The heat loads associated with defrosting industrial freezer coils have not been fully quantified as a function of the various parameters that affect the system. The current ASHRAE recommendation is to simply assume that the coil defrosting load is a part of the refrigeration equipment-related load, which, at freezer temperatures, may exceed 15% of the net refrigeration load. There is no direction as to how the designer may determine what the actual defrosting load may be. In response to this need, ASHRAE launched a research project, RP-622, and a special test apparatus was designed and constructed to achieve a set of well-defined objectives. This paper provides a detailed description of this experimental test facility in order to serve as a stand-alone reference for research conducted employing this facility.Units: I-P