before deciding anything, find out which part is failing: the plant, the envelope, the floor or the doors. Each has a different fix and a very different cost.

Usually worth refurbishing

• Refrigeration that is undersized, worn or on an older refrigerant, where the envelope is sound: replace the plant
• Doors, seals and frame heaters: replace them
• Controls and monitoring: upgrade them
• Leaking joints and penetrations caught early: reseal them

Usually a sign to rebuild

• Panels with saturated or iced-up cores across large areas
• Floor heave that has lifted the slab and the racking
• A room that is too small, or the wrong layout for how you work now
• Several of these at once, where the repairs add up to most of the cost of a new room

Older refrigerants

Systems on older refrigerants such as R22 get harder and more expensive to keep running as supplies tighten. If the plant is near the end of its life anyway, replacing it with a system on a current refrigerant is usually the better investment.

Planning around your stock

Most refits have to happen while the business keeps trading. We plan the work in stages where possible, and agree temporary storage, working hours and handover dates before work starts.