Polar King walk-in cooler attached to building

A Polar King walk-in cooler freezer at the edge of a building on a sunny day

Side view of a Polar King refrigeration unit in grey

Back view of a greyish white Polar King unit on a sunny day

Side view of brick building and grey Polar King walk-in cooler

Side view of Polar King walk-in refrigeration unit attached to brick building

Grey Polar King walk-in freezer unit outside

Side view of grey walk-in freezer unit attached to a brick building

A grey walk-in cold storage unit attached to brick building

A grey walk-in Polar King freezer cooler attached to a brick building

White Polar King walk-in freezer attached to a brick building

Maintaining an optimal temperature in your school’s walk-in cooler, walk-in freezer or refrigerated trailer is critical to keep food products fresh and safe.

Some of the most important pieces of equipment in your K-12 kitchen are your walk-in cooler and/or freezer. Because they keep your food products safe and fresh for consumption, it’s important to ensure that you choose a walk in manufacturer you can count on for compliance, reliability, energy efficiency, easy cleaning, and precise temperature control.

Space-saving performance

Want a bigger walk in to take advantage of bulk discounts but have limited space? Polar King can help. Our unique outdoor structures are placed outside of your existing building, adding usable square footage to your kitchen and allowing you to repurpose valuable interior space. And because they can be installed with freestanding or thru-wall access, you can choose the option that best fits your workflow.

Built to fit your school’s needs

Due to Polar King’s unique manufacturing process, you can fully customize almost every aspect of your walk in, from door and wall locations to shelves and temperature control systems.

You have your choice of several varieties of slip-resistant flooring systems made for different applications and load requirements. And because each unit is built to spec, you can also choose the interior, shelving, lighting, size, layout, and accessory options that best serve the needs of your cafeteria.

Our units are pre-built and arrive fully assembled, making the installation process fast and easy. Your walk in can be placed on virtually any surface and be up and running just a few hours after delivery with only a simple electrical connection.

Custom Accessory and Layout Options

Temperature data logging and monitoring systems
Digital thermometer with temperature alarm
Interior and exterior door ramps
Flooring
Shelving package
Stainless steel kick plates
54” door
Door view windows
LED lighting
Glass display doors
Reinforced floor load
Interior bumper

Case Studies

We understand that schools have unique needs, so we’ve dedicated resources to studying how our walk-ins support cafeterias, nutrition programs, and food storage operations. Check out the case studies below to learn how we’re helping schools like yours maximize space while ensuring energy efficiency, food safety and compliance with school nutrition guidelines.

West Tisbury Case Study Download

Ledyard School Case Study Download

All-in-one combo walk ins

Need to store perishables at different temperatures? With Polar King, you can get a cooler, freezer, and/or dry storage combo walk in and keep all of your perishables in one convenient structure. Combo walk ins offer the same flooring, shelving, lighting, size, layout, and accessory options that our single-temperature walk ins do, so you can configure your walk in to suit the specific needs of your cafeteria.

Inside of a Polar King industrial freezer

Close up of white walk-in cooler door with brown walls

Energy-efficient by design

Unlike panel boxes, which are pieced together onsite, Polar King walk ins are built at our factory in Fort Wayne, Indiana. This gives us full control over our patented manufacturing process to ensure that each and every walk in meets our exceptionally high standards.

The assembly process with most panel boxes starts with putting the panels together and blowing in foam insulation. While this works well from a production perspective, it’s less desirable for energy efficiency because blown in insulation typically leaves gaps that create hot spots that allow heat to penetrate the unit.

Polar King’s process starts with 4’ polyisocyanurate rigid board insulation for coolers or 5” insulation for freezers that are completely encapsulated in seamless fiberglass. This one-piece construction is exceptionally strong and eliminates the possibility of air or moisture contacting the insulation and causing it to deteriorate.

With a high R-value of at least 25 for coolers and 32 for freezers, Polar King walk ins have been proven to provide exceptional performance even when tested above 175°F in Texas and Florida and in high-impact hurricane testing.

Their bright fiberglass interior is also significantly brighter than gray panel boxes, making it faster and easier for your foodservice staff to find what they’re looking for.

Savings add up over time

Our high-quality walk ins continue to add value throughout their usable lifespan. A study that compared a 10-year-old metal panel walk in cooler with a Polar King walk in of the same age and size found that the Polar King unit consumed a fraction of the electricity that the competing unit consumed — only 6,049kW a year to the panel box’s 16,085kW a year.

Not only are Polar King walk ins less expensive to install and operate, but they also typically last longer and provide a higher Return On Investment (ROI) over their usable life.

Polar King walk ins:

Have no replacement and construction costs
Minimize maintenance and repair costs
Reduce power bills
Cut operating costs
Come with a 12-year structural warranty

Certifications

Our walk in coolers and freezers have a variety of industry certifications, including CSA approval and NSF/ANSI 7 certification. Because they function as standalone structures, they also meet stringent building requirements and have undergone extensive impact testing to achieve approval by Miami-Dade County Product Control and comply with Florida Building Code for suitability in high-velocity hurricane zones.

Schools K-12