CAJUNLAWYER
Member
New one on me! Marketinmg gimmick or needed. Not so much for cold temps but for hot temps. What say you brain trust??
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"Garage Ready" Freezers
- Thread starter CAJUNLAWYER
- Start date
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Michigan has just the opposite problem. I wish someone made a garage refrigerator/freezer for cold climates.
We bought a new Frigidaire refrigerator for the garage about a year and a half ago. Initial intent was as a beverage cooler, but now it’s just a second fridge. It works great in the summer, but the freezer section won’t keep food frozen in the winter. We don’t really need a second fridge in the winter, since our entire garage serves as a walk-in ccooler this time of year!
We bought a new Frigidaire refrigerator for the garage about a year and a half ago. Initial intent was as a beverage cooler, but now it’s just a second fridge. It works great in the summer, but the freezer section won’t keep food frozen in the winter. We don’t really need a second fridge in the winter, since our entire garage serves as a walk-in ccooler this time of year!
SAFireman
SWCA Member
My regular old freezers have done fine in the garage, or shop with the Texas heat. It was the dang 'crazy ants' that got the last one. It was truly sad, it had 250-300 lbs of venison in it. I didn't find that it had failed until things had gone far south. I locked the door, and then duct taped it with several wraps top and bottom, then got it into the truck bed for the ride to the dump.
The whole staff of the county dump came out to see it, and they all wanted to know where my wife was....she was at school BTW. I wonder what they would have done if I had to open it and there she was
Garage ready sounds like a marketing ploy to me....
The whole staff of the county dump came out to see it, and they all wanted to know where my wife was....she was at school BTW. I wonder what they would have done if I had to open it and there she was
Garage ready sounds like a marketing ploy to me....
THE PILGRIM
Member
I thought that freezers in LA came preloaded with Road Kill.
SAFireman
SWCA Member
We have 2 chest freezers that were made in the '70s and are still going strong. We don't get alot of heat here but we do usually get a few 100 degree days each summer. Never noticed the food was any different.
Talking about thins smelling bad if it goes out, my father was a game warden, a trapper, a hunter and a fisherman. Between the venison, fish, raw hides and wildlife specimens it would have been a fine stench!
Talking about thins smelling bad if it goes out, my father was a game warden, a trapper, a hunter and a fisherman. Between the venison, fish, raw hides and wildlife specimens it would have been a fine stench!
We've got two freezers in our hangar that are 5 and 7 years old now. Still going strong in our AZ heat. Fingers are crossed. 
We have a fridge in the garage and it does not work well in St Louis winters. A real bummer but thinking about moving it to the basement.
mckenney99
Member
I believe newer model refrigerator/freezers are designed not to allow the compressors to run below a certain ambient temperature (32'?), thus the compressors won't come on to keep frozen items frozen. Not a problem normally in a house but an unheated garage is another issue. A friend experienced this problem with an upright freezer in his unheated detached garage and he wound up building an insulated box enclosing the freezer with the front side hinged so he could access the door, the heat generated by the compressor running kept the temperature in the box above the cut off temp and walla, no more issues with the freezer not running in the winter temps.
Call the company and ask if they have garage heater for your model. Its a small foil heater to force the thermostat to turn on. Or go one ebay and search.
In our area, all refrigerators and freezers must have the motors removed and the doors before dumping in the county landfill.
Refrigerator/Freezers in garages.
Most refrigerator/freezers don’t work in garages in northern climates because the refrigerator part is where the thermostat is.
That is, it only runs if the refrigerator portion gets above 36* or whatever you set it at.
Only then will some cold be pumped to the freezer.
In our attached garage, the temps will hang in the 30’s for weeks in the winter. This allows the refrigerator to not run at all but thaws/spoils the food in the freezer.
Our recent upright freezer has been working well in the garage for five years or so now just like the 30+ year old one it replaced, but it’s a single unit so that’s expected.
Whether this has any bearing on the OP’s “Garage Ready” question, I don’t know.
Yes, I know that you pump heat around rather than pumping cold.
Regards
Russ
Most refrigerator/freezers don’t work in garages in northern climates because the refrigerator part is where the thermostat is.
That is, it only runs if the refrigerator portion gets above 36* or whatever you set it at.
Only then will some cold be pumped to the freezer.
In our attached garage, the temps will hang in the 30’s for weeks in the winter. This allows the refrigerator to not run at all but thaws/spoils the food in the freezer.
Our recent upright freezer has been working well in the garage for five years or so now just like the 30+ year old one it replaced, but it’s a single unit so that’s expected.
Whether this has any bearing on the OP’s “Garage Ready” question, I don’t know.
Yes, I know that you pump heat around rather than pumping cold.
Regards
Russ
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So they fixed so it somehow doesn’t sweat on the outside?
moosestang
Member
I first ran across this a few years ago, when friends who own a summer cottage in the Adirondacks bought a new fridge. They left for a week in the fall when the temps dropped into the 40's or lower. When they returned, all the stuff in their freezer thawed. After much digging, they found that you must buy a "garage ready" fridge if you expect it to run when the indoor temps drop near freezing. Like someone earlier mentioned, you can buy a heater that attaches to the thermostat in the fridge to avoid this. Some kind of energy efficient BS. I think some manufacturers like Fridgidair realized this is stupid and stopped doing it.
OP
CAJUNLAWYER
Member
Fish ain't nothing!! Now Shrimp will twist yer socks off
I have an 15 year old chest freezer in my garage and it is 10 degrees in the garage and -13 outside today. Freezer has endured this for all of its life without a glitch. It is a cheap no-defrost Sears 10 cu. ft. I could understand if a frost-free freezer might not work correctly in this environment so my recommendation would be to go cheap with no frills??
