The fryers need a proper extract canopy. They do not need a cassette in the fry zone. Grease will load that coil and the condensate that leaves it must never drip on food. Comfort cooling, if you add it, belongs in the shop or at the counter where staff and customers stand, under HSE temperature guidance. There is no legal maximum workplace temperature. Food temperature rules for the product are separate from that comfort. A colder remote does not replace the extract, and it does not make a greasy coil safe.
The canopy over the range
Range heat, steam and grease have to go outside through an extract designed for a fryer, with the filtration and the fire considerations that equipment requires. A split or cassette recirculates. Put one in the fry zone and you cool a grease mist onto a coil, then drip it. That is the layout to refuse. Cleaning the filters does not make a cassette above the fryers acceptable. Grease in the fry zone will still foul the coil and can drip. If the existing canopy is weak, fix that problem with someone who designs kitchen extract. Do not ask an air conditioning quote to hide it. Comfort plant comes after the canopy is honest. If you have no canopy, a competent reply will tell you to sort extract before a cassette, not offer a bigger one.
Shop cooling will not keep food in temperature. Food temperature duties sit with the correct holding equipment and food rules. The split is for people, away from the grease. A colder remote does not replace the extract, and it does not make a greasy coil safe.
The queue, after the extract is honest
Staff at the till and customers in the queue feel the range heat that escapes the canopy, plus the door to the street. A wall unit on the shop side, throwing along the queue and not onto the chips, can be a fair comfort tool. It will not hold a setpoint if the door is open and the canopy has failed. Say both facts at survey. A unit sized for a closed takeaway at 3pm is the wrong unit for Friday at 6pm. The unbearable Friday shop is often a canopy and an open door. Survey both. A comfort unit on the counter can help staff only after the fryer extract is doing its job. Even then, keep the setpoint sensible. 16C with the door open only makes more condensate near a food counter. HSE temperature guidance covers the people working. There is no legal maximum workplace temperature.
Any indoor unit you do fit needs a drain that cannot reach food, packaging or the batter bench. Test it. Filters will still need a short cleaning interval because some grease and salt travel. Put that in the maintenance price. The outdoor condenser goes where vapour from the canopy does not immediately re-enter it, and where the van can still load. F-gas rules apply to the split. The extract fan is a different trade. Air conditioning inspections on GOV.UK apply to qualifying plant, not as a substitute for kitchen hygiene checks. Write that you do not want cooling in the fry zone and that extract is separate. Say how the door is used at peak hour.
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How this guide was prepared
This guide was written by the Local AC Installers Editorial Team. We compare official guidance, legislation and established consumer information, separate general information from project-specific advice, and show publication dates and sources. We do not accept installer accreditation claims at face value.