BTU to Ton of Refrigeration Calculator
Convert between all common refrigeration capacity units. Type in any field — all others update instantly.
Cold Storage Quick-Sizing Reference
Approximate BTU/hr per sq ft of floor area — use for preliminary estimates only. Actual design requires full heat load calculation.
| Application Type | Temp Range | BTU/hr·ft² | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Refrigerated produce / cooler | 34–38°F | 20–35 | High turnover, outside temp dependent |
| Meat cooler / chill room | 28–34°F | 25–40 | Includes product processing load |
| Frozen food storage | −10 to 0°F | 15–25 | Well-insulated; less infiltration |
| Ice cream storage | −20 to −10°F | 20–30 | Deep-freeze; heavy insulation required |
| Blast freezing tunnel | −30 to −20°F | 80–150 | Process load dominated |
| Ammonia machine room (heat rejection) | N/A | N/A | Size condenser for system peak load + 25% |
Common Refrigeration Load Reference
Typical system capacities by application — click a row to load values into the converter.
| Application | BTU/hr | Tons | kW | MBH |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residential refrigerator | 200 | 0.017 | 0.058614 | 0.200000 |
| Walk-in cooler (produce, 10×10×8) | 6,000 | 0.5 | 1.7584 | 6.0000 |
| Walk-in freezer (10×10×8) | 12,000 | 1 | 3.5169 | 12.0000 |
| Convenience store cooler | 24,000 | 2 | 7.0337 | 24.0000 |
| Small blast freezer | 60,000 | 5 | 17.5843 | 60.0000 |
| Medium distribution warehouse | 300,000 | 25 | 87.9213 | 300.0000 |
| Large cold storage facility | 600,000 | 50 | 175.8426 | 600.0000 |
| Large industrial plant (NH3) | 1,200,000 | 100 | 351.6852 | 1200.000 |
| Very large processing plant | 6,000,000 | 500 | 1758.426 | 6000.000 |
The origin
A ton of refrigeration is a unit of heat removal power equal to 12,000 BTU/hr. It originates from the amount of cooling produced by melting one short ton (2,000 lb) of ice over 24 hours — which requires removing 288,000 BTU (144 BTU/lb × 2,000 lb), or 12,000 BTU/hr.
SI equivalent
One ton of refrigeration equals approximately 3.517 kW of cooling capacity. In countries using SI units, refrigeration systems are typically rated in kW or kilocalories per hour (1 ton ≈ 3,024 kcal/hr).
How it's used in ammonia refrigeration
Commercial and industrial ammonia refrigeration systems are commonly sized in tons. A typical large cold storage warehouse might have a 200–500 ton system. The PSM threshold of 10,000 lb of NH₃ is independent of system capacity, but larger-tonnage systems tend to carry more charge.
MBH and MMBTU/hr
MBH (thousands of BTU per hour) is common in HVAC specifications. MMBTU/hr (millions of BTU per hour) is used for very large industrial systems and boilers. 1 MBH = 1,000 BTU/hr; 1 MMBTU/hr = 1,000 MBH = 83.3 tons.
Refrigeration capacity (tons or kW) describes the rate at which a system removes heat, not the amount of refrigerant charged. A system's ammonia charge depends on system volume, operating temperatures, and equipment design — not directly on its tonnage rating.