Cut flowers are still alive. From the moment they are cut, warmth and dry air shorten their vase life. A well-designed flower cold room slows that clock, so stems reach your customers fresh and last longer. UK Coldroom designs, manufactures and installs flower cold rooms for florists, online flower businesses and flower and plant wholesalers, and maintains them all year.
Plan it first with Yutab. Yutab is our free online cold room designer. Draw your room, place the door and send the design straight to our engineers. Design your room with Yutab →
What a flower cold room has to do
- Temperature: most cut flowers keep best at about +1 to +4 °C. Tropical flowers such as orchids and anthuriums are damaged by that cold and need a warmer room, about +10 to +15 °C, so mixed stock often needs two zones.
- High humidity: about 90 to 95 % relative humidity, so flowers do not lose water.
- Gentle air: strong, dry air dries petals and leaves. Evaporator choice and air flow matter more here than in most food rooms.
- Clean air: flowers are sensitive to ethylene from ripening fruit and decaying plant material. Do not store flowers with fruit, and keep the room clean.
Design points that matter for florists
Large rooms with heavy traffic
Busy flower businesses move thousands of stems a day. Doors, layout and racking are planned for buckets, trolleys and fast picking.
Refrigeration sized for warm deliveries
Boxes arriving from the airport or the auction can be warm. The system must bring them down quickly without drying them.
Running costs
A large flower room runs all year. Good insulation, tight doors and efficient refrigeration keep energy bills down. See cold room energy efficiency tips.
Florist and flower wholesale projects
- MyFlowers, Bermondsey, London. A large walk-in chiller designed, built and installed for a busy online florist, keeping thousands of stems fresh from delivery to dispatch.
- J. van Vliet Cash & Carry, Enfield and Heathrow. Refrigeration plant upgrades and ongoing maintenance for two flower and plant cash-and-carry sites, keeping stock cool all year round.
See more on our projects page.
See the MyFlowers project, our cold room design and installation service and our maintenance contracts.
Maintenance before the busy seasons
Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day are the worst times for a cold room to fail. A cold room repair and maintenance with a visit before each peak covers coil cleaning, door seals, controls and leak checks. If something does go wrong, see cold room repair and why a cold room gets warm.
Design your cold room online with Yutab
Yutab is the UK Coldroom online cold room designer. It is free to use and takes no payment.
- Draw your room: enter the length, width and height and position the door.
- Save it: register with your name, email and mobile number, and verify your email.
- Download a PDF design sheet with your drawing and its revision number.
- Send the design to our engineers. We review it and contact you about a site survey and quotation.
Frequently asked questions
Can flowers and food be stored in the same cold room?
It is not recommended. Fruit and some foods release ethylene, which shortens flower life, and food hygiene rules apply to food rooms.
What humidity should a flower cold room run at?
Usually about 90 to 95 % relative humidity, depending on the flowers.
Can you upgrade the refrigeration in our existing flower room?
Yes. We have upgraded refrigeration plant at working cash-and-carry sites while keeping stock cold.
Planning a flower cold room? Request a site survey or quotation or call free on 0800 772 0333.