freezer in garage?

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  • TexasBob

    Another day in Paradise
    MDS Supporter
    Oct 25, 2012
    2,485
    Space Coast
    Bad news for you. That’s the law of averages.

    Yes, some parts of fridges and freezers are not as well made. But that reduction in quality predates that freezer of yours. It went down in the 80s and 90s. Not recently.

    And the scroll motors in compressors these days are typically better than those of older compressors. QA on the lines however is much lower than decades ago.

    But it is still a bell curve. Hit a year or two and odds are excellent it’ll last decades.

    So far in my life I’ve had 8 fridge-freezers and a chest freezer, including mini fridges, not including appliances in rentals or dorms, with a total of probably 50 appliance years between them all.

    I’ve had one die and the compressor was replaced days within the 1 year warranty and it was still going strong when I just sold my rental a few months ago with I think 12 or 13 years in the replacement compressor.

    None of the rest have died.

    I have a friend who has had 3 or 4 die on him over a decade.

    Typically with no manufacturing defect and not abused (IE kept in a really warm place), the type of compressor used for refrigeration in a residential fridge or freezer is a 15-25 year expected life. Old or new. Does better than that, great. Worse, than that sucks. Just taking an average.




    Sucks to be you :cool:
     

    WeldonHunter

    Active Member
    Apr 27, 2011
    129
    Louisiana
    I bought an indoor/outdoor convertible refrigerator/freezer Frigidare FKCH17F7HWC a few years ago to put in the laundry room off the kitchen which is basically a screen porch that's had the screens covered over but is subject to the outside temps from about 15 degrees in winter and 105 max in summer. I'm in Louisiana now but grew up in Maryland so the temps are similar. This unit is either a refrigerator or a freezer depending on what mode you have it in. I use it as a refrigerator and have a separate, indoor, freezer in the house. The difference between this unit and indoor units is the oil used in the compressor. It's designed to be used in extreme temps of hot and cold. It also has a anti freeze feature if it's being used as a refrigerator that works down to 10 degrees. If the inside temp goes below what the setting is it has a heater (the defroster element) that comes on and maintains the set temperature so the contents don't freeze. When in freezer mode there would be no issue because the freezer would just work less. The range on this unit is 10 degrees to 110 degrees. The main thing to remember is a unit being used in very cold temperatures needs to have a compressor and the proper oil designed to handle the lower temperatures. Otherwise the compressor oil used in indoor units can thicken up and cause compressor failure eventually. Some units actually have heaters to heat the compressor oil to guard against this. I think the refrigerant oil used in most indoor units is a poly based oil and I if I remember correctly the outdoor units use mineral based or mix but I'm not 100% sure. I was an auto tech for 30+ years and did AC repair my whole career but we used R12 and mineral oil and then R134a and poly oil.
     

    Inigoes

    Head'n for the hills
    MDS Supporter
    Dec 21, 2008
    49,359
    SoMD / West PA
    IF a freezer is in the garage and it goes below freezing in the garage (does not happen at my house) . how is it bad if the freezer does not come on as long as your not putting warm things in it?

    I have a freezer for fish bait in another property and the house gets down to 60F and the garage may not get to freezing but close to it. IT stays on and closed all winter.

    If I have a freezer lasting 10 years. I'll be happy about that.

    Everything frozen will melt, and when left unchecked. Mold will become the primary occupant, replacing the contents.
     

    GSuders

    Active Member
    Dec 13, 2017
    148
    Keymar
    Some of the energy efficient ones will shut off once it gets so cold in a unheated location. There is something that can be installed or done to prevent this, but it's been a few years since I looked into it. I think some of the new ones will work fine, but others will shut down, I forget what it is that you need to look for in the specs. I had an uncle you had a fridge in his pool house and garage. 1 year both freezer thawed out due to the low temps and they quit running and he had to throw everything in the freezers away.
     

    Inigoes

    Head'n for the hills
    MDS Supporter
    Dec 21, 2008
    49,359
    SoMD / West PA
    Some of the energy efficient ones will shut off once it gets so cold in a unheated location. There is something that can be installed or done to prevent this, but it's been a few years since I looked into it. I think some of the new ones will work fine, but others will shut down, I forget what it is that you need to look for in the specs. I had an uncle you had a fridge in his pool house and garage. 1 year both freezer thawed out due to the low temps and they quit running and he had to throw everything in the freezers away.

    It's called a garage kit. It basically is a low temp heater, that is installed around the refrigerator's control unit.

    61xpYe2A4ZL._AC_SL1280_.jpg


    The kit produces just enough warmth to keep the contents in the refrigerator from freezing, and keeps the controls to send signal to cycle normally.
     

    adit

    ReMember
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 20, 2013
    19,499
    DE
    Everything frozen will melt, and when left unchecked. Mold will become the primary occupant, replacing the contents.

    C'mon man. How are the contents in the freezer going to melt if the temperature outside the freezer is "freezing"?
     

    Inigoes

    Head'n for the hills
    MDS Supporter
    Dec 21, 2008
    49,359
    SoMD / West PA
    C'mon man. How are the contents in the freezer going to melt if the temperature outside the freezer is "freezing"?

    When the temperature outside rises above freezing, and the refrigerator never kicks on.

    I found of the hard way, when I purchased a new garage fridge in PA.

    A tray of mold replaced what used to be a tray of pig in the blanket (stuffed cabbage).

    After installing a garage kit, I never had another issue.
     

    adit

    ReMember
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 20, 2013
    19,499
    DE
    When the temperature outside rises above freezing, and the refrigerator never kicks on.

    I found of the hard way, when I purchased a new garage fridge in PA.

    A tray of mold replaced what used to be a tray of pig in the blanket (stuffed cabbage).

    After installing a garage kit, I never had another issue.

    I've never seen this. Must be newer ones. I believe mine only have internal thermometers.
     

    Inigoes

    Head'n for the hills
    MDS Supporter
    Dec 21, 2008
    49,359
    SoMD / West PA
    I've never seen this. Must be newer ones. I believe mine only have internal thermometers.

    Depends more on the brand, I think. IIRC, In 2018 I purchased inexpensive Frigidaires for my place in PA, for both the garage and the kitchen. What is ironic, the garage kit doesn't show up in the related items. The garage kit is nothing more than a heating element to keep the controls warm, so the control units sends out signal to run the compressor.

    I never had an issue with the inside the house (kitchen) refrigerator.
     

    Aamdskeetshooter

    Ultimate Member
    Dec 19, 2013
    1,744
    Moco
    So I bought a chest freezer and the temperature is fluctuating between -4° and 10°. And it’s not when I’m opening the freezer. Is this normal?
     

    Aamdskeetshooter

    Ultimate Member
    Dec 19, 2013
    1,744
    Moco
    Yes.

    I put a wireless thermometer in freeze to verify the display this past summer.

    That makes me feel better. On the recommendations up thread I also bought a wireless thermometer with an alarm and a power outage alarm. I even bought a second thermometer because the first one I got actually has two thermometers and I can’t get the second one to work and I had no way to test the readings on the other because my freezer doesn’t have a display.
     

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