Server room and comms room cooling
Dedicated 24/7 cooling with back-up for IT, comms and plant rooms. Free survey for mainland installations, and a fixed written quote.
- Free site survey and fixed written quote
- Unit sizes, refrigerant and price set out in writing
- Work planned around your opening hours
What is server room cooling?
Server room cooling is dedicated air conditioning that removes the heat produced by IT equipment around the clock, independently of the office system. It is sized to the IT load in kilowatts, usually installed with a second unit for back-up (N+1), and set up with alarms so a failure is spotted before equipment overheats.
Our guide range in the UK is £3,950–£14,950 per room (duty/standby pair) before VAT; a typical job (small comms room, 2–5 kW IT load, N+1 pair) is £3,950–£8,950 plus VAT.
Servers, switches and UPS batteries turn almost all the electricity they use into heat, all day and all night. Comfort air conditioning that switches off at 6pm or is shared with an office will not protect them. A comms room needs its own cooling, sized to the IT load, with resilience built in.
For most small and medium server rooms that means two dedicated units — one duty, one standby — with a controller that rotates them, brings in the standby on failure or high temperature, and raises an alarm. Larger rooms move to close control units with tighter temperature and humidity control.
Where it suits
- Office server and comms rooms
- Data cupboards and hub rooms
- UPS and battery rooms
- Telecoms and CCTV equipment rooms
- Control rooms
- Lab and equipment rooms
What is included
- IT load assessment (kW) and room survey
- Duty/standby (N+1) unit design
- Low-ambient kits so cooling works in winter
- Rotation and changeover controller
- High-temperature alarm or BMS / email alert
- Commissioning and maintenance plan
How the work is carried out
Measure the load
We read the IT and UPS load and allow for growth.
Design resilience
Duty/standby units, changeover control and power supplies are designed together.
Install with minimal risk
Work around live equipment is planned with your IT team and kept clean.
Test failover
We test the changeover and alarms before handover.
Server room cooling prices
National guide prices for 2026. Local pages show prices adjusted for each region.
| Item | Guide price (ex VAT) | Inc VAT | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single dedicated unit (no back-up) | £1,950–£3,950 | £2,340–£4,740 | per room |
| Duty/standby pair with changeover controller | £3,950–£8,950 | £4,740–£10,740 | per room |
| Low-ambient kit (winter operation) | £195–£495 | £234–£594 | per unit |
| Temperature alarm with remote alert | £245–£695 | £294–£834 | per room |
| Close control unit | £9,950–£29,500 | £11,940–£35,400 | per unit |
Ex VAT, supply and install.
Larger rooms and close control systems are priced from a full design.
Typical job: small comms room, 2–5 kW IT load, N+1 pair — £3,950–£8,950 plus VAT.
Things to plan for
Run 24/7
Comfort units are not designed for continuous year-round use. We select equipment rated for it.
Winter operation
Cooling is needed even when it is cold outside, so low-ambient controls are fitted.
Resilience
A single unit is a single point of failure. N+1 means one unit can fail without the room overheating.
Monitoring
A temperature alarm costs little compared to the equipment it protects.
Questions about server room cooling
What temperature should a server room be?
ASHRAE guidance recommends equipment inlet air of about 18–27°C. Many small rooms are set at around 21–24°C to leave headroom if a unit fails.
Why not use the office air conditioning?
Office systems switch off out of hours and are sized for people, not equipment that runs 24/7. A dedicated system is more reliable and cheaper to run.
What does N+1 mean?
One more unit than you need. If one fails, the other can carry the load while it is repaired.
How often should server room units be serviced?
At least twice a year, because they run continuously. Filters may need cleaning more often in dusty rooms.
Can we get alerts if the temperature rises?
Yes. We can fit a temperature alarm that sends alerts by email or text, or connects to your BMS or network monitoring.
Premises we fit this for
Server room cooling near you
Choose your county or region for local guide prices and the towns we cover.
England
- Bedfordshire
- Berkshire
- Bristol
- Buckinghamshire
- Cambridgeshire
- Cheshire
- Cornwall
- County Durham
- Cumbria
- Derbyshire
- Devon
- Dorset
- East Riding of Yorkshire
- East Sussex
- Essex
- Gloucestershire
- Greater Manchester
- Hampshire
- Herefordshire
- Hertfordshire
- Isle of Wight
- Kent
- Lancashire
- Leicestershire
- Lincolnshire
- London
- Merseyside
- Norfolk
- North Yorkshire
- Northamptonshire
- Northumberland
- Nottinghamshire
- Oxfordshire
- Rutland
- Shropshire
- Somerset
- South Yorkshire
- Staffordshire
- Suffolk
- Surrey
- Tyne and Wear
- Warwickshire
- West Midlands
- West Sussex
- West Yorkshire
- Wiltshire
- Worcestershire
Scotland
What happens next
Tell us what you need
Use the form, the quote tool, live chat or call us. A postcode and the type of premises is enough to start.
Survey or visit
For mainland installations we survey free of charge. Service and repair visits, and travel to remote locations, are priced before we book.
Written quote
You get the specification, the price and the programme in writing, including any landlord or planning points.
Work and handover
We install, service or repair around your hours, then hand over the commissioning and F-gas records.
Tell us about your premises
Send a few details and we will arrange a survey or call you back with a guide price.