Quick Selection Guide

Tips for Quick Selection Guide

Walk-In Cooler Box Load Parameters

  1. 95°F ambient air temperature surrounding box
  2. 4" styrene (R=16.7, K=.24) walls/ceiling, 6" concrete slab floor
  3. Average product load with 5°F pulldown in 24 hours
  4. BTUH load based on 16-18 hour compressor run time for 35°F box (timer recommended)
  5. See  Table C for adjustment to box load for glass doors
  6. For 80°F ambient temp. surrounding box deduct 12%
  7. For 4" Urethane walls + ceiling, 6" concrete slab floor deduct 12%
  8. For 10' ceiling height add 10%
  9. For additional BTUH load for product cooling see Table A

Walk-In Freezer Box Load Parameters

  1. 95°F ambient air temperature surrounding box
  2. 4" urethane (R=25, K=.16) walls, ceiling + floor
  3. Average product load with 10°F pulldown in 24 hours
  4. BTUH load based on 18 hour compressor run time
  5. See  Table C for adjustment to box load for glass doors
  6. For 80°F ambient temp. surrounding box deduct 12%
  7. For 20 hour compressor run time (light frost load) in lieu of 18 hou run time, deduct 11%
  8. For 10' ceiling height add 10%
  9. For additional BTUH load for product cooling see Table D

Table A - Product Cooling Loads for Walk-In Coolers

Product Specific Heat
Above Freezing
10 Degree Pulldown BTUH Load for Indicated lbs of Product per 24 hours
500 1000 1500
2000 3000 5000
Beef 0.72 240 480 720 960 1440 2400
Pork 0.53 177 353 530 706 1060 1767
Veal & Lamb 0.76 253 506 760 1012 1520 2533
Poultry 0.79 263 526 790 1053 1580 2633
Seafood 0.80 267 533 800 1066 1600 2667
Vegetables 0.92 307 613 920 1226 1840 3067
Bakery Food 0.74 247 494 740 988 1480 2467
Beer 1.00 333 666 1000 1333 2000 3333

Table B - Meat Cutting/Prep Room Load

(BTUH/hr/sq.ft. of floor area)

Floor Sq. Ft. Approx. 65% R.H. Room Temp.
55°F 50°F
100 93 105
200 88 99
300 85 95
400 81 90
500 78 87
600 75 85
700 72 81
800 69 78
900 67 75
1000 65 73
1200 62 69

Room loads based on a continuous operation that includes an allowance for the average number of personnel, processing equipment, etc., with a glass panel in one wall and walls and ceilings insulated with 3" of styrene with box located in an air-conditioned area. The evaporator should be low outlet velocity type to avoid drafts and should be selected for continuous operation and not less than 30°F evaporator temperature.

Table C - Glass Door Loads

Box Temperature BTU
per Door
+35 1060
+30 960
0 1730
-10 1730
-20 1730

Adjusted for run time load. Multiply number of doors times door load above and add to box load.

Table D - Product Freezing Loads for Walk-In Freezers

Click for Printable Version

Product Specific Heat BTU/lb/°F Latent Heat BTU/lb Freezer Temp (F)
32 - 32 + 100 300 750 1000 1500 3000
Beef 0.72 0.40 95 29 790 2370 5925 7900 11850 23700
Pork 0.53 0.32 60 28 523 1571 3926 5235 7853 15710
Veal & Lamb 0.76 0.45 100 28 841 2524 6311 8414 12621 25240
Poultry 0.79 0.42 106 27 878 2636 6590 8787 13181 26360
Seafood 0.80 0.43 110 28 906 2719 6797 9063 13595 27190
Vegetables 0.92 0.47 130 30 1053 3159 7898 10530 15795 31590
Bakery Food 0.74 0.34 53 20 520 1560 3900 5200 7800 15600

Freezing loads based on product entering at 40°F maximum. For a specific  pulldown time, the product load BTU/hr may be adjusted by multiplying the above loads by 24 and dividing by the specified pulldown time in hours. To adjust for 0°F freezer temperature, multiply the above loads by 0.97, and for -20°F freezer, multiply by 1.04

Dimensions Floor Sq. Ft.
+35 Room Usage
+30 Room Usage
0 Room Usage
-10 Room Usage
-20 Room Usage
Avg. Hvy. Avg. Hvy. Avg. Hvy. Avg. Hvy. Avg. Hvy.
6 x 6 x 8 36 4750 6389 4488 6037 4583 6505 4929 7041 5274 7577
6 x 8 x 8 48 5417 7274 5119 6974 5225 7407 5630 8028 6034 8648
6 x 10 x 8 60 6055 8100 5722 7655 5806 8213 6265 8911 6725 9609
8 x 8 x 8 64 6188 8291 5848 7835 5934 8410 6405 9127 6876 9844
8 x 10 x 8 80 6954 9269 6572 8759 6631 9363 7165 10169 7699 10974
8 x 12 x 8 96 7669 10174 7247 9614 7273 10234 7867 11123 8461 12011
8 x 14 x 8 112 8366 11045 7905 10437 7922 11092 8575 12059 9227 13026
8 x 16 x 8 128 9051 11888 8553 11234 8528 11890 9237 12933 9946 13976
8 x 18 x 8 144 9748 12732 9212 12032 9169 12732 9936 13852 10702 14972
8 x  20 x 8 160 10419 13548 9846 12803 9755 13490 10576 14682 11397 15874
8 x 22 x 8 176 11540 14807 10905 13992 10817 14715 11692 15977 12567 17239
8 x 24 x 8 192 12224 15622 11552 14763 11386 15439 12314 16769 13242 18099
8 x 26 x 8 208 12874 16398 12166 15496 11976 16176 12955 17573 13935 18970
8 x 28 x 8 224 13519 17163 12775 16219 12530 16873 13562 18336 14594 19799
8 x 30 x 8 240 14187 17947 13407 16960 13108 17587 14191 19115 15274 20642
8 x 32 x 8 256 14824 18694 14009 17666 13653 18264 14786 19855 15920 21446
10 x 10 x 8 100 7789 10339 7361 9770 7386 10401 7990 11304 8594 12208
10 x 12 x 8 120 8626 11385 8152 10759 8138 11405 8809 12401 9481 13397
10 x 14 x 8 140 9439 12384 8920 11703 8887 12405 9626 13493 10365 14581
10 x 16 x 8 160 10250 13379 9686 12643 9577 13311 10379 14484 11182 15658
10 x 18 x 8 180 11049 14349 10441 13560 10279 14216 11144 15472 12009 16728
10 x 20 x 8 200 11838 15299 11187 14458 10942 15070 11868 16405 12794 17741
10 x 24 x 8 240 13391 17180 12654 16207 12751 17231 13796 18721 14842 20211
10 x 28 x 8 280 14891 18922 14072 17881 14043 18844 15205 20482 16367 22120
12 x 12 x 8 144 10038 13021 9486 12305 8991 12553 9739 13655 10486 14756
12 x 14 x 8 168 10956 14155 10353 13376 10235 14052 11055 15251 11875 16450
12 x 16 x 8 192 11886 15284 11232 14443 11029 15082 11919 16375 12810 17667
12 x 18 x 8 216 12775 16359 12072 15459 11807 16080 12767 17464 13726 18847
12 x 20 x 8 240 13681 17440 12928 16481 12573 17052 13599 18524 14626 19995
12 x 22 x 8 264 14549 18474 13749 17458 13299 17974 14392 19541 15485 21088
14 x 14 x 8 196 11993 15423 11333 14575 11126 15216 12024 16521 12923 17826
14 x 16 x 8 224 13013 16656 12297 15740 11995 16338 12971 17745 13946 19152
14 x 20 x 8 280 15011 19042 14185 17795 13687 18487 14811 20088 15935 21688
14 x 24 x 8 336 16969 21347 16036 21073 15330 20539 16598 22324 17866 24110
16 x 16 x 8 256 14148 18019 13370 17028 12939 17550 13998 19067 15056 20583
16 x 20 x 8 320 16349 20631 15450 19496 14777 19873 15996 21598 17215 23323
16 x 24 x 8 374 18506 23157 17488 21883 16563 22093 17938 24017 19313 25941
18 x 18 x 8 324 16476 20782 15570 19639 14864 19989 16090 21724 17317 23460
18 x 20 x 8 360 18128 22644 17131 21398 16305 21678 17617 23523 18930 25369
18 x 24 x 8 432 20484 25389 19357 23993 18260 24090 19739 26149 21219 28208
20 x 20 x 8 400 19470 24145 18340 22817 17386 23019 18790 24982 20194 26945
20 x 24 x 8 480 21988 27132 20779 25640 19453 25566 21036 27755 22619 29945
20 x 28 x 8 560 24963 30480 23590 28804 21963 28514 23721 30922 25479 33330
20 x 32 x 8 640 27480 33340 25969 31506 23954 30909 25884 33529 27813 36149
20 x 36 x 8 720 29946 36127 28299 34140 25919 33251 28017 36077 30115 38903
20 x 40 x 8 800 32420 38904 30637 36764 27888 35575 30153 38603 32518 41631
24 x 40 x 8 960 38694 45735 36565 43878 34681 43023 37368 46538 39939 49937
28 x 40 x 8 1120 43183 50733 40808 48970 38123 47062 41095 50921 43950 54664
32  x 40 x 8 1280 48550 56318 45880 55056 42894 51900 46146 56580 49282 60656
36 x 40 x 8 1440 54344 62804 51355 61626 46254 56259 49872 60781 53194 65186
40 x 40 x 8 1600 58738 67611 55507 66608 49583 60073 53385 64916 57070 69642

*Heavy usage is defined as two times the average air change. Average air changes determined by ASHRAE based on box size for 24 hour period.