Parts of a Walk In Cooler – Labeled Diagram

All 19 parts on the diagram

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The box 5

Wall panels Each panel has an inner and an outer metal skin. The core is foam insulation. The panels lock to one another edge to edge.
Ceiling panels They are built like the wall panels. They lock to them the same way.
Light Sealed so the damp air of the box cannot get into it.
Floor panels A walk-in built straight onto a building floor has no floor panels. Its walls sit on floor screeds.
Cam locks A hooked arm in one panel catches a pin in the next. A hex wrench turns it until it catches. Makers also call them section latches.

Door and its hardware 11

Door The US rules call it a passage door. That tells it from a large freight door and from a glass display door.
Hinges Many walk-in doors hang on cam-lift hinges.
Door closer Federal rules ask for automatic door closers. They must firmly close a walk-in door left nearly shut.
Door latch On the door, it catches on a strike fixed to the frame.
Pressure relief port On a walk-in freezer the port is heated.
Thermometer Its sensing bulb is inside the storage space. That way the box can be checked without opening the door.
Light switch It has a small pilot light on it.
Strip curtain Also called a strip door. It cuts down the warm air that gets in while the door is open.
Door gasket It is a magnetic gasket. It runs round the door except along the bottom, where the sweep gasket is.
Heater wire It warms the door jambs and the threshold. Just enough heat to stop moisture condensing on them.
Sweep gasket It wipes across the threshold and seals the gap under the door.

Refrigeration 3

Condensing unit It holds the compressor and the condenser. It gets rid of the heat taken out of the box.
Unit cooler (evaporator) Its fans draw the room air over the evaporator coil. There the air gives its heat to the refrigerant.
Evaporator fans They move the air of the room through the coil. Then it goes back out over the stored food.

How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-09-30, a name kept only where two independent sources use it or describe the part: 10 CFR 431.302 and 431.306, the US Department of Energy rules for walk-in coolers and freezers (read at https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/10/431.302 and https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/10/431.306); a walk-in maker's installation manual (https://archive.org/details/manualzilla-id-6230637); a second maker's printed specifications (Internet Archive copy of http://www.uscooler.com/extras/pdf/uscooler_manual-specifications.pdf); the US Navy manual Utilitiesman 3 and 2 (https://archive.org/details/ERIC_ED097442); and a US Air Force refrigeration course text (https://archive.org/details/ERIC_ED183831). No maker is named on the page. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry; a schematic of no maker's product, nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

A walk-in cooler is a cold room built from insulated panels, with a door and a refrigeration system. The drawing shows the parts of a walk in cooler from outside, inside, and in three cut-through details.

Read the full guide

Box, door, refrigeration

The box is made of wall, ceiling and floor panels, held together by cam locks hidden in their edges. The door has the most parts: hinges, a latch, a closer, a gasket all round, a sweep gasket along the bottom and a heater wire in the frame. Two pieces do the cooling: the unit cooler inside, with its evaporator fans, and the condensing unit outside the cold space. Numbers 1 to 10 are outside, 11 to 15 inside, and 16 to 19 in the details.

The parts of a walk in freezer are the same, with the box held at or below freezing and a heated relief port.
A walk-in with no floor panels stands on floor screeds fixed to the building floor.

Questions and answers

What are the main parts of a walk-in cooler?

Three groups: the box (insulated wall, ceiling and floor panels locked together), the door with its hardware, and the refrigeration system: a unit cooler inside the box and a condensing unit outside it.

What holds the panels of a walk-in cooler together?

Cam locks built into the panel edges. A hex wrench turns a hooked arm in one panel until it catches a pin in the next panel and pulls the two tight. Makers also call them section latches or cam-action locks.

What is the difference between a walk-in cooler and a walk-in freezer?

The temperature. Under the US rules a walk-in cooler is kept above 32 degrees Fahrenheit and a walk-in freezer at or below it. The freezer has more insulation and an insulated floor.

What is the unit cooler in a walk-in cooler?

The evaporator: a box under the ceiling with a coil and fans. The fans draw the air of the room over the coil, the refrigerant in the coil takes the heat, and the cooled air goes back into the room.