Cant put Freezer in Garage WTH?
General Topic
So we were going to pick up a new upright from the local appliance store. We have an insulated garage with passive heat from the house. The appliance store said that putting it in the garage would void the warranty and that the only option was in the house or paying double to get a "Garage Ready" Freezer... .
Seriously when did this become a thing? Does anyone know how cold the garage can get and still work? I would bet the space rarely sees temp below freezing. The only time you can see your breath in the garage is when the door are open to let vehicles in/out or while working etc.
Online I see all sorts differing numbers. Some say colder than 0. Some say around freezing. We already have 2 freezers and a garage fridge in the area, I would think that the heat from those compressors would be enough to keep the unit from freezing...
Thoughts? Options for the coldest day? Heat tape? There is an over head heater in the garage that would cook a person out but why heat the space when not needed...
Rese
I have 2 freezer and old fridge/freezer combo in garage. None are "garage ready". I'd take my chances instead of paying double. I have had one go out in 25 years and I had bought that one used off of craigslist. If it happens to go out while still under warranty I guess you could move in house before calling on it. I'd probably just go buy another one and still be money ahead. I bet there are millions of non garage ready freezers in garages without problems and like you said your garage doesn't get that cold or hot.
If it goes bad, move it into the house before you activate your warranty claim. Sounds more like a CYA move by the manufacturer, than anything else.
Thanks guys. I am not worried about heat as much as the cold. I think if we put in between the others it will get enough passive heat.
Also the 20sq foot model is on sale for $939... The garage ready cheapest we could find was $1800 and smaller... We already have 2 small chest and a spare fridge in the garage and they all work fine...
Does anyone know what exactly a garage ready fridge has that a standard does not?
Have had a chest freezer in my garage for years. A couple years ago I had ice droplets on the ceiling - so it gets very cold in there in the winter.
It’s also regularly above 90 throughout the summer. Never had an issue.
I've kept several freezers in garages where it gets below zero. Never had a problem. Of course those were old freezers. I don't know if the new one's they make are anywhere near the quality of the old ones.
Never an issue with two floor models. It’s not heated. It gets outside temps in cold and hot weather. Going on 20 years.
We’ve got freezers and refrigerators in both insulated and uninsulated garage. Not been an issue. The insulated garage doesn’t get below freezing. What Troy said.
My son just lost a 1/2 of freezer full of meat. Heat/cold is very hard on a standard compressor. "Garage ready" has a better compressor in it. I have a refrigerator/freezer in the garage that won't work right in the garage in the cold of winter if I go a few days without heating it. If you have no option beside the garage I would go with "garage ready". These newer models are not like the old ones.
I have two Non-garage ready freezers in my garage and the garage isn't insulated, and they work fine. I think it's just a scam to charge more money like all the many other "specialty items".
I’d never heard of “garage ready” freezers. But when shopping for one two years ago, I learned about them and bought one, a GE. Before that, I had one for 20 plus years in my garage, and had no issues with it. And it was not garage ready.
I'd love to know what "Garage Ready" means. We've had freezers and spare refrigerators in garages and out buildings my whole life and never had an issue.
We have had a large “standard” chest freezer in our insulated, but unheated and cooled, garage for about 8 years now with no issues.
We actually bought a smaller chest freezer a couple of years ago to put inside the house in out utility room. We ended up having to move it to the garage after a few months because it was sweating bad in the house. Have not noticed that at all after moving it into the garage?
From my understanding "garage ready" applies more to refrigerator/freezer combos, not standalone freezers. That's because the thermostat in a combo is located in the fridge portion of the unit. If ambient temps are low enough that the fridge doesn't need cooling, the compressor/evaporator will never run, therefore the freezer portion will never freeze.
Personally, I think it's a bunch of nonsense. I have a combo unit and a standalone freezer in my uninsulated non-heated garage. They are both over 30 years old, and have never had a problem. One the flip side, our in-house combo unit is only 5 years old, and we had to replace the evaporator a few weeks ago for $800. Nothing is built to last anymore.
Matt
I've had a Westinghouse upright freezer in my uninsulated garage for over 25 years, and it chugs right along. Summer temps in there can hit upper 90s and winter temps below freezing. I did just put YoLink sensors in both freezers (basement and garage) and thanks to Bowsiters for recommending that brand and model. $59 for two sensors and a base unit that sends all the info to a phone app. Peace of mind.
My understanding is that the older models are fine, but the newer models won't last. I was told that by a refrigeration expert. He told me that garage ready has a much better compressor on them. I don't know but I know my sons went out after 2 yrs. None insulated garage, 100 degree summer temps and below zero winter temps. For the couple hundred extra bucks I think it's worth it, for the price of meat now a days. He did not notice his was out until it was to late. Good luck whatever you decide.
Here in MN, a newer unit that is not garage ready will fail within a year or two. It's real, unless of course you think 15 degrees is cold...
The newer models are "energy efficient" ..true, it's done by using better insulation but much smaller compressors that can't handle wide temperature variations.
For refrigerators in garages you can buy "garage kits" that will be a small heater to trick thermostat into working properly. Cost is $20 - $40. Otherwise freezer portion will run too warm in winter. Amazon or other places for source
I have a big old side by side in my garage but garage never gets below 45 degrees (heated) so it works fine as is. If I was putting a freezer in garage I'd look for a used older model. It'll work fine, as many here have experienced, and can be found very cheap. Of course a new garage ready model will work fine also.
Huh never even knew there were different kinds. Learned something knew here on Bsite.
Huh never even knew there were different kinds. Learned something knew here on Bsite.
My garage is insulated and doesn’t get below 50 inside during the middle of winter. No issues for my chest freezer and my fridge/freezer combo.
My garage is not insulated or heated. I live in N. Ia. on the Il. border. It gets fkn cold here often. My freezer has been in the garage since I moved here 26 years ago.
Sounds like 'energy efficient' systems might be the problem. Maybe watch local craigslist for an older unit in good shape.
Dana is correct. If you read all the remarks above, they say, "old freezer", "in garage for 25 yrs", "over 30 yrs old". Key words "older freezers." It's not that much extra to get a garage ready freezer. You get a better product and don't have to worry about it. How much do we spend to get the meat and fish we put in them?
Dana is spot on. New energy efficient freezers, are not going to work, in uninsulated garage, very well. Older units are getting harder to find.
GH, I scanned the local craigslist and found a few. Just gotta move 'em yourself.
(Probably a haul from,where you are...)
“Nothing is built to last anymore.”
Ain’t that the truth?!! And if it is, it’s expensive! Have you been to a landfill recently? If you look closely at the recycling piles, there are as many late model appliances as there are old school units waiting to be scrapped. Not to mention china joe wanting to ban certain appliances from being used.
I learned a long time ago, when I lost a quarter of an elk to a “new” unit, that an old inefficient fridge is much more reliable than a brand new one that is built with climate change in mind.
I never new that was a thing until I read this I have a small one in my garage, have for 12 yrs the first 6 of them was unheated now it stays around 45° in the winter never had an issue, I just figured it didn’t have to work as hard to keep stuff frozen, who knew
Hmmmm. Maybe they aren't as good of a product as the old one. I had a Ford (yes a Ford Appliance) from a relative's farm that was in my unheated garage for decades (in 2013 we had about 12 weeks below zero). I got it in 2003, thinking it was 40-50 years old at that time. Replaced in with another old refrigerator/freezer from the 80s which is still working.
Oh and the Ford was still working I just wanted more room...
have a refrigerator and freezer in my garage for 45 years . never had s problem!
Just replaced a refrig/freezer unit in the garage with a non-garage unit. Like you when I was shopping for the unit, I came across "garage ready" units. I didn't know a thing about them and just googled it. The unit I bought is intended for use in temps from 55-110. Where I live my garage is squarely in that range most of the time. So, I didn't worry about it. As for freezers I understand that the compressor will not come on when the ambient temp is at or below the temp of the freezer. The garage ready units are designed to work at lower temps. My freezers are set at -5 to -10. They really need to be set at zero or below for long term storage anyway. If it gets that cold in my garage, I'm moving further south.
Don’t ask, don’t tell. Slick Willie designed it for the military, but maybe it can apply to freezers as well!
Regarding quality, I replaced a late 60s, maybe early 70s upright just a few years ago. I had gotten it when my grandmother passed away in ‘99. No telling how many tons of meats and vegetables that thing had frozen/stored over the years. I’m guessing my current freezer won’t make it much past 10 - 12 years.
I have a fridge in my attached garage. Single car with zero heat. I have a stand up fridge in there for the last 15 years with zero issues. Sale tactics
A friend who used to repair fridges for a living told me to keep the old one I have and run it until it croaks, because the newer ones aren't nearly as robust. He said even though it is 25 years old, it may very well outlast a new one.
Already been said, but add me to the list. I have a fridge/freezer and an upright freezer in our garage with no problems.
You can thank the government, but the new energy efficient models are very different from the older models. Old models were built to work inside or outside.
The new, "improved" models will fail quickly if put in a garage. Sure, if you live in San Diego with a constant 60-80 degree temperature then the garage may not be a problem. But in most of the country with freezing weather and temps in the summer over 100 at least ocassionally, and you will need a garage ready freezer. Or it will fail in a year or two, your choice. Saying this is how they worked in the past means nothing as the newer models are built very differently to achieve the energy efficiency standards mandated by our government. Bill
People saying they have no issues with their 20+ year old units are right but it has nothing to do with the units you would buy today.
I have a 25 year old freezer in my garage. No issues.
Nothing these days are built to last.
So I'll add to my post, I've had the same upright freezer in our garage for 30yrs with no issues, but, we bought a (not garage ready) new small chest freezer in 2021 because we didn't have enough room for all the game meat, and it's been in the garage so far with no issues but I do keep a mindful eye on it more. Great idea that Lou mentioned is the remote sensor's, worth the money and peace of mind.
When I put my freezers and such in the garage the appliance store sent me a little kit that I installed to make garage ready. Think costs me an additional $20 or so. Is remember correct it regulates the temperature better in an environment that may have wider temp swings than a home.
I am commercial refrigeration technician. The newer energy efficient units are definitely not built like the older units. Smaller compressors, different refrigerants, etc. Even the new commercial reach in freezer/coolers are going the same route. If the unit isn't installed in factory recommended ambient Temps you will have problems. Refrigerant pressures directly correlate with ambient Temps. If your garage is 15 degrees this will cause the unit to simulate low charge of refrigerant and can slug compressor (liquid refrigerant returned to compressor) not good . If it's 100 degrees it simulates an overcharge and will burn up compressor. If the unit has a fan motor that pulls air over the condenser coils you can have a technician install a fan cycle switch. This will allow the unit to work at proper pressures in colder ambient Temps. However there really is no cure for ambient Temps above factory recommendations. It's not a sales tactic or b.s. when they say these units need to be installed within these ambient ranges.
I have had a chest freezer in the garage when it has gone below zero outside. For sure below freezing around the chest freezer. It will not hurt it. I have bought dozens of foreclosed properties that had fridges sit way below freezing all winter with no issues.
For warranty no one will know it was in the garage. Even if you need to make a claim and a repair ic covered the odds of your repairman ratting you out, or even thinking to do so, are near zero.
I would not worry about it at all.
My archery club had chest freezers in outdoor shipping containers that were working great until we had a cold winter with two weeks of below freezing temps. They all failed then. I have mine in the back of my attached garage that never gets close to freezing and never had a problem.
Mint do you know how they failed? This is new to me and I am very curious what went wrong. I researched this scenario before I put mine in the garage and what I found did not concern me - that was a decade ago.
I am very curious about this, all failing is pretty definitive.
The link explains what happened "Because the compressor is on the exterior of the unit, exceptionally cold temperatures may cause a build-up of ice or reduce the viscosity of the oils used to lubricate moving parts. Any of these may result in compressor failure or malfunction resulting in a costly repair."
I had a regular chest freezer. Big one, like 20-21 cubic feet. It was chuck full of duck, goose, venison, some bear meat, pheasant and woodcock and a ton of fish. Haddock, Atlantic halibut, some cod and a ton of redfish. It made the move from Massachusetts to North Carolina no problem. This summer due to the heat it shit the bed. Thank god I checked one day randomly and noticed the kids freeze pops didn’t freeze. I lost 5 packs of meat that were right on top with those that were pretty squishy and fairly warm I didn’t want to chance. The rest I saved. My boss just moved and had two freezers empty he had just plugged in and filled with jugs. I grabbed those and transferred over till I got a new one. Down here I’ll stick with garage ready due to the heat
Losing a freezer with a bunch of pheasant and halibut in it would have been grounds to deploy the F word.
I bought a garage ready freezer five years ago. I don’t recall it being any more costly than a non garage ready. It has worked fine in my unheated garage, where the temp gets down to about 34 degrees. My understanding is that garage ready means the compressor is designed to operate in very cold temperatures.
I've been in HVAC/R 33+yrs, the garage ready freezers have a little bit bigger compressor that can handle a little more heat than a regular freezer- but still no guarantee, but $800-$1200 more for a "garage ready"!?, hire a tech to put a bigger compressor in the old freezer, should save you about $675 unless you can do it yourself. My small chest freezer (not garage ready) still going strong 4yrs and counting, oh-and the warranty has been expired for just over a year now. ADDED: The chest freezer is the new one, have a Lrg upright in the garage last 30yrs, but it's an older model with a good/better made compressor than today's new one's.
T Roy’s advice is all you need. Don’t confess! I’ve had chest freezers and upright freezers in my garage is for 20 years and never had a problem. That is both integral garages and unheated detached.
I agree with Mule Power 100% and have done it many times for decades (freezers in garages)
Got rid of a Ford refrigerator freezer about 8 years ago. It was in my sister's barn for 40-50 years. That was replaced by the Frigidaire we took out of the kitchen when we upgraded to a Whirlpool..
Wanna guess which one I have had the most trouble with? The one indoors at 70 degrees not the two sitting in the unheated 2nd garage that gets to -25 sometimes.
Not exactly on topic but worth mentioning. We have a Kenmore hi-lo refrigerator (man. date 6/2003) with the freezer on top, in our unheated garage. for a couple decades. Temp extremes run from 100F to 10 or so.
No problems. I clean the coils at the bottom as necessary, just like I do in the in the kitchen fridge. I also remove the plastic floor in the garage freezer compartment annually and pour hot water on the ice dam that builds up under the plastic. No issues with the fridge at all. It holds temp fine and has lasted 21 years. My comment on 'garage ready' is it sounds like sales/liability BS to me, based on how well ours performs.
A bigger issue is having a fridge lose juice because it is on one of the new 'e code approved 'safety' outlets. Those things totally suck. New homes don't have those for refer for that reason. A kid sticking something in an outlet quickly learns to not do that. lol
I had a refrigerator in the garage for 20 years when it finally stopped cooling/freezing. I recently replaced it with a new one that was not garage ready. The temps in the garage stay within the normal specs. Plus, it was a $500 refrigerator/freezer. I wasn't going to pay the difference for garage ready. If it goes out . . . I've an old Frigidaire upright Freezer that's been going strong for 28 years and a smaller Sears upright freezer for the same time frame. I replaced the compressor in the Frigidaire maybe 20 years ago. I asked the repairman about a new one. He told me that I would not have as good of one as my old one fixed. (Knock, Knock).
Guess I just don't understand the garage ready BS. I have a 45 year old Montgomery Ward chest freezer in my garage that has worked fine, even when temperatures got down to 40 below zero with no problem at all. They don't make em like they used to!!!!!!!!!
“They don't make em like they used to!!!!!!!!!”
Which is exactly why they make them the way they do now. You aren’t entitled to product reliability when Uncle Sam deems it too “convenient”. Just be careful when Kamalawalz comes for your guns. She’ll surely penalize you if she sees an antiquated fridge next to your garage reloading set-up.
What a scam! I've had freezers in an unheated garage for the last 50 years. (not the same freezer). It has been down to -20* at sometimes and they all worked fine. I still have one in an unheated garage
^^^ me too , one is a cheap one from WM about 3 years old , works for me
I bought 2, 9 or 10 cu. ft chest freezers in the past few years. One for my garage here and one for my garage in northern WI. Both say garage ready and both were about $350.00. No issue with either. The manufacturer is Magic Chef. There were some others there that did not say garage ready, and were in the same price range. Bought them from Home Depot.
Was in the marker for a couple freezers for my Taxidermy business. Friend who has an appliance store explained the differences and assured me that neither will last long and that the non garage ready will surely fail within a year or two of being in the garage. I will repair any old freezers as long as I can. Thanks tradi doeer for setting the facts out there.
What’s a garage ready freezer? I bought one and put it in my garage several years ago. It was ready as soon as I plugged it in lol
I was given a nice refrigerator for my hunting cabin. Our old one always sat on our deck and worked fine til a bear destroyed it. The new fridge could not go below 40 when set at the coldest setting. I called Fridgedaire and they said that model was not garage ready. I had never heard of that term. We ende up giving it away. New stuff is trash.
Surprised that this thread is back around and up to the top. I am also surprised at how many did not know about this issue. We have 2 smaller chest freezers that are 15 years old and still working. We ended up putting the new up right indoors. It is just crazy that we make the world a better place by forcing things to fail more often.
So I don’t know anything about how it works. If I put my freezer in the garage how does it know where it is?
It’s a way to get more money out of customers.
It’s a way to get more money out of customers. How can a freezer be too cold?
It's not the cold that effects a freezer the most but extreme heat does. It forces the compressor to work twice as hard to maintain internal temperatures. Thus the newer equipment has a lesser capable compressor. Best thing to do is to make sure you have air circulation all the way around the newer freezer models.
So if it's hot in the kitchen and hot in the garage where do I put it. I have one in each of two different garbage and they are working fine. In fact I have an upright that stores my taxidermy stuff that has been running since the late 80's. It doesn't care that its hot in there.
You have to air condition the garage and then heat it in the winter to achieve optimum efficiency to prevent voiding warranty. That’s probably in the fine print.
What’s a garage ready freezer? I bought one and put it in my garage several years ago. It was ready as soon as I plugged it in lol
This is a planned obsolescence type of thing. Why do you think the older freezers do just fine in a wide range of temps? They may put an updated compressor and insulation in the "garage" model. But I doubt is. They can upcharge and the average person would never know. They probably just slap a little more insulation on and charge for the upgraded freezer. I worked as a refrigeration mechanic in a walk in cooler facility for 10 years. There are a ton of "upgrades" that really aren't.
Yeah, the difference is likely minimal to nil... but the kicker is they can have the excuse of not honoring the warranty if one is installed in a garage. A good percentage of the customer likely installs in a garage/shed/etc., so that is a good gamble on sending out a crappier product.
