MineARC recognises that artificially cooling the refuge's interior is essential. Aside from the effects of ambient (external) mine temperatures effecting the flow of transient heat in and out of the refuge, occupants themselves will generate between 120-180W of metabolic heat every hour. Independent testing has proved that without cooling, temperatures inside an occupied refuge can reach potentially fatal levels within just a few hours.

All MineARC Electrically Powered Refuges are therefore fitted with quality reverse cycle air conditioners. The air conditioners are ordinarily designed to run off a mine's mains power supply. However, in the result that mains connection has been lost, the refuge's battery back-UPS system will continue to power the air conditioning systems for a minimum of 36hrs, standalone.

Many industry Guidelines/Regulations around the world now state that the internal (apparent) temperature of a refuge must not rise above 30°C / 86°F, even at prolonged ambient (external) temperatures as high as 60°C / 140°F . MineARC HRM Refuges have been successfully tested to meet and exceed these standards.