Hiring a 20ft refrigerated container: capacity, rates and delivery

With around 28 m³ of usable space and room for 10 to 11 Euro pallets on the floor, the 20ft is the refrigerated container hired most often in the UK. It is large enough to absorb a seasonal peak or stand in for a failed cold room, and compact enough to sit in a pub car park, a restaurant yard or a farm hardstanding. Butchers, caterers, restaurants, breweries and food producers converge on this size for the same reason: it is where a mobile chiller stops being enough and a 40ft becomes more than the site can take. For other sizes and hire terms, start from our refrigerated container hire overview.

Why the 20ft is the default hire size

The 20ft is the standard unit of refrigerated sea freight, so most of the hire fleet is built around it. Its footprint of 6.06 × 2.44 m fits on a surprising number of commercial sites — including yards where a larger unit could not be craned in.

UK demand is seasonal rather than steady. Butchers and game dealers load up from October through Christmas; growers and packers need buffer capacity at harvest; hospitality and events peak across summer; and there is a constant background of unplanned hires when a walk-in cold room fails mid-service. All temporary needs — which is what hire is for.

EuroReefer is an editorial comparison site: no stock, no depot, no fleet. Our role is to explain how this market prices, so you can put suppliers side by side on the same brief.

What a 20ft actually holds

Internal dimensions run to roughly 5.44 × 2.29 × 2.27 m — about 28 m³ of usable volume, or 10 to 11 Euro pallets floor-loaded. A reefer is always tighter inside than a dry box of the same class: insulation takes thickness out of the walls, roof and floor.

One point catches people out: a reefer holds temperature by moving air, not by sealing it in. Loading above the maximum load line marked inside blocks the return air path, and a container packed to the ceiling cools badly.

Standard plant runs from -25 °C to +25 °C, so the same 20ft can chill dairy, produce and cask beer one month and run as a freezer for meat or seafood the next. Super-freezer units reaching -60 °C to -70 °C exist but are rare and materially more expensive.

What 20ft refrigerated container hire costs in the UK

The UK market has one feature worth understanding before you ask for prices: minimum hire terms of around 90 days are common. Advertised rates start from around £12 a day ex VAT, and that figure assumes a long contract. It is an entry point, not a 20ft tariff — size, set temperature, term and location all move it.

Pricing is degressive: the longer the commitment, the lower the daily rate. The corollary is that a short let costs more per day, because delivery, craneage and collection are fixed costs recovered over fewer days.

What the rate covers varies, so get it in writing. Typically the hire buys the unit, its refrigeration plant and — commonly — servicing or breakdown attendance while it sits on your site; delivery, collection, electricity and VAT are charged on top. Ask who attends a fault, what happens out of hours, and whether a notice period applies. Then compare the full cost of the period, both transport movements included, rather than headline day rates. Our prices page sets hire against purchase across the range.

Power supply and running cost

Most 20ft units connect to a three-phase 380/400 V supply through a 5-pin CEE 32 A plug; only some smaller formats run on single-phase 230 V. Power draw is 5 to 12 kW depending on the plant. Confirm you have that supply within reach of the standing position before delivery is booked — on a site with no mains, a correctly sized generator will run the unit.

Consumption sits at roughly 3.5 to 4 kWh an hour at +2 °C, or 85 to 95 kWh a day; at -18 °C, expect 4 to 4.5 kWh an hour and 95 to 110 kWh a day. Multiply by your own contracted rate. Set point, sun exposure and how often the doors open all move it.

Delivery: crane access and standing space

Delivery is normally by lorry-mounted crane, placing the container directly on its final position. Prepare:

• a level, load-bearing standing area of about 7 × 3 m;
• an approach at least 3.5 m wide, with clear headroom over the drop point for overhead lines, branches and canopies;
• timbers or pads on soft ground, so the unit sits level — needed for the refrigeration plant and for condensate to drain.

Give your full address and access constraints when you request quotes, so transport is priced in from the first offer rather than added later. Where a container may stand can also involve local planning rules, which vary by authority — worth checking with yours.

Hire or buy?

Hire suits a temporary or uncertain need: a season, a refit, a breakdown, a contract win. Past roughly 18 to 24 months of continuous use, price up a purchase instead. A used 20ft reefer typically trades at £4,500 to £7,500 ex VAT, with 10 to 15 years of service life left in a sound unit; a new one-trip container runs £18,995 to £22,500 ex VAT. Ask for a PTI test less than three months old on the refrigeration plant — the common makes are Carrier, Thermo King, Daikin and Star Cool — and read our used container guide first.

Comparing offers

Refrigerated hire is a thinly published market: rates vary by supplier, region and season, and the extras often decide which offer is actually cheapest. Put the same brief in front of several suppliers. Set out your duration, set temperature, delivery postcode and site access in a quote request — we pass your enquiry to specialist refrigerated container suppliers, who contact you directly if they can meet your requirement. Free, with no obligation.