Mortuary Cooler Sizes: Every Walk-In and Upright Dimension Compared

Mortuary coolers run from 2-body upright cabinets, not much wider than a household refrigerator, up to walk-in rooms from 6x8 to 24x24 feet. Size by weekly caseload plus peak-week holding: multiply weekly cases by average hold days, divide by seven for average census, then buy for your worst week rather than your average one.

Upright mortuary cooler sizes: 2 to 12 bodies

Upright cabinets are the answer when floor area is tight. Standard-width cabinets run 38 inches wide; bariatric (extra-wide) cabinets run 44 inches wide with a 36-inch door opening. Both are about 94 inches deep, so they occupy a strip of wall rather than a room. Standard-width tiers are rated 600 lbs per position; bariatric tiers are rated 850 lbs. Every model through 10-body capacity runs self-contained 115V single-phase refrigeration on a dedicated 20-amp circuit with a factory-supplied NEMA 5-20R cord, so there is no hard-wiring and no refrigeration contractor on install day.

Capacity Cabinet width Measured footprint Power Starting price
2-body Standard or bariatric (44 in.) 94 in. D x 44 in. W x 76 in. H (bariatric, with casters) 115V self-contained $7,644
3-body Standard (38 in.) or bariatric 94 in. D x 38 in. W x 72 in. H (standard, no casters) 115V self-contained $8,204
4-body Bariatric, 850 lbs per tier; compact 2-door option Approx. 94 in. deep cabinet 115V self-contained $8,887
6-body Dual-door, parallel access Twin-door cabinet, cot roll-in floor Self-contained $15,521
10-body Dual-door, standard and bariatric-rated tiers High-density upright, smaller than a walk-in Self-contained $14,246
12-body Triple-door, three 4-body compartments Built to order, 4-6 week lead 208-230V, self-contained or remote split $19,999

A few notes on the numbers. The 2-body figures above are for complete refrigerated units; a 2-body bariatric shell without refrigeration starts at $4,499 for facilities reusing an existing condensing system. At 3-body capacity the standard-width cabinet gives you 86 x 30 x 60 inches of usable interior, while the bariatric 2-body interior measures 86 x 36 x 49 inches, enough for a full bariatric cot roll-in without a case-by-case clearance check. Above the 12-body triple-door, a 15-body high-density refrigerator starting at $16,814 tops out the upright line. Past that point, a walk-in almost always wins on cost per body.

Walk-in mortuary cooler sizes: 6x8 through 24x24

Walk-in rooms are quoted by interior footprint in feet. The line below is every size we build, smallest to largest; each links to its product page with panel, door, and refrigeration specs. As a capacity reference point, an 8x16 or 10x16 room racks around 14 bodies with side-loading racks, and the 24x24 is disaster-response scale. There is also a compact 6-body dual-door walk-in at $15,178 for facilities that want walk-in workflow in a closet-sized footprint.

Size (ft) Floor area Size class Starting price
6x8 48 sq ft Small $8,825
8x8 64 sq ft Small $10,238
8x10 80 sq ft Small $10,801
8x12 96 sq ft Small $11,661
10x10 100 sq ft Small $12,869
8x14 112 sq ft Small $13,645
10x12 120 sq ft Medium $14,069
8x16 128 sq ft Medium $14,613
8x18 144 sq ft Medium $15,520
12x12 144 sq ft Medium $15,520
8x20 160 sq ft Medium $15,189
10x16 160 sq ft Medium $16,380
12x14 168 sq ft Medium $15,741
10x18 180 sq ft Medium $17,404
14x14 196 sq ft Medium $18,170
10x20 200 sq ft Large $15,748
12x20 240 sq ft Large $20,166
16x16 256 sq ft Large $20,843
14x20 280 sq ft Large $21,823
16x20 320 sq ft Large $23,371
14x24 336 sq ft Large $23,964
16x24 384 sq ft Large $25,670
10x40 400 sq ft Large $26,214
20x20 400 sq ft Large $26,214
12x40 480 sq ft Large $28,791
24x24 576 sq ft Large $31,622

If you would rather browse by tier than by exact footprint, the catalog splits three ways: small walk-ins under 120 sq ft for single-location funeral homes and county coroner offices, medium walk-ins from 120 to 199 sq ft for multi-rooftop firms and hospital morgues, and large walk-ins at 200 sq ft and up for medical examiner facilities, trade embalming operations, and emergency management.

Walk-in freezer sizes

For long-term holds, unidentified remains, and anatomical donation programs, the same panel system builds out as a freezer. Current freezer footprints run 6x8 ($12,705), 8x10 ($13,687), 10x12 ($16,699), 10x20 ($19,859), 14x16 ($22,469), and 10x25 ($24,137). Freezers carry heavier refrigeration and floor insulation than coolers of the same footprint, which is where the price difference comes from. The full range is in the mortuary freezers for long-term and anatomy storage collection.

How to size a mortuary cooler

Start with caseload math

Weekly cases multiplied by average hold days, divided by seven, gives your average census. A firm handling 6 cases a week with a 3-day average hold averages about 2.6 bodies in the cooler at any moment. But averages do not fill coolers; peak weeks do. A holiday-weekend backlog, a flu season, or a mass-fatality callout can double or triple census for a stretch, and a cooler at capacity forces expensive outside storage on exactly the worst week to arrange it. Size for the realistic peak, then confirm the peak still leaves one open position for an unexpected first call.

Check the room before the capacity

The cooler has to get into the building and breathe once it is there. Measure every door, hallway turn, and elevator between the truck and the final position; upright cabinets need a clear path for a 94-inch-deep box, and walk-in panels need assembly room. Verify ceiling height against cabinet height plus any top-mount refrigeration package, and plan condensing unit placement early, since self-contained units need 16 inches of clearance above the compressor and 1 to 1.5 inches of air gap around the cabinet as a warranty condition. Walk-ins add a condensate drain path and, at larger footprints, a decision between self-contained and remote-split refrigeration with an outdoor condenser.

Buy the next size up if growth is on the table

Panels and compressors last 15 to 20 years, so the right question is not this year's caseload but year ten's. A firm growing 5 percent annually will outgrow a just-fits cooler well inside the equipment's service life, and the incremental cost of one size up is small next to the cost of replacing or supplementing a cooler mid-life. If you are between two walk-in sizes, take the larger footprint; if you are between an upright and a small walk-in and the floor area exists, the walk-in usually gives you more headroom per dollar.

Related answers

Questions on a specific footprint, or a site that does not match a standard size? Call 1-888-792-9315 or email cool@mymortuarycooler.com. Every cooler ships factory-direct from Johnson City, Tennessee.