Supermarket air conditioning

A shop with cold aisles and hot spots

Food stores are an odd mix. Open chiller aisles spill cold air across the floor, while the tills by the entrance, the bakery corner and the back office can be uncomfortably warm. The refrigeration plant itself gives off heat, often into a plant room or yard. Customers walk through all of it, and staff work in it all day.

Good comfort cooling does not try to cool the whole store to the same temperature. It targets the areas that need it, such as tills, checkouts, entrances, kiosks, offices and staff rooms, and it avoids blowing warm air at the front of open chillers, which would make them work harder.

What we do and what we don’t

We are air conditioning engineers. We design, install and maintain comfort cooling and heating for food stores. That covers:

• Sales floors and checkouts, with ceiling cassettes or ducted units
• Entrances and kiosks, where draughts and heat gain are worst
• Offices, cash rooms, staff rooms and canteens, usually with wall-mounted or multi-split systems
• IT and comms cupboards (see server room cooling)

We don’t install or service retail refrigeration: display cabinets, cold rooms, walk-in frozen stores and their condensing units. That is specialist commercial refrigeration work, and your refrigeration contractor should look after it. We are happy to work alongside them, so the two systems are planned together.

Designing around the chillers

Open multi-deck chillers work best in steady, moderate conditions. Warm, humid air flowing across them adds to their load and can cause misting. On the survey we look at where cabinets sit and place indoor units so their airflow does not hit the cabinet fronts. In aisles that are already cold, we may suggest less cooling, not more, and heating near the chillers in winter so customers and staff are comfortable.

Doors matter too. Automatic doors that open all day let in warm air in summer and cold air in winter. We size the entrance zone with that in mind and will tell you honestly what to expect.

Convenience stores and forecourt shops

Smaller food shops have the same issues in a tighter space. Upright chillers and frozen food cabinets push their heat into the sales area, a coffee or hot food counter adds more, and the door is rarely shut. A pair of well-placed cassettes or wall units can make a real difference to the till area and the back office, which is where staff spend most of their time.

Staff welfare

The HSE says there is no legal maximum working temperature, but employers must keep the workplace at a comfortable level. In food retail, the people who feel the heat most are often behind the tills or in a windowless back office, and the ones who feel the cold work beside the chillers. Comfort cooling and heating aimed at those areas helps both.

Installing outside trading hours

Food stores trade long hours, so we plan installs for the quiet times: overnight, early mornings, or after closing on a Sunday. We protect stock and food areas, keep dust and debris away from open food, and leave the floor clean before opening. Where the store has its own hygiene or contractor rules, we follow them, and we can provide method statements and risk assessments for the job.

Outdoor units often go on the roof or in the service yard. We agree positions with you and your landlord, keep them clear of delivery routes, and check access for future servicing.

Bakeries and hot food counters

In-store bakeries and hot food counters add a lot of heat to one corner of the shop. Staff there often feel it most. We look at these areas separately and, where the store layout allows, place cooling so it helps the people working there without blowing across open food.

Controls and running costs

A food store runs long hours, so good controls are worth having. Timers, locked setpoints and zones that switch off when an area is closed all help. Most systems can be run from a central controller or app, so a store manager can see what is on. We set this up at handover and show staff how to use it.

F-Gas, TM44 and maintenance

As the operator of the air conditioning, your business is responsible for its F-Gas leak checks. Intervals depend on the size of the refrigerant charge:

Your refrigeration plant has its own F-Gas duties, managed by your refrigeration contractor. If the air conditioning in the store totals more than 12 kW, it needs a TM44 inspection by an accredited energy assessor at least every five years. A maintenance contract covers servicing, leak checks and records, and can cover several stores. All supermarket work is priced after survey.