Planning the new chocolate production facility and we need an area for conditioning and storage of finished products that is maintained at 55-60F.

Wondering if we need a walk-in cooler or if an AC unit can achieve and hold that temperature in an area maybe 12x10 in size.

Not my specialty.

BUT, I manage a high end house that has a wine cooler/room that's 8x10' and 14' ceiling and it has a Mitsubishi Mini Split a/c unit to keep it cold, it's currently set at 67F BUT will keep it 55-60F if you set it to that. I would think a walk in cooler would be more efficient and cheaper to purchase.

A. How much heat is produced in this area ?
with other machinery , or people or doors opening and closing.

B. how well are the walls in this area insulated?

C. 24 hours at the required temp or just during the day ,while in production.

D. what is the ceiling height ( volume of air? )

Not an expert, but that is awfully cool for an AC unit to consistently maintain, where as a walk-in cooler could do that without much effort.

Basically all a walk in cooler is is a room with really good insulation. I'm sure you could get an AC unit that would provide the cooling you need, but a walk in would do it significantly more efficiently. Depending on your ambient air, you're going to spend a whole hell of a lot of money trying to keep a random room that cold. A walk in that size is probably going to run you 20-30 grand, but you would probably burn through that same 20-30 grand in electricity in short order trying to do it with an AC unit beefy enough to maintain those temps. Also, I don't know how critical those temps are for chocolate production, but an insulated walk in would also give you a good buffer if you were to lose utilities. A noninsulated room is going to be out of that temperature range within hours if you lose power.

quote:

Originally posted by ChicagoSigMan:
new chocolate production facility

Sweet baby Jesus, I wish you lived closer to me!

All the chocolate purveyors in the tropics have redundant cooling systems.

Could you get a tour at Norman Love's?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: sunburn,

I wouldn't recommend a standard residential A/C unit, nor would I install one for that application without costly modifications. Must use a system designed to operate for such conditions, such as a properly installed refrigeration system in a room / space designed for such.
You can install a ductless split, but be prepared to install a refrigeration system shortly after its failure. I do not recall seeing any ductless splits designed for temps below 68 / 70. Need to research such.

Consider the walk-in cooler for a different reason, mold. If you were to cool a room to 55-60 F for extended times, the walls would start condensing water from either outside or adjoining areas. Soon you would cause a very bad situation.

I've been in dozens of Florida homes where wine cellars have caused high levels of mold growth.

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:
Not my specialty.

Yes, that has become quite obvious over the years.

You want either a walk in refrigerated space or a dedacated HVAC system designed to handle the heat load you generate. The reason you don't want a home comfort cooling system like the Mistsubishi is they are designed to keep a correctly engineered space at a temp of about 73F. Running a comfort cooling unit until you have a space temp of 50F is going to overtax the unit, and lead to premature equipment failure.

What you're looking for is a dedacated unit is and additional temperature delta of 20F, which means much greater heat rejection capacity that your average home HVAC system is designed for.

quote:

Originally posted by SgtGold:

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:
Not my specialty.

Yes, that has become quite obvious over the years.

You want either a walk in refrigerated space or a dedacated HVAC system designed to handle the heat load you generate. The reason you don't want a home comfort cooling system like the Mistsubishi is they are designed to keep a correctly engineered space at a temp of about 73F. Running a comfort cooling unit until you have a space temp of 50F is going to overtax the unit, and lead to premature equipment failure.

What you're looking for is a dedacated unit is and additional temperature delta of 20F, which means much greater heat rejection capacity that your average home HVAC system is designed for.

I'm just reporting an experience with one wine cooler that utilizes a mini split that has been working fine since 2009.

It's a $10 million house that was built/finished in 2009 as a spec home that my clent bought in 2010. The builder built the wine cooler which is a room you can walk into about 10' deep, built in wood wine holders from floor to ceiling (14 or 16' ceiling). The mini split is what whoever designed the wine cooler put in there. It's been working fine for 9 years and owner currently has it set at 59F. It's had 1 issue and a tech had to come out. I just manage the house. I'm pretty sure it's well insulated as the walls appear to be about a 1' thick (distance between exterior wall and interior of wall). It might even be another brand than Mitsubishi, but I'm pretty sure it's Mitsubishi just like the 2 other mini splits that cool the 2 car garages.

There are many mini splits for sale that are advertised/manufactured as wine cellar coolers by companies such as Winezone and a myriad of other manufacturers designed to keep the temperatures the OP is looking for (55-60F). A walk in cooler would probably do the job better as it's well insulated, otherwise you'd have to really insulate the room you're making a chocolate room out of.