Cold storage rooms are most commonly used for purposes like the storage of raw meat or fish, vegetables even, for long periods of time, for wholesale and retail purposes. 

See: Is the cold room business profitable in Nigeria? 

As someone who uses a cold room for storage and business, running into problems is not an unusual occurrence. In fact, you will most certainly agree with me that there are just some types of problems you are almost used to facing when using your cold room. 

Now, to navigate these problems, you may have found short-term solutions, for example, placing a container or rag to prevent or manage any spills in or near your cold room.  Conversely, you may be one of those that just can’t be bothered and you outright ignore these problems.  

Whichever category you fall into, in this article I will discuss 5 of the most common problems you may encounter while using your cold rooms and how to best deal with them in the long run.

What are some common cold room problems and  their solutions?

1. Rotting products 

You walked into your cold room to take out something you needed for business, and then immediately after you opened a particular compartment, your nostrils were immediately ambushed by a horrid smell. You took your time to do some investigating and found out that some of your products were rotting. 

You definitely don’t need Einstein to tell you how rotting products are bad for business. 

What exactly is causing your products to rot? 

• You were supplied with near-rotting or already rotten products before you stored them. 
• The temperature of your cold room was too high. 

• The product was too warm to immediately be stored in your cold room.  

How can you solve this? 

• Always make sure to double check your products to make sure they are not already rotting or close to rotting. 
• Work out the best temperature for storing products that are prone to rotting if the right temperature is not applied. 
• Stack your products wisely. For example, you could store these products that are prone to damage, rotting, or shriveling lower on your cold room shelves. This is because warm air travels upwards.

2. Water buildup on your products 

You may have noticed once or more times before—since we are dealing with common problems here—that your products seem to be sweating or they are moist when you touch them. This is what is called “water build up.” 

This water could very easily seep into the products somehow and eventually spoil them if not dealt with early enough. 

What causes this? 

• Your defrost drain tubes may be leaking, which may cause water to drip onto your products. 
• The products already in the cold room might have come into contact with moist air from recently placed products. 
• Already frozen products have come into direct contact with warm products.

How best can you solve this?

• Check for any leaks in your defrost drain tubes and call on professionals to get them fixed if you find any.
• Reduce the number of times you open your cold room doors to reduce the infiltration of warm air into your cold room. 
• Stack newly stored products away from already frozen products. 

3. Moldy cold room walls

As someone who continuously uses a cold room for business, you must have definitely come across moldy walls in there. 

It’s uncomfortable to look at, can get smelly, and leaves your cold room looking unkempt and unattractive. 

What exactly causes moldy walls? 

• There is excessive moist air mixing with your cold room air. 
• The insulation on your cold room walls and ceiling is worn out. 

How can you solve this problem? 

• Reduce the number of times you open your cold room door to reduce the amount of air mixing that may occur. 
• Remove worn out insulation and look into using spray foam insulation. Spray foam insulation is an insulation and air barrier material that clogs walls, floors, and ceiling cavities against air movement in your cold room. 
• The advantage of spray foam insulation is that it doesn’t lose its shape or compress over time. That’s why it’s a great solution to moldy or even condensating walls. 
• Provide better ways for air to flow around and out of your cold room. 

4. Temperature of your cold room is warmer than you desired

Just maybe you noticed that the air in your cold room was warmer than you would have wanted for the products you have in there. 

What causes this? 

• The refrigeration unit is not strong enough to sustain the temperature for the amount of product you have stored. 
• The weather is hot and you have a dark roof surface.
• Your thermostat is located in the wrong place. 

How can you solve this? 

• Install a higher refrigeration cooling capacity.
• Paint your roof chalk white so that when your attic temperatures get too high, it doesn’t adversely affect your cold room temperature. 
• Avoid situating your thermostats outside cold walls, near doors or close to the cold air leaving the evaporator coils. Instead, install thermostats in the return airflow to evaporator coils. 
• Install extra fans to circulate the air around more. 

See also: Chiller cold rooms 

5. Electricity consumption is increasing 

When the amount of electricity that your cold room consumes is way more than it used to be, 

Here are possible causes: 

• You’re storing way more products than you initially did.
• Your cold room insulation is wet, missing, or totally worn out. 
• Your evaporator coils are dirty. 
• Your cold room doors have loosened.
• Your equipment isn’t working properly.            

Here’s what you can do to solve this problem:

• Install more refrigerant as the amount of products you are storing increases.
• Clean your evaporator coils.
• Switch to spray foam insulation to prevent the recurrence of wet insulation.
• Retighten your cold room doors as they may have loosened over time.  
• Contact a professional to service your cold room. 

How can we help? 

Sometimes the problem with your cold storage room is not something you can provide a quick fix for by yourself. Cases like these are where you would require the help of a professional that has the best interests of your business at heart. This is where we, at Ofin Global, come in.

At Ofin Global, the best is the least we can do.