What freezer for garage

[RobH]

We have a totally separate, from the house, garage, and want to put a freezer in it. One place we looked around , the guy told us that upright freezers don't do so well in garages if it gets very cold, like minus 4 or 5C. He said it was the compressor which breaks down if it is not covered over or insulated, and this doesn't happen with chest freezers.

Is there any truth in that , as we know a few people who have either upright freezers or fridges in their garages.

Probably the coldest temperature I have know here in the last 20 years is about -9 in 2010, and regularly get down to -4 or -5C in the winter.

Any do's or don'ts , or even recommendations.

Thanks

[NY]

Beko still make freezers that can be used outside in an unheated garage/shed. Many other makes require the room to be kept at about 15 deg C minimum. It always seems perverse that when you go away on holiday in winter you have to keep the heating on low to keep warm an object that is designed to keep things cold.

Fridge/freezers tend to be more fussy than dedicated fridges or dedicated freezers. I think this is partly because they often economise by only having one thermostat and one compressor (or at least no valves to direct refrigerant to just the freezer or just the fridge, according to separate thermostats) and they assume that if the temperature in the fridge is kept constant, the temperature in the freezer will also be correct as long as the proportion of refrigerant to each part is correct.

[tabbypurr]

+1 fwiw. Most will not work in cold weather.

yes, so avoid freeze fridgers for garage use.

NT

[Martin Brown]

It is at least partly true. The working fluids in a lot of modern fridges and freezers are predicated on them being installed in a centrally heated house. You have to chose a freezer that is designed to operate in an ambient temperature typical of a garage in midwinter.

My brother in laws upright freezer failed spectacularly one cold winter when the garage got down to about 2C. Cold enough to stop it working entirely and warm enough that stuff thawed and refroze making a mess.

You need to read the rating plate carefully and know what it means since they encode the working range in a peculiar way. I have posted before on how to interpret the ratings plate.

[NY]

If it doubt, specify to the salesman that you need to use it in an unheated garage and that it must be suitable.

Hope you manage to find what you are looking for. When we were looking to replace a freezer that thawed in the same dramatic way as yours, the salesman in one shop was most unhelpful and claimed that no-one makes freezers like that any more - why would *anyone* want a freezer anywhere else than in a nice warm kitchen?

[tabbypurr]

expecting a salesman to understand anything is optimistic. Sadly the national standard of retail salesmen is poor.

[RJH]

Yep - I've had a Beko freezer for about 10 years now, bought for putting in the cellar (less to run there too). No problems - but not as cold as you're expecting. Very rarely gets to freezing - mostly 5-15C.

[Bill Wright]

I have two Beko upright freezers in a shed. They have been OK even when it was -9C outside. They are intended for low ambient temps; down to -15C.

If you really thought there might be a problem why not add a froststat and a 100W greenhouse heater? Stand the heater behind the freezer.

Bill

[Nick Odell]

Wot Bill sez.

My sister had an ordinary domestic freezer in the garage which stopped working when the first winter came along. No damage done: it just used ambient room temperature as a reference point for its freezing operation and couldn't make sense of its surroundings. A localised, low power heater solved her problem.

Nick

[Maurice]

Or at least 10oC. We put an additional fridge in the garage for when lots of visitors. but the damned thing stops working during the winter months, because of ignorance at the time of the new 'green' coolant that requires a warmer room to work...

[RobH]

I saw that beko upright freezers were the only ones suitable for a garage. I did a bit of googling as well and it confirms what other people have said on this thread. Now I am not concerned about the temp getting down to -9C with a Beko freezer in the garage.

[Maurice]

Should say "fridge/freezer"

[Brian Gaff]

Its a heat pump and there needs to be temperature difference, however one of the big problems is that domestic mechanical devices are not tested to cope with large swings in temperature, the high heat of summer and the intense cold of winter and all the implications of condensation etc. I do not really see the difference in form factored, its probably got more to do with the design specs. Brian

[Michael Chare]

I have lived in happy ignorance of this problem. If the temperature falls to low for my fridge/freezer to work would it use corresponding less electricity?

[Tim+]

Yes, but the freezer contents would probably melt.

Tim

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[charles]

yes, but not enough to stop the contents of the freezer starting tothaw.

[tabbypurr]

When the compressor runs it doesn't cool, so the thermostat keeps asking for more compressor running. Maybe someone else will explain what the refrigerant does and how it affects the compressor.

NT

[David]

Another vote for Beko - we now have two under cover outside. Bought one, won the other on Freegle.

If you want a fridge/freezer make sure that it has two independent compressors - one for the fridge and the other for the freezer. A single shared compressor leads to the freezer defrosting below (IIRC) 4C. BTDTBTTS.

Cheers

Dave R

[Martin Brown]

I recall once asking a salesman in an electric goods shop the difference in functionality between two models which looked to me superficially the same but for radically different prices. His answer "the model number".

Thank heavens for the internet where you can do your own research.

[RJH]

Overheard a shopper ask the Tesco fishmonger (well, dressed as one) 'What's the best way to cook this'. Reply: 'However you like'.