This page is about hiring an industrial AC unit by the month rather than buying or installing one, because a fitted system is a mechanical contractor job and a different purchase entirely. Rental cooling at this scale means 10 to 25 ton portables and trailer machines, commonly quoted from around $2,000 a month for a 10-ton unit before power and ducting.
What industrial means on a rental fleet
Below 10 tons you are in spot coolers and portables. From 10 tons up the machines are floor-standing or trailer-mounted, need three-phase power, and move on a truck rather than through a doorway. Above roughly 25 tons the fleets switch to chillers with pumps and hoses, which is a different installation and a different quote.
Direct expansion or chilled water
A direct expansion unit blows cold air and is simple to drop in: power it, duct it, drain it. A chiller makes cold water that is pumped to air handlers, which suits several spaces at once or a process load, and needs pipework and a pump set. Most short-term breakdown cover is direct expansion; long fit-outs and process work often are not.
Power is what stalls the delivery
A 10-ton unit typically wants 208 or 230V three-phase and a 25-ton machine 460V, with cam-lock tails and a disconnect at the drop point. Where the building supply is already loaded, the answer is a generator hired beside it and sized for the compressor surge. Sort this before the delivery date rather than on it.
Ducting, placement and the bill
The unit goes outside or in a plant space and the cold air is ducted in through a door panel, a window kit or a roof penetration. Duct runs, transitions and boots are separate lines, as is any rigging or a crane if the machine is going onto a roof. On a monthly hire those one-off costs often exceed the first month of rate.
Questions people ask about industrial ac unit
How much does it cost to hire a 10-ton AC unit?
Commonly from around $2,000 a month, with weekly rates available and rarely worth it once transport is counted. Power connection, ducting and delivery each way are quoted separately and can add substantially on the first month.
How many square feet will an industrial unit cool?
A 10-ton unit covers roughly 4,000 square feet of ordinary occupied space, and far less where machinery is running. In a room with real equipment heat, size on the kilowatts of plant rather than on the floor area.
Can a rental unit replace a broken rooftop system?
Temporarily, yes, and that is the most common reason these are hired. The rental machine sits at ground level and ducts into the building while the fitted system is repaired or replaced, which keeps a warehouse or a plant running through the wait.