The work presented here details how several meta-heuristic methods may be used to control refrigeration systems by optimizing compressor schedules. Generally, compressors operate in an on-off state which sequence can be optimized for minimizing energy usage and therefore operational costs. This proposal considers certain limitations and restrictions cold rooms usually have, such as keeping food fresh in a food warehouse, for example. The framing of the problem is of great importance for it to be solvable by meta-heuristic algorithms as it will be further explained. This work explores binary and continuous optimization of this problem. In a Binary Search Space, the algorithms used are Binary IWO, classic GA, BPSO and Binary Grey Wolf, whereas in Continuous Search Spaces as well as in an Indirect Continuous Formulation; IWO, DE, PSO and Grey Wolf.