Any ideas? I have an LG front opening freezer and want to put it in a lean to wood and glass building that we use as a utility room for the washer and dryer. The room isnt heated but it never has frozen in the last few years as I can remember. Problem is, I have been told that the freezer wont work properly at these possible lower temperatures. Is this correct, will it wreck the freezer and whats the science behind this problem....
Thanks for any help
I would think the freezer would work better that way. The heat is absorbed inside the freezer by the fluid and carried outside for disposal. Makes sense that the colder it is outside the heat will dispurse faster and could result in lower running cost.
You would think that wouldn't you but apparently not. I have seen models quoted as working only from +16C upwards! I haven't seen one quoted as working at 0C, the nearest I saw was +5C. Not sure of the science, certainly I could see a problem with a single compressor fridge-freezer, since the larder fridge part could not maintain a temperature of, say, +4C if the outside temperature was below that. Thus it might shut the freezer down.
Quite why a standalone freezer is limited in this way is a bit puzzling. Having said that, plenty of people do have freezers in their garage. I don't believe any damage could occur to the freezer because of low ambient temperatures.
Andy.
I'd be more worried about damp and condensation from the drier exhaust causing it to rust rather than not freezing properly.
MBQ
My parents keep their chest freezer outside in the garage and they've never had a problem. Was out there for about 30 years before it finally packed up due to its age, their current one has been in there for about 5 years and again, no problems so far.
This is some of what I remember from final year studies at college plus a bit of informed guesswork:
The refridgeration plant in these appliances is fairly carefully designed to work at a particular temperature range. Whilst in principal it will have an easier time in the cold there are a number of practical concerns that mean it may not do so.
Most of the working fluid is in the condensor, when in operation, partly as warm compressed gas and partly as liquid. The cooler this part of the plant gets the more working fluid ends up as liquid this means that pressure drops (which means the motor has an easier time) but it also means the difference between the high and low pressure side is smaller. This means that there is less cooling effect to the evaporator and possibly less flow rate around the circuit.
If the circuit could be charged with extra fluid then I suspect it would work well and be more efficient. If it's then brought into the warm again (summer) then pressure might be too much for the motor to overcome on startup. IIRC the compressors are piston/cylinder/valve arrangements.
The big problem is with combined fridge/freezers in a very cold location.
Often the fridge and freezer are served by the same compressor.
If the fridge is sitting in a room near to freezing then the compressor does not need to run to keep the fridge cold. However, the freeezer needs cooling.
The fridge often takes priority and therefore the contents of the freezer defrost because the fridge never has to run and therefore at the same time cool the freezer.
Graham
My brother put a new freezer (not fridge freezer) in his garage, stocked it up, and everything defrosted. On reading the instruction manual it did state that this freezer must not be placed in a garage, or similar location.
MJ
I have had a lot of bother with this. We used to keep a fridge freezer in the garage, worked for years. I am over forty and lived in a variety of houses many of which had no central heating. Fridges and or freezers were kept in kitchens, outhouses or garages as space allowed. There was never any problem at all. However the internal fittings on the current fridge/freezer failed to the extent that we ended buying a new one from Comet Jan 2001. It was a disaster.
The old unit was OLD. It was from before the concerns about CFC greenhouse gasses and it worked over quite a wide temperature range.
However the new unit contained new environment frendly gasses which did not work over the same temp range at all. Carefull inspection of the (the following Jan) spec revealed an operating range of 16-32centigrade (60-83f). So that, in theory, I had to keep the central heating going all night and during hols just to keep my food from going bad. This was nuts. The comet engineer, who visited, stated that the unit has not been dammaged by the cold, and it would work fine when the weather improved!
It turned out that the model we bought from Comet was a varient deisgned for spain/partual etc. A different model varient was required for UK and northern europe. However Comet did not carry that varient. We were messed about no end the rather insulting manager of the Lincoln Coment who kept stating I was abnormal! But in the end they gave in and refunded all the money and let me have another model. It is in the garage right now and works fine (sort of). Buy this I mean it starts failing when the temp drops below 5C, however the unit can still preserve food for ages even if the compressor is not fully functional at those temps.
Thanks for all the replys guys. Just found the instructions to this range of freezers and it does quote an operating ambient temperature range of 16 to 38 degrees for normal operation. As Fergus said this could be a problem, in a cool kitchen or if you go away for winter hols you might get a nasty surprise. Any way, I cant afford a new one at the moment so will have to see what happens. I did notice looking at Comet online that some freezers (chest or upright) are said to be ok for installing in an outbuilding and some are not so will have to pick carefuly when replacement time comes...
Thanks again
I think its CRIMINAL that major UK superstores such as Dixons, Comet and Curry's are still selling goods designed for southern europe and which they know wont work properly at these latitudes. There is a significant number of nights during the year when most houses in the UK will drop below 16C for hours on end. Your fridge/freeser WILL stop working during those periods. They just hope you wont notice!
There is also the general point of having to keep your house heated to above 16C during hols etc. Not environmentally frendly and totally the wrong attitude.
I was aware of this when I bought our fridges and freezers and took care to get the right type. I did mostly my own research, but when I mentioned it to a bod in store they of course hadn't clue what I was talking about. I guess 'N' class ones work ok because houses aren't far enough below the 16 degrees for long enough for it to have a great affect. but ti would be a different matter for an outbuilding
ISTM that there would be an argument about 'not being fit for the purpose' if someone wanted to contest it with the shop
I thought it was well known that fridge freezers with a single compressor are, usually, unsuitable for cold environments. At their worst the freezer just doesn't work at all.. This is because the thermostat is in the fridge and is set to about 4C so if the room is 3C the compressor never runs and the fridge and freezer both get to 3C after a number of hours.
This should not happen with a freezer or a dual compressor fridge freezer. They should continue to work at low temperatures.. however they may well suffer from condensation which can cause damage.
Unless the customer had stated that they wanted to run it outside a normal domestic environment they don't really have a leg to stand on. Best try the goodwill approach IMO.
"Fit for purpose" was the thrust of my demand for a refund. The local manager in Lincoln just kept walking away when this was raised. The area manager eventually sorted things out.
I did phone CA and trading standards and other bodies and was utterly amazed at the response. Most of the folk I talked to did not "speak" centigrade and therefore could not comprehend the problem. Others found the whole thing too technical!
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.