Chest freezers suitable for outbuildings

[PeterC]

I've seen posts asking about using a freezer in a garage or shed. Ebac now makes them.

[Tim+]

Doesn't everyone? As long as it's just a freezer and not a single stat fridge/freezer they'll work just fine in a garage or shed.

Or were you perhaps hoping that we wouldn't know that?

Tim

[Martin Brown]

That isn't necessarily true any more. Some freezers are designed with refridgerants that misbehave badly if the ambient temperature drops below some critical value which if memory serves is around 6C.

If you are unlucky and have one with the wrong sort of working fluid intended only to work in a domestic kitchen you end up with a freezer full of defrosted slimy and rotting food when the winter is cold but not freezing. It happened to my brother in law. Check the ratings plate carefully to make sure it is suited for use in a cold environment.

This is an extract from the relevant manual c195_53.pdf p4:

---start---

This appliance is CFC-free (the refrigerating circuit contains R134a) or HFC-free (the refrigerating circuit contains R600a ISOBUTANE). To check the gases used refer to the specification plate on the appliance.

For appliances with ISOBUTANE (R600a) ISO-butane is an environmentally friendly but flammable natural gas. Therefore, it is important to ensure that the refrigerating circuit tubes are not damaged, before connecting the appliance to the mains power supply.

INSTALLATION Two workers, so as not to injure people or damage things, should install the appliance. If damage occurs while the appliance is being dispatched, advise the supplier immediately before connecting it. Read the climatic class of the appliance on the specification plate located on the inner left side: - ? If: iSNi (works at ambient temperatures ranging ) from +10°C to +32°C ? If: iNi (works at ambient temperatures ranging) from +16°C to +32°C ? If: iSTi (works at ambient temperatures ranging) from +18°C to +38°C ? If: iTi (works at ambient temperatures ranging) from +18°C to +43°C. Install

---end---

I don't know what proportion these days are optimised for use only in a centrally heated home. The problem is even worse with fridge-freezers where they can also fail because the fridge thermostat is satisfied.

[NY]

Apparently the recommendation if you want to install such a freezer in a cold shed is to install a heater: how absurd to have to heat up the ambient air for an appliance that freezes to -18 degrees to work properly :-)

We had this happen. We'd been out and picked loads of blackberries (we brought back an incredible 18 kg in our rucksacks that day!) and my wife froze them all. One day later in the year she went out to the freezer and found that everything was soft and squidgy, though still very cold and not rotten (it had been fine the day before). So rather than waste it all, she was busy all that evening making fruit pies using every available pie dish that we had, with the oven crammed with pies, and we then froze all of those once the freezer was working properly having hastily moved it inside which required reorganising the kitchen.

It's hard to find a modern freezer that can be kept outdoors where the temperature can go below freezing, though Beko do a few. Failing that, you need to get an old one on eBay :-)

[michael adams]

Beko are made in Turkey although the quality seems to be OK. Although some people were wetting themselves a while back over one particular model catching fire.

"Traditional fridge freezers have a minimum ambient temperature of 10?C and are not recommended for use in low temperatures. However, Beko's unique Freezer Guard Technology means that many of our frost-free freezers are suitable for use in ambient temperatures of -15?C, guaranteeing them suitable for outdoor use, even in winter.

For Beko fridge freezers with Freezer Guard, the freezer compartment will continue to work in low ambient temperatures, however the food in the fridge may freeze.

Beko are made in Turkey although the quality seems to be OK. Although some people were wetting themselves a while back over one particular model catching fire.

thanks to the link provided by the OP, there's always Ebac. A British owned company who actually still manufacture all their goods in the UK. Their freezers are protected by something called "Temperature Guard". Although the pony tailed pillocks who they allowed to design their website for them didn't feel the need to actualy explain what this was - except that you could put the freezer in your garage. Nothing so complicted as the actual ambient temperture operating range etc. mentions of -15C etc

michael adams

...

[Richard Conway]

Yeah, we bought a Beko for that very reason - most state a much higher min ambient temperature

[RJH]

+1 - used in a cellar for some years now with no issues.