hospitality · Equipment & asset finance
Cool room finance
A coolroom is part equipment, part construction. We work out which parts the panel can secure and structure the funding around that.
What is cool room finance?
Cool room finance is funding for a coolroom or freezer room, including panels, refrigeration plant, doors and installation, secured against the equipment where possible. Coolrooms are essential in Australian hospitality, food production and retail, and lenders treat the refrigeration plant and the panel structure differently.
Coolrooms are one of those purchases that only get attention when they fail. For a restaurant, butcher, brewery, florist or food producer, a coolroom failure in an Australian summer can destroy a week of stock overnight. That is why plant sizing, redundancy and service access matter more than saving a few thousand dollars on the build. Temperature monitoring with an alarm is inexpensive and pays for itself the first time it catches a failure overnight.
From a finance point of view, a coolroom sits between equipment and fit-out. The refrigeration plant is movable and easy to secure. The insulated panel structure, once installed into a leased tenancy, is much harder to recover, so lenders often treat it as a fit-out cost. In practice most established businesses can fund the whole project on one facility, and your broker will structure it so the paperwork reflects what each lender can actually secure.
Cool room finance at a glance
| Typical price range | $12,000 – $150,000 |
|---|---|
| Finance term | Up to 72 months |
| Useful life | About 15 years |
| New or used | New builds are typical because panels are cut to the space; used coolrooms are relocated regularly and can be financed when installation is included. |
| Indicative rates (Fit-out finance) | 9.5% – 22% p.a. · rate history |
| Finance structures | Fit-out finance (recommended), Chattel mortgage, Equipment loan |
How lenders assess cool room finance
Refrigeration plant — the condensing unit and evaporator — is movable equipment and readily secured. Panel structure built into a tenancy is closer to a fixture and is often funded under fit-out finance instead. Many lenders will fund the whole coolroom project as one facility for an established business, splitting the treatment internally. Portable and modular coolrooms are simpler to secure. Start-up venues are assessed on the operator’s experience and lease, and may need a deposit or supporting security.
Before you buy
- Size the plant for your ambient conditions — a unit specified for a mild climate will struggle in a western Sydney or Queensland summer.
- Consider a separate freezer section rather than one large room; running everything at freezer temperature wastes significant energy.
- Check floor loading and drainage before installation, particularly for a freezer room where an insulated floor is required.
Commonly financed
Askey and Bondor insulated panel systems · Bitzer condensing units · Copeland scroll refrigeration units · Kolpak modular coolrooms · Skope commercial refrigeration
Estimate cool room repayments
- Number of repayments
- 60
- Balloon at end of term
- $16,200
- Total interest (est.)
- $38,423
- Total repaid (est.)
- $119,423
This calculator provides an estimate only and does not account for fees, charges or the specific terms a lender may offer. It is not financial advice or an offer of finance.
Key terms
What is cool room finance?
Cool room finance is funding for a coolroom or freezer room including panels, refrigeration plant and installation. Refrigeration plant is generally secured as equipment while the panel structure is often funded under fit-out finance. Terms usually run 36 to 72 months.
Can a coolroom in leased premises be financed?
Yes, though the structure matters. Because the panels become part of the tenancy, lenders often fund them as a fit-out cost rather than as equipment security, and may consider the length of your lease when setting the term.