Cold Storage Calculator

❄️ Cold Storage Capacity & Refrigeration Load (TR) Calculator

Setting up a cold storage facility is a technical and investment-heavy project. Whether you are a farmer, FPO, trader, or agribusiness owner, it is very important to estimate storage capacity and required refrigeration machine size (TR) before you invest money.

This Cold Storage Calculator helps you get a practical planning estimate of:

• 📦 How much product you can store in a given space
• 🧊 How many Tons of Refrigeration (TR) capacity you may need
• ⚡ Approximate electricity consumption and power cost
• 🏗️ Approximate total project cost
• 💰 Approximate monthly rental / profit income
• ⏱️ ROI (payback period) for your cold storage project

All you need to do is enter your storage room size, product type, product name, temperatures, and daily loading percentage. The calculator uses engineering rule-of-thumb formulas and agriculture industry averages to give you a quick, easy-to-understand estimate.

✅ Who Should Use This Calculator?

• Farmers planning a small or medium cold storage
• FPOs, cooperatives, and rural entrepreneurs
• Cold storage owners planning expansion
• Students and agri-business learners
• Anyone doing project planning or feasibility study

🧮 What Information Do You Need to Enter?

• Storage room length, width, height (feet or meters)
• Product type (Vegetables, Fruits, Milk, Frozen Foods)
• Product name (e.g., Potato, Apple, Onion, Milk, Peas, etc.)
• Loading temperature (temperature of goods coming in)
• Storage temperature (required storage temperature)
• Daily loading % (how much new stock comes daily)
• Electricity cost per unit (kWh)

Based on this, the calculator automatically estimates capacity, TR, power usage, cost, income, and ROI.

⚠️ This tool is meant for planning and comparison, not for final equipment purchase decisions.

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📘 How This Cold Storage Calculator Works

This calculator uses a simplified engineering approach based on common cold storage design practices:

1. Storage Volume & Usable Space
   • First, it calculates total room volume.
   • Then it assumes about 25% space for air circulation and passages.
   • The remaining 75% is considered usable storage volume.
2. Storage Capacity (in Tons)
   • Based on the selected product type (vegetables, fruits, milk, frozen foods),
   • It uses average storage density to estimate how many tons of goods can be stored.
3. Refrigeration Load (TR)
   The total cooling load is estimated from:
   • Transmission load (heat coming through walls, ceiling, floor)
   • Product load (cooling new goods from loading temperature to storage temperature)
   • Internal load (lights, fans, workers, equipment)
   • Infiltration load (hot air entering when doors open)
   All these are combined to give an approximate TR requirement.
4. Power Consumption & Electricity Cost
   • The tool converts TR into average power consumption (kW)
   • Then it estimates monthly electricity usage (kWh) and monthly bill
5. Project Cost & Monthly Income (Auto Estimated)
   • Project cost is estimated from:
     • Required TR × average cost per TR
     • Storage volume × average construction & insulation cost
   • Monthly income is estimated from:
     • Storage capacity (tons) × average rent per ton per month
6. ROI (Return on Investment)
   • ROI (payback period) = Total Project Cost ÷ Monthly Income
   • The result is shown as approximate number of days to recover the investment.

❄️ Example Use Case

If your cold storage size is 30 ft × 20 ft × 15 ft and you plan to store potatoes:

• The calculator will estimate:
  • Total and usable volume
  • Approximate storage capacity (in tons)
  • Required refrigeration machine size (TR)
  • Monthly power consumption and electricity cost
  • Approximate project cost and monthly income
  • Approximate payback period (ROI)

This helps you decide whether the project is financially and technically practical before investing.

⚠️ Important Disclaimer

• This calculator provides approximate planning-level estimates only.
• Actual cold storage design depends on:
  • Local climate
  • Insulation quality
  • Door usage pattern
  • Product packaging and stacking method
  • Equipment efficiency and brand
• Always consult a qualified refrigeration / HVAC engineer before finalizing your project.

💡 Tips to Reduce Running Cost of Cold Storage

• Use good quality PUF panel insulation
• Avoid frequent door opening
• Maintain proper loading and stacking pattern
• Use energy-efficient compressors and fans
• Regularly maintain refrigeration equipment

🔗 You May Also Find These Tools Useful

• Crop Yield Estimator
• Cost of Cultivation Calculator
• Farm Profit & Loss Calculator
• Carbon Credit Calculator for Farmers
• Cold Storage ROI Calculator

(👉 Link these to your other tools/pages)

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