Freezer in the garage - is it ok?

hex2

I too have a chest freezer in the garage. Only issues have been when a certain pesty but fundamentally loveable person (DH) unplugged it to use the socket for something else and did not plug it back in, and when I left the lid open by accident. These would have been quickly spotted in the house rather than 24 hours later when I next needed the freezer.

The freezer (and DH) are older models.

csarina

I bought a new chest freezer last year from John Lewis, it stated plainly on the inofrmation sheet that the freezer was suitable for use in a shed or garage. Its not a frost free one, although it does say that you only have to defrost it once every 4 years!!

I kept the two bottom pieces of foam protection so the freezer stands clear of the floor.

Butterfly_Brain

A friend of mine who is a white goods engineer told me that the thermostats do not kick in properly if the appliance is in too cold a place. I would suggest covering the freezer with a blanket when it is really cold outside - it will help with the thermal insulation

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Right - I've been studying towards a BSc, so hopefully this might make a bit of sense [cracks knuckles and prepares to type].

OK - any machinery, kettle, oven, heater, air conditioner, fridge or freezer, designed to make things hotter or colder on one side than the other involves taking energy from one side and transferring it to the other.

With heated things (eg, a kettle) the energy provided in electricity is gained by the water and it gets hotter. But water already boiling can't get any hotter than it is already. (unless it's under pressure, which is another matter entirely and explains why pressure cookers cook quicker)

With chilling things, the heat energy from the food is gained by the coolant fluid inside the very cold metal bits that you can't poke with a knife to chip ice off (should have explained that to an ex about 18 years ago before he tried to defrost the icebox).

The fluid then circulates and the heat gained in the energy transfer goes out the back in the wiggly thing and then into the surrounding air (which is why you have to leave an air gap around a fridge or freezer).

The fluid has then 'lost' some heat and circulates back into the appliance to take some more energy from the food inside and the cycle continues.

Now - if the surrounding air is at a similar temperature to that of the back of the machine, there is no way for the heat transfer to occur. It therefore depends on there being a difference in temperature for the cooling effect to work.

Moreover, if the thermostat is designed to switch the pump on in response to an outside temperature of about 27°C, it's not going to do it when the garage is at 7°C - it thinks it's unnecessary.

Which is why some appliances are no good below room temperature.

So making the immediate area around a freezer not designed to be kept in low temperatures slightly warmer (say, carpet around it, a bit of plasterboard instead of plain brick walls, etc) makes the transfer of thermal energy more successful and can trick the thermostat into complying.

Hope that helps - and if I'm wrong, I think I might have to do a bit more studying.

Agapanthus

Some types of fridge freeezer may stop working if the outside temperature is really cold. It's mostly the cheaper ones that have a single compressor unit serving both fridge and freezer. If the outside temperature gets cooler than the fridge needs to be then the cooling to both fridge and freezer is shut down.

We've had a fridge freezer in the garage for years without problems, but it isn't that type.

nesssie1702

I've had a chest freezer in the garage for the last three years without any problems.

One thing I would advise you to do though, is that if you're planning on putting it down on a concrete floor, try and raise it up on some wood. If the freezer is in direct contact with the floor, it might rust over time. Our freezer rests on 3 bits of fence post, so it's well off the floor!

2009ismyyear

Our family has had a chest freezer in a garage at various houses for 30 years+ and an upright for about 8 years + - never any problem with this.:)

As the OP wrote, only problem is it being unplugged when the socket is required for something else grrrrrrrr :mad: and, in the case of the chest freezer, the top of it getting used as a dumping ground, or worse an extra surface area for drilling/painting etc - double grrrrrrr :mad::mad:

Trinny

Hello all

I have a overflow fridge freezer in the garage - where OH keeps his "personal stash" of beers. I find that sometimes over the winter, the fridge keeps things warmer than outside.

In our old house - the freezer was kept in the large outside shed - it was ok in the summer/spring, but i found that in the winter it defrosted itself.

I guess it depends how warm your garage is, If you are caught out - it just means that you cant use it in the winter but can the rest of the year.

Trin

Sunny_Donny

Hi
I have a fridge/freezer in the cellar (zanussi) that has been there for 8 years with no problems whatsover, acquires a small freezer to supplement this for the bogoff's and it stopped working after 3 months. Covered it with a blanket after eating everything in the freezer that defrosted itself, but that didn't work. Moved it upstairs to front room (tv sits on it), but that hasn't made it work either, so it is off to the skip tomorrow and I'm off to freecycle to look for a new tv/freezer stand!!
My tumbledryer is in the back bedroom with make up bag / hairdryer on top and the phone!!

casperlarue

Hello :wave:

As he title says really.....I'm looking for a freezer to go in my garage but having looked through Argos, Comet and Currys I'm coming up against the same problem....none of them are recommended to go in an unheated building.

Does anyone have a freezer that works ok in an unheated building? I'm after a standard chest or drawer freezer , don't mind which really, 600mm wide or thereabouts.

Thanks!