Freezer in unheated area

Paul_the_Painter

It'll probably be absolutly fine. It is doing it's job perfectly, that is the thermostat is telling the compressor to run whenever the fridge temperature rises above about 4-6 degress C. As the temperature has been below this, the thermostat has never told the compressor to run.

Top tip in chilly weather if you have a fridge freezer outside is to set the control to maximum cold, this should mean the compressor starts up more frequently, and keeps your frozen food frozen. Of course this will not help in this sort of weather!

Standard fridge freezers are designed to operate inside with an ambient temperature in the normal range, you are operating a piece of equipment outside of its designed parameters, so you have to make allowances.

LandyAndy

We have our freezer and one of our fridges in our utility rooms that are single glazed, glass roofed and unheated. We have had no problems with either in the five years we have been here.

Inactive

I have an old AEG Freezer in my garage that has been there for at least 20 years, never missed a beat.

( New AEG Freezers will never ever last this long, they are now owned by Electrolux )

anne15

Hi,

i am having a problem with a brand new fridge freezer similar to the above.

it is in the kitchen but the ambient temperature is 10 degrees most of the time. this is ok and normal for us. But the new fridge freezer manual says ambient temp. should be 16 degrees plus. so the freezer part isn't keeping the food frozen.

if i put it to its maximum setting it goes to minus 30 degrees. if i try to adjust it lower it starts unfreezing.

does anyone know if there is a way to make this fridge freezer work ok in this kitchen ?

if i consider trying to change it for anther make can anyone recommend a model/ brand which are suitable for lower ambient temps. ? ( lower end of budget)

i have phoned the manufacturer but they say the answer is to heat the kitchen to 16 degrees.

Thanks, in advance

Anne:)

saver_1_2

Had ours in an unheated building for two years from new and seems fine.
I did not know about keeping them in unheated buildings could cause a problem until i unpacked ours and it said not to be used in areas where the temp falls below 10c. Just checked the temp where it is and it's -2c. Touching wood

Spiggle

BargainJunky wrote: »

Sorry to resurrect this really old thread.

I've an 8 year old fridge freezer in our garage which unfortunately seems not to like this lovely weather we are having - defrosted ice cream anyone :rotfl:. Does anyone know if it is likely to work again properly or has this weather seen it off for good? The small upright freezer that sits next to it is still quite happy but not sure for how long!

My friend recently moved and brought her 2 year old fridge/freezer with her. She put it in the garage and it switched itself off defrosting all the contents. It was not suitable for garage installation. She went out and bought one that is suitable for outbuildings/garages/unheated areas from either Co*et or Cu**ys not sure which but they did show her the range that would be suitable.

The other one has started working again but she has no room for it indoors so will sell it.

Hope that helps,
Spigs

ButtersUK

Been looking in to this recently and done my homework. It is certainly the case that most NEW fridge freezers won't work properly in unheated garages for the reasons stated. I checked thoroughly and it seems the only FRIDGE /FREEZER I could find that would be OK is a 'Beko'....they are warranted down to minus 15 dgrees. BE AWARE....You have to bring it indoors for 24 hours to get it working properly before putting it in the unheated garage...I've found out (the hard way) that you MUST do this otherwise it won't work in the garage. It tells you this in the handbook and you must do it.(Beko Engineer visited me today and didn't know this till he read the handbook - he said mine was the third one he'd had during the cold spell...obviously people are not reading the manual!). Ideally a seperate fridge and freezer would be used in a garage - then you have seperate compressors and thermostats and they will work OK and I think you could use any make (or most makes - not absolutely sure) , but as we speak my Beko is working in a very cold garage. It apparently (and this is only what I was told by a very competent refrigeration expert who works at Fridgemaster/Frigidaire) has circuitry which, during low ambient temperatures, instigates a cycle of two hours on and two hours off, in order to keep the freezer compartment low, however, this MAY result in low fridge temperatures too - will watch out for this but hopefully the possible disadvantage of that will outweigh the advantage of being able to use a fridge freezer in the unheated garage all year round. Apparently there are very few fridge freezers with seperate thermostats and/or compressors - and they would be expensive if you found one. The Beko is not an expensive range and can be bought readily online or from Comet and the like. (Mine was from Electrical123.com (went for the cheapest supplier) and they've been OK with me to date (service and delivery was excellent). My one has a fan in the freezer compartment. It's not too loud but be aware that it's there - not really a problem in a garage. Silver was cheaper than white in my case. The service I've received from Fridgemaster/ Frigidaire re. my present fridge was so good I'd have bought one of theirs, but they don't do a fridge/freezer that will work in a garage....if it was a fridge or a freezer I'd definitely have got one of theirs. Hope this may help.

vaio

Ted_Hutchinson wrote: »

This sounds either as if the freezer was being run at too low a temparature or the insulation has perished. To check the freezer temperature, place a thermometer between frozen packages. Read it after 24 hours. Freezer temperature should be kept at 0°F. You will save energy if you adjust the temperature so it doesn't go way colder than is necessary.

I think the generally accepted range is between 0 & 8°F or -18 & -13°C

saver_1_2

But many people on here including me have their fridge freezers in unheated buildings all different makes, mines a hotpoint and they are working fine.
I have only had one experience of a Beko product and i vowed never again a television in my case and it was awful. But good luck with your product.

BargainJunky

Thanks everyone for the replies hopefully our fridge freezer will get better soon. Anyway dont need a fridge or freezer at the moment its cold enough to just leave everything outside the back door!