The freezer in the garage or outhouse thread - successes and failures please?

Doc_N

Oddly, because large numbers of people want to keep a freezer out of the way in a garage, most freezers are deemed unsuitable by the manufacturers.

They stipulate a minimum operating environment of 10° C, which rules out pretty much anywhere but the house itself in winter. And even if it works, the warranty is usually invalidated.

Older freezers are often OK - again probably because they used a different refrigerant. The problem seems to be with newer models.

Turkish Beko seems to be the only manufacturer of domestic freezers not to rule out garage use (according to Which? because they use a different refrigerant) but Beko isn't a brand everyone would choose to buy. I've always been unimpressed with the quality.

Vestfrost also claims to be OK, but these are now aimed at the commercial market. And Vestfrost isn't the same Danish company it used to be, turning out good quality appliances - it's also now owned by a Turkish competitor to Beko, and I'd be concerned about quality standards.

John Lewis say that one or two of their freezers can be operated in a garage, but when you look at the descriptions they all stipulate a minimum operating temperature of 10° C too.

So - has anyone managed to find a recently made, decent quality, freezer that's successfully survived a winter in an unheated garage, and that hasn't had its warranty invalidated? Success and failure reports would be welcomed to make the thread useful to potential buyers - this must be a pretty large market.

Anyone with a recent Vestfrost perhaps?

Daisy70

Mine is a Siemens and works perfectly well in my garage, it was freezing in there during the winter and it coped ok.

Rain_Shadow

I have a Bosch freezer. 17 years old. Stands in a single glazed, glass roofed, unheated utility room. Can be 40C in the summer and below freezing in winter. Never had any problem in the 7 years we've lived here.

Doc_N

Rain_Shadow wrote: »

I have a Bosch freezer. 17 years old. Stands in a single glazed, glass roofed, unheated utility room. Can be 40C in the summer and below freezing in winter. Never had any problem in the 7 years we've lived here.

Much the same here with a 20+ year old chest freezer. Most people with older freezers say the same.

The problem, though, is finding a suitable replacement - the refrigerant has changed over recent years, and all the warranties exclude freezers kept anywhere that goes below 10C.

System

I have a Beko upright fridge and Beko upright freezer in the garage. The fridge is rated for use in garage temperatures but not the freezer. Both have worked fine since bought 6 years ago.

WestonDave

Someone (i.e. Which) should do some tests on these. There has been a longstanding problem with fridgefreezers because many only have one thermostat so if the ambient temperature in the room went below say 3C they stopped working to avoid things in the fridge freezing. This meant the freezer also stopped and things defrosted.

I'm not sure why a freezer alone getting too cold is going to be a problem - clearly the refrigerant has to be able to be cooled below zero as it will pass through the part of the circuit within the freezer compartment. Assuming the garage isn't going to drop to -10C or lower, its hard to see how the refrigerant is going to have a problem. Similarly most of the other working parts will be coping with sub zero temperatures so how are they going to be suffering if in a cold location. All this combines to suggest manufacturers simply not wanting the hassle so not providing a warranty below 10C.

The other way round it presumably is some kind of frost guard heater in the garage to prevent temperature dropping too far - if the freezer were within an enclosure maybe with some solid insulation, and a heat tube on a thermostat you'd probably have a workable solution. It would cost something to run in electricity, but if its the only space for a freezer the small amount one of those tubes would cost to run might be worth considering.

almeria1

Well we have had either a chest or an upright freezer in what was our garage since 1985. I heard from a colleague many years ago "you will have problems having it out there". I am still waiting!! Must admit never looked to see if anything was invalid because both freezers have worked fine in all that time.

cyclonebri1

I read; "you can't have an auto defrost freezer in the garage" :eek::eek:

An auto defrost freezer, !!!!!! why would anyone want a freezer that stops working automatically.

Never had a freezer anywhere else than in a garage, why chill a warm space;);)

jhe

i have a whirlpool chest freezer in my garage, bought it around 3 years ago, i was warned it was not meant to be used in a garage or outhouse, we have had few severe winter weeks but it has worked perfect.
hotpoint i believe used to make a chest freezer that was suitable for outdoor buildings use,not sure if they still do

joeblack066

If the workings on the back of the freezer are encased, it will be ok. If not, it won't. Simples!

Beckyy

We had a whirlpool upright freezer in a stone outbulding, and also a Beko chest freezer, both for 2/3 years with harsh winters. Parents have also had 2 or 3 in their garage over the years.