Is it OK to store & use a freezer (chest, NOT upright) in an outbuilding i.e. garage ?

APennySaved

We have just bought a chest freezer*. After Christmas we planned to move it from the house to an outbuilding (i.e. garage).

However, we have only just noticed that the online manual states it is NOT "suitable for outbuildings" ! :eek:

* It is this item: Bush BCF99L Chest Freezer

It has yet to arrive. But it is too late to cancel its arrival, & in any case we don't want to cancel it this close to Dec 25th & the need to store Christmas feasts! :xmassmile:

Our question is re its usability in the garage: Is this safe to do?

We have looked at the manual re the "climate class" which appears to be a key factor in usability in a garage. However, the manual is very uninformative in this as it states the Bush item is of the "Climate class SN/N/ST/T" - which seems to be not 1 but 4! types of climate class. Unhelpful indeed!

I suppose we'll have to wait till the item arrives! & have a look at any label on the item itself re its climate class. Then look at some Googled pages I found (e.g. https://www.whitegoodshelp.co.uk/climate-classes-for-fridges-freezers-and-fridge-freezers/). Unless anyone can advise me now, if perhaps they own this model of chest freezer, or know how the classifications work?! (I am assuming the manual might state 4 classes rather than 1 as it thus covers 4 different models????)

I have had a look at 4 other threads here at MSE, re freezers & garages etc., but they are all marked as Closed, so we can't post.

Those older threads do say that as the freezer is a chest style - & neither an upright freezer, nor a fridge-freezer - it should be safe to use it in a garage.

But as the Bush freezer we have just purchased is an item of newer age (i.e. a purchase of this year 2018), any older threads are probably not (as) relevant & might in fact be misleading re outbuilding usage. Hey-ho! :cool:

Any advice?

Peace & goodwill at Christmas ! :rudolf:

SG27

I had a fridge freezer in my garage for 5 years. It never occured to me that it might be dangerous and can't imagine why?

General_Applause

It is not dangerous to use a freezer in an outbuilding but if the temperature in the outbuilding drops below, I think, 5 degrees, the freezer will stop working.


Your food will then likely defrost if the situation is on-going.


This happened to us in the cold winter of 2010 and ours was in the kitchen (we only heated the living room in that house).

EssexExile

As far as I'm aware it's only a problem with basic fridge freezers. The only control on them is the thermostat in the fridge, when that gets too warm the compressor comes on & cools both the fridge & freezer. In a cold outbuilding the fridge never gets warm enough to turn the compressor on so the freezer doesn't work either. A chest freezer should be fine.

casper_g

I didn't think it was down to the thermostat but a limitation of the usual refrigerant used in these post-cfc days. I could be wrong, though. AIUI Beko freezers allow use in colder areas. Check the specification for any individual product you're interested in, though.

EachPenny

SG27 wrote: »

I had a fridge freezer in my garage for 5 years. It never occured to me that it might be dangerous and can't imagine why?

My understanding (but could be wrong) is it is about the efficiency of the cooling cycle. If the external temperature is too cold the refrigerant won't evaporate properly and as a consequence the compressor needs to run longer, which in turn uses more energy and reduces its life (hence the guarantee is normally void if a non-rated one is used in an outbuilding).

The safety issue is that if the freezer is not able to reduce the temperature sufficiently then bacteria might start growing in the food (which in the worst case might start thawing). If the external temperature then warms up then the food is then cooled (re-frozen) potentially without the user being aware. Again, in the worst case this could be happening on a reoccurring basis leading to some very unhealthy food.

OP, if you've got no choice but to put the freezer outside then do what you can to try and make the place warmer. E.g. if a garage think about adding draught proofing to the door. Also I'd look at buying a digital freezer thermometer with min/max recording so you can check to see if it has warmed up to an unsafe temperature. Also, I'd put expensive/vulnerable foods like meat at the bottom of the freezer so if you did have a partial thaw then there is a better chance of the high value food remaining frozen in the colder bottom zone.

millie

I have had my freezer in the garage (which is attached to the side of the house) ever since I have lived here and that is 36 years never been a problem.


My son has his chest freezer in a large shed at the bottom of his garden it has been there for 10 years he has not had any problems either, even in the terrible winter we had last year.

cranford

You could take a chance but if anything goes wrong with it then you will have no comeback against the seller. Equally if you loose food then if your house insurance covers freezer food loss then you wont be covered. Are you sure you cant cancel? Argos do chcst freezers that are for out buildings such as the Russell Hobbs RHCF99B.

update: the Fridgemaster MCF139 at £149 is available from AO from 14th Dec.

Wicks

To check if any defrosting/thawing has occurred friends with holiday home subject to power cut outs put ice cubes in a glass in the freezer whilst they are away. If they are not solid cubes when they go back they know temperature has dropped enough to make the food unsafe.

longwalks1

Our cheap chest freezer has been in the garden shed for 4 years, still works prefectly, no issues with it at all

Slinky

Somebody I know has a fridge/freezer in their carport!