Keeping an upright freezer in a garage - is it really as bad as the makers say it is?

Doc_N

Thanks for all the help so far.

Just a thought. The temperature needs to be above 10 degrees, and it's normally only at night that it will fall below that in an integral garage.

Possible solution - switch off the freezer overnight when it's cold enough to fall below 10 degrees, and switch it on again in the morning once it's warmed up. Most decent modern freezers will maintain a suitable temperature for 24 hours without power (certainly recent Bosch models will), so there should be no problem.

Problem solved?

FiremanDave

Doc_N wrote: »

Thanks for all the help so far.

Just a thought. The temperature needs to be above 10 degrees, and it's normally only at night that it will fall below that in an integral garage.

Possible solution - switch off the freezer overnight when it's cold enough to fall below 10 degrees, and switch it on again in the morning once it's warmed up. Most decent modern freezers will maintain a suitable temperature for 24 hours without power (certainly recent Bosch models will), so there should be no problem.

Problem solved?

And if it were to breakdown in the warranty period carry it into the house and deny its been in the garage?

You're determined to buy a Bosch and put it in the garage so crack on.

cyclonebri1

Ignore it, OK, it may cut out at -15 but what the heck, isn't that what it needs to do????

snowdrop1967

We bought an upright Beko 3 years ago for our garage, it lasted just over a year so not happy as it specified it was ok for there. We decided to spend a bit more and got a chest freezer from John Lewis as it had a good guarantee for being in a garage and so far we are really pleased with it.

comeandgo

We had freezer in garage, no use, it would not work in winter when we get temps of minus 23 and there about.

cyclonebri1

comeandgo wrote: »

We had freezer in garage, no use, it would not work in winter when we get temps of minus 23 and there about.

But do you need a freezer to work at -23?

CazzieT

Would really like to know what your final decision was, Doc N!

Just spotted this thread as I am having exactly the same problem deciding what to get. Integral garage, need a new upright freezer to replace one of 25 years, would like a frost-free one and Beko seems to be the only one that is supposed to cater for all these requirements. Found a Hotpoint one that is not frost-free but would really like to upgrade to a f-f one. Beko not a great build (nor is it the cheapest, nor does it have display lights on the outside) and it seems from this thread that it hasn't lasted well for some buyers so it's not encouraging to have this as the only option.

Doc_N

Happy to update you, Cazzie, though the answer's probably not of much use to you.

We bought a Bosch in the end - I just don't like Beko stuff. The quality's not good enough and I wanted something well made, reliable and long-lasting.

What we did, though (and my wife deserves full credit for this, both for the idea and for rigging it up) was to create a small 'separate' area for the freezer using a bubble-wrap 'curtain'. This area stayed much warmer than the rest of the garage throughout the winter because it has heating pipes running through it, usually above the magic 10 degrees C. From time to time we had to use a very small electric heater with a thermostat to keep the temperature up to 10 degrees, but that wasn't very often. The cost would have been small.

So we ended up with a decent freezer, and it's been kept above 10 degrees at minimal cost. No warranty problems, therefore.

Just a further thought for anyone like me that's not keen on Beko - might be worth checking out Vestfrost. It's a Danish company that used to make high quality refrigeration equipment (we've had one of their fridges for 10 years and it's of an excellent quality). Not sure what they're like now, because the company was acquired by a Turkish competitor of Beko in 2008. The quality may be just as good, but somehow I doubt it. The reason I mention Vestfrost, though, is that their equipment still seems to be OK for garages - probably because of the Turkish connection (like Beko). They seem to use different refrigerants - perhaps because Turkey isn't a member of the EU.

suelizab

This is the second winter I have had a chest freezer in a brick-built shed at the bottom of the garden with no problems at all. It's john lewis freezer . other customer comments at the time stated they kept theirs outside with no problems for years which is why I went for it .