Work out cold storage load instantly with clear inputs, formula shown and shareable results.
Cold room load is the sum of product cooling, air infiltration through doors, transmission through the envelope, and internal loads from lights, fans and people, plus a contingency. Product load dominates where daily intake is high; infiltration dominates in high-traffic rooms with frequent door openings.
Product load
Q (kJ/day) = mass x specific heat x temperature drop
Total load
Load (kW) = total daily kJ / 86,400
Each door opening exchanges cold dry air for warm humid air, and the latent heat of the moisture must be removed and then defrosted off the coil. Air curtains and fast doors cut this substantially.
3.517 kW, historically the rate of cooling from melting one short ton of ice in 24 hours. It remains the common commercial unit for chiller capacity.