Not strictly DIY but can someone advise me of the problem, if there is a problem, of locating a freezer in an unheated garage. It seems that all freezer manufacturers say 10 deg C is the lower limit for their machines. When I calll them for an explanation so far I haven't had anything that makes the slightest sense to me. Does anyone know the reason for 10 deg C being the lower limit and if a machine is subjected to say 0 deg C what is the effect?
I suspect most large freezers are located in an outside building unless the house is very large.
Don't know why. Some freezers do state suitable for out-building use. My parents have had a 'normal' freezer in their garage for about 8 years without any problems. I too have a 'normal' freezer in our garage for about
Not all of them. These days this compatibility is usually listed specifically. For freezers (rather than fridge freezers) it's very common to cope with cold surroundings as they're so often kept out in the garage.
The underlying reason is cheap crap thermostats. The simpler design measures more of a temperature difference than an absolute temperature inside, so it's confused by cold surroundings. Many brand new fridges are sprouting actual displays of temperature (digital or bar graph) on the outside and most of these ought to cope (although there will surely be cheapskate cowboys).
On a similar basis, is it a terrible thing to buy a new Hotpoint fridge? Normally I wouldn't consider it, but this one looks really well designed and it's made in Poland, not the UK (possibly by Creda, then badged for Hotpoint)
You may be getting blanket advice that's more applicable to fridge/ freezers.
Apart from the more expensive models, many fridge/freezers share a single compressor to cool both parts.
If the environment is around the same temperature that the main fridge compartment is set to, the compressor rarely gets to start and the freezer compartment will not be cooled sufficiently.
We went to Curry's in Kirkcaldy and specifically asked for a freezer with temperature setting suitable for use in a garage. No one there could help us so we went to Curry's in Dunfermline and the sales assistant there told us it was no problem. They had some in stock that could operate in agarage at very low temeratures so we bought a BEKO. It has worked perfectly for the last 3 years.
We've always (always =3D 35 years) had our freezer in the garage, and it's a free standing garage near Edinburgh. I can't remember if the current one is number 2 or 3 but it's probably some 15 years old now.
No idea why a stand alone freezer would have a problem. Fridge freezers with a single compressor are different. They normally cool the fridge to the correct temperature and with luck this is enough for the freezer as well. In a cold environment the fridge may not need cooling so the freezer would not get cooled either.
As a question to a manufacturer 'what is the effect on freezer operation if the ambient temperature falls below 10 deg C'? I have been told that if the ambient temperature falls significantly below
10 deg C the freezer will cut out and will 'defrost'. He couldn't explain why that would happen as I pointed out that the thermostat in the feezer is set at about -10 deg C as far as I know. All sounds like a 'stretch' to me.
As a thoiught, I don't know what freezers use as their 'sensor' but if it is a liquid capillary ( in this day I doubt it) and the capillary is routed external to the insulation, ambient temperature may influence its operation.
It is very strange that the major manufacturers of freezers (Bosch, Zanussi, Liebherr, Whirlpool, Electrolux) all state the lowest rated ambient temperature is 10 deg C. There must be a reason. Is the reason for 'rating' purposes and low ambient temperature does not influence operation of the machine?
I very much doubt that many people have enough space in their homes for a large chest type freezer and it defies logic to heat a space to allow the placement of a machine that has the sole purpose of freezing :-).
The Hotpoint name is currently owned by Indesit (Merloni Brothers).
It was part of GEC, then GE, and then independant following a management buy-out. Their kit was manufactured in Peterborough. I don't know where it's manufactured now. Merloni initially said they were going to keep the name for use in the UK where it was recognised as one of the better makes. It's not so well known across the rest of Europe -- back in the GEC days, they used to sell only their top-of-the-range products out to the rest of EU. Having been one of the the first to come out with things like microprocessor controlled washing machines, they found the market for those top end products was mostly the rest of EU and through UK staff sales. Hotpoint used to manufacture white goods for other well known makes too.
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