Two ways to get cold
A walk-in fills up. The menu grows, the harvest lands all at once, and there is no cold room left. Building a bigger one means a contractor inside your building and floor space you don't get back. A cold storage container goes outside — on a gravel pad by the loading door, ready the day it is set.
The fastest route is a factory reefer: a 20' refrigerated container with its own working unit, insulated walls and a food-safe stainless interior. Set it anywhere from −25°C to +25°C and it holds. It needs 3-phase power on site, and that one fact decides a lot of cold storage projects.
The other route is a conversion: a standard 20' or 40' container we frame and spray-foam in our Kamloops yard, cut doors into and fit with a bolt-on refrigeration unit sized to the box and the temperature you need. Quoted per design and specified for the power you already have, it is the answer when a stock reefer doesn't fit. Tell us what you're storing and we'll tell you which to buy.
- Factory 20' reefers, plug-and-run from −25°C to +25°C
- Insulated conversions with a bolt-on refrigeration unit, quoted per design
- Personnel doors, shelving, racking and temperature monitoring
- Tilt-deck delivery to a pad anywhere in BC
What goes into a cold storage container
The reefer package as it comes, or a conversion built line by line from the yard's own price list.
Factory reefer unit
A 20' refrigerated container with a working unit, insulated walls and a food-safe stainless interior. Frozen, chilled or just above freezing, it holds — and because the range runs to +25°C, it keeps product from freezing in a Prince George January too.
Insulated conversion
Steel stud framing — our standard for insulated builds — and closed-cell spray foam for the highest R-value and a full air seal, in a used or new 20' or 40'. Foam under the floor keeps the frost out on sites that heave.
Bolt-on refrigeration
A unit mounted through the wall or roof, sized to the container volume and your target temperature. Quoted per design with its dedicated circuit and wall penetration, so it matches the power you actually have on site.
Personnel doors
A 36" steel personnel door with a commercial lockset, so staff aren't swinging the cargo doors open forty times a shift. On a reefer, a secondary man door is quoted per design — it is cut through an insulated, stainless-lined wall.
Lights and power rough-in
The basic electrical package — 100A panel, four LED lights, four 15A receptacles and an exterior weatherproof outlet — roughed in for your electrician's final hookup. Light inside, a plug for a scale or pump outside.
Shelving, racking and monitoring
Shelving and racking laid out around what you store — kegs, totes, cases, flats — and temperature monitoring so you know the box held overnight. Both quoted per design and fitted before delivery.
Popular builds & starting prices
Real starting totals: an inspected container plus the modifications listed. Add or remove anything.
20' Refrigerated Cold Storage
from $27,000 CAD
+ tax & delivery
Plug-and-run cold or frozen storage from −25°C to +25°C.
- 20' refrigerated (reefer) container
- Working refrigeration unit, −25°C to +25°C
- Food-safe stainless interior
Quoted per design: Shelving & racking · Secondary man door · Temperature monitoring
Prices in CAD, plus tax and delivery. Every build is quoted line by line before any steel gets cut.
Insulated conversions — framing, insulation, doors and the refrigeration unit — are quoted per design once we know your target temperature and the power on site.
Add or swap any modification
The same menu the yard quotes from — build up from the package above or start from a bare container.
Doors & windows
- Steel personnel door (36")
- $950each
- Sliding window
- $650each
Framing
- Steel stud framingOur standard
- $2,200per container
- Wood framing
- $1,800per container
Insulation
- Rigid foam boardOur standard
- $1,400per container
- Closed-cell spray foam
- $4,800per container
- Rock wool (mineral wool)
- $1,600per container
- Fiberglass battsOn request
- $900per container
- Undercarriage insulation
- $1,100per container
Electrical & HVAC
- Basic electrical package
- $4,000per container
- HVAC pre-wire
- $450each
Prices in CAD, plus tax and delivery. Every build is quoted line by line before any steel gets cut. Prices reviewed 2026-08-30. Full menu with details
Who parks a cooler outside
Anyone whose walk-in is full, whose season peaks all at once, or whose site is a long drive from a supplier.
Restaurants, butchers & caterers
Overflow cold storage in the back lot when the walk-in is full. Caterers stage a weekend's product in one lockable box; butchers get freezer capacity without giving up floor space inside.
Breweries, cideries & wineries
Cold-holding for kegs, cans and finished product beside the loading door. A reefer set just above freezing keeps a run stable until the truck comes.
Growers, fruit stands & florists
Okanagan and Similkameen orchards, highway fruit stands and flower farms pull field heat out of a pick and hold it until market day — at the stand or the packing shed, not across town.
Lodges, camps & remote communities
Fishing lodges, hunting camps, mine and mill camps and First Nations communities where the grocery truck comes once a week. A generator-fed reefer at the end of a forest service road keeps a season's food safe.
How a build comes together
One point of contact, one itemized quote, one committed timeline.
Tell us what goes in it
Product, target temperature, volume, how often the door opens and what power is at the site. Ten minutes on the phone settles most of it.
Reefer or conversion
We recommend one and say why. One itemized quote covers the container, the build and delivery, with a committed date on it.
Prep or build in Kamloops
A stock reefer is checked, run and set to your temperature in the yard. A conversion is framed, foamed, cut and wired here, with the unit tested before it leaves.
Set down and hooked up
Tilt-deck delivery onto your pad. Your electrician makes the final connection and you load it the same day.
Cold Storage: common questions
How much does a cold storage container cost in BC?
The 20' Refrigerated Cold Storage package starts from the published price on this page, plus tax and delivery. A conversion is quoted per design, because the unit, insulation and doors change with your target temperature and the size of the box. Either way you get one itemized quote, and lease-to-own is available.
Should I buy a reefer or convert a standard container?
Buy the reefer if you have 3-phase power, need frozen storage and a 20' box is the right size. Look at a conversion if you only have single-phase power, want a 40' footprint or a roll-up door, or need a cooler that never goes below freezing. Not sure? Tell us the product and the site — we sell both, so we have no reason to push one.
What power does a refrigerated container need?
A factory reefer needs 3-phase power on site, typically 460V; single-phase residential service generally won't run it without a transformer. Your electrician installs the outlet and makes the final connection; on a remote site a diesel generator does the job. A conversion with a bolt-on unit can be specified for the power you already have — often the reason to choose it.
Will it hold temperature through a BC summer and winter?
Yes. A reefer's insulated walls and active unit hold a set point from −25°C to +25°C in a Kamloops July and a Prince George January — the top of that range keeps product from freezing in the cold, not just cold in the heat. A conversion depends on the insulation and unit we spec, so we ask about the site before quoting.
How soon can it be on site, and what does the site need?
A stock reefer is checked, run and set to temperature at the yard; a conversion carries a committed date in your quote. Delivery is by tilt-deck anywhere in BC, quoted by distance and access. You need firm, level ground with room for the truck, and power within reach. Permit rules for storage containers differ by municipality — check with your building department first.
Can I move it, sell it or finance it later?
Yes. It's a shipping container: when the season ends or the business moves, we pick it up by tilt-deck and set it at the next site. A working reefer has a resale market of its own, and a converted container is still wind-and-watertight steel underneath. Lease-to-own puts it on site now and makes it yours at the end.
More questions? See the full FAQ or call (778) 694-4050.
Cold storage containers across British Columbia
Valleyview Containers supplies cold storage containers across British Columbia from our yard in Kamloops — 20' refrigerated reefers ready to plug in, and standard containers insulated and fitted with refrigeration where a factory reefer doesn't fit. Restaurants and breweries in the Thompson-Nicola, orchards and fruit stands in the Okanagan, Shuswap and Similkameen, and lodges and camps in the Cariboo, Northern Interior and Peace Country all want the same thing: walk-in cooler or freezer capacity that arrives on a truck. For the unit itself, see our 20' refrigerated reefer; for how one works and what it draws, read our refrigerated containers guide.
The decision on this page is the one buyers most often get wrong: reefer or conversion. A reefer is the right buy when 3-phase power is at the site and you need real freezer capacity in a 20' box. A conversion — steel stud framing, closed-cell spray foam, a 36" personnel door and a bolt-on refrigeration unit — is the right buy when you only have single-phase service, want a 40' footprint, or need a cooler that sits just above freezing. Every line comes from the modification list the yard quotes from; the unit is quoted per design. Family-owned in Kamloops, we sell both, so the advice is straight.
Cold storage pairs with the rest of what we build. A fruit stand runs a reefer beside a pop-up retail container; a ranch adds one to its farm and ranch storage for the fall processing run; a brewery puts a container workshop and a cooler on the same pad. Multi-unit orders get fleet pricing, and lease-to-own is available on reefers and conversions alike. Tilt-deck delivery reaches Vancouver Island and the North Coast as readily as Merritt or Williams Lake — quoted by distance and site access, itemized with the container and the build.
See all custom container solutions, the full modification price list, our project gallery, or browse containers for sale.
More custom solutions
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Insulated, lit and powered — a steel shop with benches, 240V and a roll-up door if you want one.
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