Cold room RFQ
Cold room RFQ — turn calculated capacity and a readiness checklist into one supplier quote request
Most cold room quotations are impossible to compare because each supplier assumed a different scope. This page fixes that in one pass: calculate pallet capacity, cooling load and energy cost, complete the project-readiness checklist, then carry both into a single structured RFQ. ColdMatch Group, a Global B2B Group platform, helps you structure the requirement and prepare the request — the ColdMatch project team review qualifying projects (generally from USD 250,000 expected total project value) before any supplier introduction. ColdMatch is not a manufacturer, contractor, EPC, lender or automatic marketplace.
How the RFQ comes together
1. Size the room and the load
Use the capacity calculator below for indicative pallet positions, cooling load in kW and TR, and annual energy cost. These are planning figures — a supplier confirms the duty with a detailed load calculation before anything is ordered.
2. Complete the readiness checklist
Work through product and duty, capacity and traffic, site and building, refrigeration and energy, operation and compliance, and the commercial frame. Mark each line as a confirmed fact, an assumption, or something still to be verified.
3. State acceptance criteria
Temperature uniformity, pull-down time, energy use at a defined condition, alarm behaviour and backup performance. Suppliers price risk, so unstated criteria come back as scope changes after award.
4. Send one structured RFQ
Carry the calculator figures and checklist answers into the RFQ builder so every supplier receives the same scope. The ColdMatch project team reviews qualifying projects — generally from USD 250,000 expected total project value — before any supplier introduction.
Cold room capacity and cooling load calculator
Cold room capacity & cooling load calculator
Enter room size, insulation and door traffic to get indicative pallet capacity, refrigeration load in kW and TR, and an annual energy estimate. Planning figures only — a supplier must confirm the duty with a detailed load calculation before anything is ordered.
Indicative result
2,058
Pallet positions
1,338 t
Stored tonnage
180.4 kW
Cooling load (51.3 TR)
607,656
kWh / year
Indicative annual electricity cost: 85,072 at 0.14 per kWh (60.8 kWh per m³ per year, assumed COP 1.9).
Indicative installed CAPEX: USD 2,625,000 – 4,375,000 (~USD 350 per m³, envelope, refrigeration plant, evaporators, installation, controls and electrical work). Planning band only, not a quotation.
| Transmission through envelope | 30.9 kW |
| Door infiltration | 5.0 kW |
| Product pull-down / freezing | 103.3 kW |
| Fans, lights, forklifts, people | 17.6 kW |
| Safety margin (15%) | 23.5 kW |
Assumptions: envelope ~3,300 m², design ambient 32 °C, ΔT 52 K, ~42% of volume usable after racking and aisles, 0.65 t per pallet, 5,000 equivalent full-load hours per year. Excludes process cooling outside the room, ductwork and standby plant. Not a design document, a quotation or a guarantee of capacity, energy use or availability.
WhatsApp is a 24/7 technology-assisted, human-reviewed project conversation — not a bot. Buyers are never automatically connected to suppliers; the ColdMatch project team review qualifying projects (generally from USD 250,000 total project value) before any external routing.
Cold room readiness checklist — the answers a quotation is built on
The calculator gives capacity and duty. This checklist covers everything else a supplier needs before pricing. Complete it, mark each line as confirmed, assumed or still to be verified, and attach it to the RFQ — gaps here are the main reason first quotations are not comparable.
Product and duty
- Product type, packaging and whether food or pharma handling rules apply
- Required temperature range, and whether the room stores already-cold product or has to pull it down
- Pull-down or freezing time you must achieve, in hours
- Seasonality: peak month versus average month
Capacity and traffic
- Storage volume in m³, pallet positions at peak, and pallet dimensions and weight
- Daily throughput in and out, in pallets or tonnes
- Inbound and outbound loading pattern, dock count and door openings per day
- Racking type and required clear height
Site and building
- Location, ambient design temperature and humidity
- New build, extension or retrofit into an existing envelope
- Insulation thickness, fire class and floor construction, including under-floor heating for freezers
- Door types: sliding, sectional, high-speed, air curtains and dock seals
Refrigeration and energy
- Refrigeration technology assumption: ammonia, CO₂, HFC/HFO or cascade — and why
- Available electrical supply, voltage and frequency, plus confirmed spare capacity
- Generator, solar or battery backup requirement and permitted downtime
- Expected energy tariff and whether energy cost is a decision criterion
Operation and compliance
- Monitoring, alarm and data-logging requirements, and who responds out of hours
- Redundancy expectation, such as N+1 on compressors or evaporators
- Maintenance capability on site or by contract
- Permits, internal approvals, tender rules and the decision-maker for sign-off
Commercial frame
- Expected total project value and currency
- Timeline, including any fixed operational start date
- Whether a financing pathway needs to be explored in parallel
- Which of the above are confirmed facts, which are assumptions, and which still need technical confirmation
Acceptance-test criteria to state up front
- Temperature uniformity across the room at defined measurement points
- Pull-down or freezing time from a stated entry temperature to the setpoint
- Energy use at a defined load and ambient condition
- Alarm behaviour: what triggers, to whom, and how fast
- Backup performance: transfer time and how long the room holds temperature
- Operational availability and the response time expected under the service agreement
Next steps: prepare a cold storage RFQ, estimate cold room size, run a refrigeration load pre-check, review cold room cost factors, or read how to prepare a cold storage RFQ.
What every supplier quote should contain
Ask each supplier to answer the same list in the same order. Offers then line up side by side, and a low headline price stops hiding an excluded floor, door package or commissioning scope.
- Refrigeration plant: technology, number of compressors, redundancy level and design duty at your stated ambient
- Envelope: panel type and thickness, U-value, fire class, floor build-up and under-floor heating for freezers
- Doors and door protection: type, size, quantity, air curtains, dock seals and anterooms
- Controls, monitoring, alarms and data logging, including who is alerted out of hours
- Installation scope, commissioning, training, documentation and as-built drawings
- Lead time by milestone, warranty terms, spares package and service response time
- Clear exclusions: civil works, power supply upgrade, racking, fire protection, permits and freight terms
- Price breakdown by package, currency, validity period and payment schedule
Submit your cold room RFQ
Carry the calculated capacity, cooling load and checklist answers into the RFQ builder so every supplier prices the same scope. the ColdMatch project team review qualifying projects — generally from USD 250,000 expected total project value — before any supplier introduction. ColdMatch is not a manufacturer, contractor, lender or automatic marketplace, and never guarantees price, capacity, energy savings, delivery or installation.
Cold room RFQ — frequently asked questions
How ColdMatch Group works — independent B2B procurement and sourcing platform — ColdMatch Group is an independent B2B procurement and sourcing platform for industrial refrigeration, cold storage and cold-chain projects from USD $250K+, where the ColdMatch team reviews each buyer brief, contacts suitable third-party suppliers on the buyer's behalf and organizes their responses.
Continue planning
- Cold chain hub
Pre-cooling to export logistics, planned as one system.
- Cold storage cost calculator
Indicative installed cost range, cost per m³ and annual energy cost.
- How to prepare a cold storage RFQ
The full multilingual preparation guide.
- Cold warehouse cooling
Capacity, load and design context for larger stores.
- Pharma cold chain design
GDP zones, monitoring, redundancy and validation.
- RFQ builder
Structure the requirement step by step for human review.
You submit one RFQ. Our team handles the supplier outreach.
There is no direct buyer-to-supplier connection. Your request comes to the ColdMatch team, which contacts suitable suppliers and manufacturers on your behalf. Supplier and manufacturer information on this site is for research only; it is not a contact directory and does not mean a supplier has been vetted.
- You build your project and submit an RFQ.
- The ColdMatch team validates and organizes the requirements.
- We contact suitable suppliers and manufacturers for you.
- We present their organized responses to you through ColdMatch.
Supplier and manufacturer information is provided for research only; it is not a directory for direct contact. There is no direct buyer-to-supplier connection: every RFQ comes to the ColdMatch team, which validates it, contacts suitable suppliers on the buyer's behalf and presents organized responses through ColdMatch.
A senior cold-chain specialist stays with your project from first brief to commissioning.
Talk to a cold-chain expert on WhatsApp