Freezer in unheated area

ButtersUK

saver_1 wrote: »

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.

I'm no expert....only repeating what I've gathered and my own experience just recently. It has been said older fridge freezers work better than new designs, but quite a few people have had problems in the very cold weather in cold outhouses / garages due to the fridge stat turning off the compressor and the freezer thawing. Also remember that it's possible that a freezer can thaw in the garage due to the above and subsequently re-freeze when the temp. increases without us knowing if we haven't been to the freezer during the period in question with the resultant risk to the food following it's thawing out. Regarding the 'Beko' make, it is a 'budget' brand and there's usually a reason why an item is half the price of another....but it was the only brand claiming to employ technology capable of operating down to minus fifteen. I wasn't bothered about the brand as it's in a garage and my reasoning was to get a few years out of it and replace it after, say, 5 yrs, if need be (and maybe, if I'm lucky)....it remains to be seen - I might be wrong! Indoors I use Siemens, Neff and Bosch and am happy to pay the extra but couldn't find anything other than Beko with a warranty down to -15 degrees, as I said.

nearlyrich

My Bosch upright freezer has been fine for over 10 years in the unheated utility room at the back of the garage, I had a similar one before(think it was a Servis) for around 10 years and before that I had a basic chest freezer from Comet, that worked for a year after we moved it was previously in the kitchen at the old house. I have never heard that you shouldn't put freezers in unheated rooms before.

ButtersUK

nearlyrich wrote: »

My Bosch upright freezer has been fine for over 10 years in the unheated utility room at the back of the garage, I had a similar one before(think it was a Servis) for around 10 years and before that I had a basic chest freezer from Comet, that worked for a year after we moved it was previously in the kitchen at the old house. I have never heard that you shouldn't put freezers in unheated rooms before.

I only became aware of the topic last year (during the cold snap) when a friends Fridge Freezer stopped working in a cold outer conservatory.

BUT..you've said FREEZER.... we're talking about FRIDGE FREEZERS here. (Or at least I thought we were). Read back and you'll see reference to the fact that most fridge freezers have one shared compressor and thermostat. I said earlier that if you put a fridge and a freezer out in the cold they will work coz they have a compressor and stat each...ie. your freezer.

Google the topic and read a bit more online and you'll see that many people have the problem - and more so, I believe, with more recent designs....perhaps to do with ongoing efforts to make them more efficient??? ie. different refrigerants or different electronics????

I have no axe to grind, I'm just relating my own experience and saying that I'm not alone and am not trying to prove a point or sell you anything. I won't pursue the point much further.

EDIT. Looking back I see that the thread started of referring to Freezers and subsequently moved primarily to Fridge Freezers. Easy to see where confusion could arise. To reiterate I gather most Freezers are OK in the cold and many Fridge Freezers have a problem maintaining Freezer temp. in very cold ambient temperatures due, as noted before, to the fridge thermostat turning the compressor off and thus allowing the freezer temp to rise up to the ambient (room) temp. Note that most manufacturers won't warranty the performance below a certain room temp. If you look closely on new appliances you'll see that appliances have a climate class rating which tells you the range of room temperatures with which it can cope. The two you're most likely to come across in the UK are N class and SN class. Both work effectively in room temperatures up to 32°C. N models shouldn't be used in rooms that become colder than 16°C. SN models shouldn't be used at room temperatures below 10°C. Other classes that you might come across are ST and T. ST models work best at between 18°C and 38°C, and T models between 18°C and 43°C.

whowants2brich

anne15 wrote: »

Hi,

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 ?

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

Thanks, in advance

Anne:)

Anne,

A cheap option to see if it works, if you still have thie issue, is to put the fridge freezer plug into a timer socket, and set the fridge freezer to max. Set it to come on for 15 minutes, off for 15 minutes, or something along those lines. The freezer won't defrost in 15 minutes, but it'll stop the temp from falling so far...

This was mentioned as built-in to one of the units in a previous post, having a 2 hour on / 2 hour off setting, so may be the way forward. You'll just have to play around with the settings. And of course, unplug the timer so that it's running 24/7 in summer, as soon as the ambient temperature rises to a level where the unit works well on its own...

designermatt_2

I have had similar problems with my Hoover fridge Freezer which is 8 months old. I have the appliance in my kitchen which is unheated as it is uneconomical to do so due to it being a relatively basic construction at the rear of my town house. I have now lost a freezer full of food and wonder where I stand. Hoover service engineer says that as the temperature is below 16 degrees (actually only 6 degrees) within my kitchen the fridge thinks its cold enough and turns itself off to save power.. This of course also turns off the freezer and I then have a load of ruined food. I think this is a serious design flaw but do note (when reading now) in the instruction manual it does say the operating range is above 16 degrees. I bought the appliance on line and no where was it advertised or was this aspect raise pre sale and it is tucked away in the instruction manual which I have to confess I didn't read. Genuinely I thought, 'who needs instructions on how to opperate a fridge!' Clearly I do! I wonder has anyone got any opinions on where I stand in regard to returns, compensation etc?

Thanks for your input

ButtersUK

designermatt wrote: »

I have had similar problems with my Hoover fridge Freezer which is 8 months old. I have the appliance in my kitchen which is unheated as it is uneconomical to do so due to it being a relatively basic construction at the rear of my town house. I have now lost a freezer full of food and wonder where I stand. Hoover service engineer says that as the temperature is below 16 degrees (actually only 6 degrees) within my kitchen the fridge thinks its cold enough and turns itself off to save power.. This of course also turns off the freezer and I then have a load of ruined food. I think this is a serious design flaw but do note (when reading now) in the instruction manual it does say the operating range is above 16 degrees. I bought the appliance on line and no where was it advertised or was this aspect raise pre sale and it is tucked away in the instruction manual which I have to confess I didn't read. Genuinely I thought, 'who needs instructions on how to opperate a fridge!' Clearly I do! I wonder has anyone got any opinions on where I stand in regard to returns, compensation etc?

Thanks for your input

Well, assuming you've read all the aforegoing and now see that fridge freezers don't generally like low temperatures, I would guess you'll probably put your hand up and learn from it (albeit a tough lesson, I agree). In my local electrical appliance supplier there are big notices all round the store and at the pay desk warning of this. As you say, it's in the handbook (I think there's an acronym RTFM, but won't expand on it;)). Clearly you have no comeback with the maker or the seller and whether you want to besmirch your record with your contents insurer is up to you but nowadays you don't really want to claim if you don't have to coz your premium will take a hit at renewal and it may cost you more than the food in the freezer...(I would think it probably would). Can't see an option other than take the loss.

Of somewhat more significance, however, is how or why you have a kitchen wherein the temperature is six degrees! My garage is warmer than that today - and that's darned cold. To be honest there's something slightly illogical about that...assuming it's a kitchen as I understand the word ie. where you work to prepare meals etc. My view is that you can't expect someone to pay you compensation for these, dare I say, unusual circumstances which are of your own making. Six degrees you're saying???? Mmmmm....there's something not right there!

designermatt_2

Thanks for your reply. I am afraid I will have to chalk it up to a lesson learned. The kitchen is 6 degrees because the outside temperature is about minus 8 and whilst I have upgraded the insulation in the kitchen it is still 5.5 m long and only 1.5 wide so a very large surface area in comparison to its volume. Additionally I don't have a rad in there due to the fact that I have recently finished doing up the kitchen and contemplated not putting one in at all as the kitchen just leaks heat so badly due to the above. I had originally intended extending but dont quite have the funds at present and needed to do something with the kitchen so as it was in such dire need of replacement I elected to reline with insulation and install a new kitchen and fit new double glazed doors and windows.

ButtersUK

The only possible answer might be to provide some localised heating (perhaps a tubular heater) close to the f/f ...and perhaps some temprary insulation in order to encourage it to operate the compressor and thus keep the freezer section cold...?? and wait for the temp. to increase, when, of course, it will start working normally again

SBuxton

Hi Stan,

Your advice sounds perfect and we need to replace a fridge freezer that cannot cope with the recent cold weather. Can you tell me where you find the ambient room temperature information easily and what model Beko you went for?

Many thanks

SailorSam

The freezer part of my Fridge/Freezer went office between Christmas/New Year, it's in a unheated porch. I ordered a new one 0n-line from Currys, funny enough a Beko (are they all guaranteed to work in the cold). But now it's come back on, i've managed to cancel the order.
The tip about leaving the light on in the fridge seems a good idea, i've no extra switch but i wonder could it be done.