Deep Freezer in garage, any experiences?

[Duesenberg]

Southern Ontario Canada. Attached garage, drywalled but not heated/cooled. Can go slightly below freezing during winter and reach towards 30C in summer.

Haven't decided about buying a Stand-up or a Chest freezer, but will be larger in size like 15 cu foot or so. Best place for our family to keep it is in the garage but does anyone have any experiences with a newer Energy star rated freezer kept in conditions similar to mine? reliable? Did it shut down in winter, did the compressor overheat in summer? was the manufacturer's operating temperatures claims near accurate

Any difference in chest freezer versus stand-up in a garage environment?

Anyone got any input, it'd be appreciated....

[Molly Brown]

I=92m in Southern California so I can=92t answer most of your questions but one more question that you might want to ask is, is it self defrosting or do you have to manually defrost it in which case you=92re going to have baby-sit it.

[Duesenberg]

Aren't they all self defrosting nowadays? If they aren't, I'll be looking for self-defrost.

[Molly Brown]

No they are not. Sometimes they will advertise as self defrosting AS LONG AS YOU PRESS THE =93SELF DEFROST=92 BUTTON which I don=92t consider to be self defrosting.

[Duesenberg]

Thanks for the heads up. I assummed most freezers were self-defrost because most fridges are self defrost, but come to think of it, self defrost freezers aren't as common as I thought around here.

It's self-defrost fridge/freezers that everyone now has.

[Mark]

yes a friend had a fridge in the garage. If the thermostat is in the fridge section and not the freezer, then in the winter when the garage ambient is cold enough to satisfy the fridge thermostat, the compressor will never come on and the freezer part will warm up to the same temp as the fridge.

If you are talking about a freezer only (not a combination freezer / fridge) and the thermostat is in the freezer itself and set for the desired freezer temp, I think you will be fine.

Mark

[DerbyDad03]

I've had a 5 cubic foot, manual defrost chest freezer in my attached, uninsulated garage for at least 5 years now.

I don't think it's energy star but I'm not home now to check.

The garage gets to just around freezing in the winter and in the summer stays cooler than the outside air which can peak in the low nineties but averages in the high 70's, low 80's.

I've never had any problems what so ever. I defrost it less than once a year, but there's never been a lot of ice built up.

I was told that it runs most efficiently when kept about 3/4 full which works out fine for us. We fill it up after a shopping trip but a lot of times it's bread and other bulky items so it doesn't take long to get it down to 3/4 full.

I say go for it.

[bob haller]

chest freezers cost less to operate...... far less.

now my wife wanted a freezer so bad i finally said yes and we got it... she filled it with all sorts of good buys but was to lazy to go to the basement to get stuff. everything eventually got tossed out, from severe freezer burn.

so i emptied it and put it in the dining room, she hated the location but it did get more effective use....

but the freezer never saved any money on the food bill and flavor goes away as storage time increases.......

I gave her the freezer when she left to become my X wife:)

2 dysfunctional things left at the same time:)

my advice DONT BUY A FREEZER, it just takes up space, runs up your utility bill, and you get to perodically toss much of what you stored in it.......

sad but true

[Stormin Mormon]

Self defrosting freezers and fridge tend to dessicate / dry out the food. I can give the technical reasons, if you want.

Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus

.

chest freezers cost less to operate...... far less.

now my wife wanted a freezer so bad i finally said yes and we got it... she filled it with all sorts of good buys but was to lazy to go to the basement to get stuff. everything eventually got tossed out, from severe freezer burn.

so i emptied it and put it in the dining room, she hated the location but it did get more effective use....

but the freezer never saved any money on the food bill and flavor goes away as storage time increases.......

I gave her the freezer when she left to become my X wife:)

2 dysfunctional things left at the same time:)

my advice DONT BUY A FREEZER, it just takes up space, runs up your utility bill, and you get to perodically toss much of what you stored in it.......

sad but true

[dgk]

Even if it's really sealed in those "freezer bags"? Something like the vacuum pack things? My father once worked for an upscale food delivery service; they sell you the freezer and then you buy good quality food and they fill it up. That was a great job, at least we ate well.

But all the food came vacuum sealed so it's hard to figure out how it could go bad. Of course, my parents did make sure that we ate it before too long. Mom was a bit of a nut about eathing things before they expired. I tend to eat things well past their due date.

[Frank]

I'm not sure deep freezers are self defrosting. They run lower temperature than freezer compartment in refrigerators. If so, they would take food up near the freezing point defeating the purpose of deep freeze. I've got two small chest units and they don't normally get opened more than once a day versus freezer compartment in refrigerator that is opened often and uses self defrost. The chests, maybe we take the food out once a year and get rid of the ice buildup.

[Stormin Mormon]

My sense, is that the plastic bags help, but nothing is perfect in this world.

Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus

.

Even if it's really sealed in those "freezer bags"? Something like the vacuum pack things? My father once worked for an upscale food delivery service; they sell you the freezer and then you buy good quality food and they fill it up. That was a great job, at least we ate well.

But all the food came vacuum sealed so it's hard to figure out how it could go bad. Of course, my parents did make sure that we ate it before too long. Mom was a bit of a nut about eathing things before they expired. I tend to eat things well past their due date.

[Molly Brown]

[Vic Smith]

My dad puts his fish fillets in tupperware meal size containers, fills with water and puts them in the freezer. Says they last a long time that way. I don't keep frozen stuff long. What does end up in there a long time usually gets tossed. Wasn't important enough to eat soon enough anyway.

[Atila Iskander]

Self-defrost increases the possibility of freezer burn on the food you store.

I have a standing 15 cu ft non defrost freezer in my unheated cold room, aka underground concrete tornado shelter. The freezer, spare fridge for extra milk, plus a 100 w light bulb keep the room from freezing in winter I also have a dehumidifier in there for summer use. Every 2nd winter, I load al the food into buckets and store in unheated garage, and defrost the freezer. It's also the time where I go through al the frozen stuff to decide what has been forgotten on the back shelves and needs to be eaten soon or thrown out. Process takes half a day, and I NEVER have freezer burned food.

[Frank]

Interesting. Wonder if it keeps food that cold since it must heat coils above freezing point to melt ice:

[dennisgauge]

Cold air sinks. A chest freezer is much more efficient because less cold air escapes when you open the lid. On an upright the cold air all spills out on the floor every time you open the door.

[Sonny]

I've had a 23 cu ft chest freezer in the garage for, at least, 15 yrs. We have high humidities and the freezer has often had condensation forming on the sides and top..... probably on the bottom, also. I clean the surfaces pretty often. It has taken a long time, but there are some surface rust spots on the exterior, where the condensation has been the most. Still runs great and, otherwise, no problems. I store lots of fruits, berries and such, until I can make the jellies, jams, etc., I stash excess ice as part of my "power outage during hurricanes" back-up supplies, and a few other odds & ends. *I have 3 large alligator heads in there, also. They haven't expressed any freezer-in-the-garage complaints, either.

I would think your most concern would be with condensation on the exterior. You may not have as high and/or persistant of humidities, and subsequent condensation, as we have, here, along the US Gulf coast. As long as you keep the exterior clean and relatively dry, you should be okay.

A couple of times, over all these years, I've waxed the freezer, after waxing the vehicles, but I have no idea if this has helped the freezer's life span.

Sonny

[GRUMPY PHUCKER]

Well, if your looking for a place to stuff your mother-in-law, you'll want a chest freezer. However, freezers are one of the first places the police look if they have reason to search your house.

[gregz]

It mostly depends on how much food is in the upright. Air has little mass, but you could have seal problems, which is not good on an upright. If your in a defrost cycle, you don't want to open the door on an upright. I wonder if any good ones tell you I'm on defrost cycle, do not open!!

Greg