fridge in a garage (in winter)

[rieferman]

I have a mini fridge in the barn now, it's actually in the finished/insulated room. But that room will only be heated as needed/used. When we're not in there, do I need to keep the room at some constant base temperature above freezing in order for the fridge to work properly through the winter?

as always, thanks for any input

 

[66HertzClone]

You might position a high wattage light bulb near the condenser to "raise" the temp some.

 

[Gary S]

I get seriously cold here in the winter. I monitor the garage temp in the garage in the Fall and Spring. Once it reaches the 30s in the Fall, I unplug the compressor and put a thermostatically controlled light bulb inside the fridge for the winter. I set the thermostat to about 35 degrees and let the light bulb heat the fridge to 35 over winter. In the Spring, I reverse the process. Once the garage temp gets above 35, I remove the light bulb and thermostat and plug the compressor back in.

 

[Steevo]

I get seriously cold here in the winter. . . .

Now there's an understatement!

 

[sberry]

I usually wire 2 lamps in series for long life when I want it dependable, 2 100 watt lamps give 50 watts of power.

 

[Steevo]

This thread taught me something I never even thought about before.
I never considered that a refrigerator could be "too cold" and might need heat to operate properly in a cold environment.
Is this precaution primarily to keep the contents from freezing, or does it actually prevent some sort of damage to the compressor?

 

[rieferman]

If I decide it's all more effort than it's worth, can I just unplug the unit for the winter and it'll be fine when I plug it back in when spring arrives?

 

[z28snksknr]

If it's colder outside the fridge than inside, why would you need to run the fridge? I know there are limitations on min operating temps for home HVAC units, but does a fridge have those same limitations?

I would think that a fridge is designed to run with ambient temps of around 50°F or less even..... Just speculating here. Any cooler than that and the fridge is not losing much heat at all to require it to run, correct?

that's what my Heat Transfer and Thermodynamics classes taught me, anyway...

 

[steven083008]

If it's colder outside the fridge than inside, why would you need to run the fridge? I know there are limitations on min operating temps for home HVAC units, but does a fridge have those same limitations?

I would think that a fridge is designed to run with ambient temps of around 50°F or less even..... Just speculating here. Any cooler than that and the fridge is not losing much heat at all to require it to run, correct?

that's what my Heat Transfer and Thermodynamics classes taught me, anyway...

I think the bigger concern is things in the fridge freezing. Since the fridge wouldn't kick on because it was already cold enough, I don't think any damage would occur. What do I know though!

 

[malibu101]

As I see it- If the ambient space temperature is a lot below the fridge's internal thermostat setting, how could it or what would cause it to turn on?

Unless something silly like it sitting on a windowsill in direct sunlight would cause the thermo to want to run.

Why not pop an email to a large manufacturer and ask what they say.

 

[Ezzie]

My beer fridge in the shop was in an unheated area last fall. Since frozen beer doesn't pour very well, I had to put a small space heater in the small room where the fridge is to eliminate beer crunchies!

 

[kbs2244]

Ezzie has about the only problem I can imagine.
In northen Illinois I have had fridges in both attached and unattached garages and never worried about them.
If it is cold, they don't run!

 

[67fairlaner]

Well, yes things can freeze, but the real issue (when you have a frost free freezer) is the little heat cycles the fridge/freezer uses to keep the frost off the walls of the freezer. In "normal" temperatures a timer will turn on the heating element once or twice a day. The fridge will then kick on the compressor to keep things frozen & life is good. In the winter the heater will still come on, but the compressor will not run long enough if at all run because of the cold ambient temperatures, so things tend to deforst & get all mushy...don't ask how I know this

 

[rieferman]

ok, much googling and reading later, this guy's response (he listed his credentials as "40 years as an appliance repair person") is much like fairlaner's above:

There is no problem with leaving a refrigerator in an unheated garage. The only problem that you will have is trying to keep frozen things frozen in the freezer unless the thermostat is located in the freezer.

If the thermostat is located in the fresh food section it is controlling temperatures between 35 degrees F. and 45 degrees F. . If the temperature in the garage is at or below 35 degrees .F. the unit will not run because the thermostat senses that it is cold enough in the fresh food section. The freezer however relies on the unit running to obtain below freezing temperatures and will not be able to freeze anything.

If the thermostat is located in the freezer there will be no problem whatsoever keeping both the fresh food and freezer sections at a proper temperature.

If the temperature in the garage gets below freezing for too long the things in the fresh food section could freeze so the temp. should be monitored during a cold period.

In conclusion (the other conclusion.. not the "Bob, next time just do all the googling first" conclusion.. hey! it's fun to talk it through ain't it?) it sounds like the unit will not be damaged by operating in cold weather, just don't use the freezer during the coldest months.

 

[z28snksknr]

And take your beer inside and just put vodka in the garage fridge

 

[da34guy]

And take your beer inside and just put vodka in the garage fridge

I'll drink to that !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Dragster Racer]

Don't leave soda in it all winter. Don't ask why. Let's just say it blew the door open. What a mess! Also, don't unplug and leave closed. It will really stink in the spring.

 

[Identaltech]

get an heat strip from an pop machine.
when I worked for Pepsi we had machines located outside and the only thing that kept the pop from freezing was the heat strip.
ran off an thermostat so it was all automatic.

 

[Hardware]

I would just dig up the floor and put a radiant heat system in. Problem solved.

 

[kbs2244]

Now that you mention the auto-defrost thing, I remember a friend that disconnected it on his.
The only one I have used outside that had that option is in an attached garage, so it probably doesn’t get that cold out there.

Below freezing, but not to the point of freezing beer.
(That was good way to get some cheap, high power drink back in the days.
Set the cans on the dorm window sill and let them freeze.
Drink what didn't freeze.)

 

[Terry Kennedy]

If I decide it's all more effort than it's worth, can I just unplug the unit for the winter and it'll be fine when I plug it back in when spring arrives?

Maybe. When I managed some apartments, I used to unplug the fridge in a vacant apartment until new people moved in. After the second fridge died (ran but failed to cool below 55 degrees) I stopped unplugging them.

The tech that looked at them said that the older units (mostly ones with a Freon filler fitting, rather than the sealed units of today) can leak coolant once the pressure equalizes between the high pressure side and the low pressure side. In the first fridge, it was a tire valve stem-type fitting and I paid to have it recharged. It leaked out again within 2 days, even with the unit running.

These days, anything old enough to have this problem has one of the soon-to-be-banned and very expensive Freon compounds. It'll be cheaper to replace the unit rather than repair it if it fails. And, as a side benefit, the new unit will likely be much more energy efficient and may come with a rebate from your electric utility or government agency. While you may not want a fancy new fridge in the garage, you can "promote" your kitchen one to garage duty and put the new one in the kitchen. This can also score bonus points with the Mrs.

 

[malibu101]

..................
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(That was good way to get some cheap, high power drink back in the days.
Set the cans on the dorm window sill and let them freeze.
Drink what didn't freeze.)

Sounds like our hunting cabin in winter. No electric, no nothing. Heat is a coal stove. We keep the windows cracked for fresh air (plus it can get HOT when stoking) it's a almost a game to set stuff far enough away from the window to avoid freezing yet stay cold.
Hot coffee melts milk slush but when all the beers are frozen after a long or succesful day it's not good.

 

[Kevin54]

I have a mini fridge in the barn now, it's actually in the finished/insulated room. But that room will only be heated as needed/used. When we're not in there, do I need to keep the room at some constant base temperature above freezing in order for the fridge to work properly through the winter?

as always, thanks for any input

Is any other area going to be heated or just that room when you are out there? Chances are that you would not have any problem with it as is. I have left mine out in the garage when it has gotten below freezing with no problems to it. I normally keep the garage at around 45-50 in the winter, but have been out there with the doors open when it has been zero or below removing snow from the drive. The house garage does not have heat in it and I don't think it ever gets below 40 in there. So if you have an insulated finished room, I think you would be fine. Another alternative would be to move it somewhere else for the winter, ot get one of the small oil filled radiators and keep it at a low or medium temperature. My wife uses two of those in her 20'x20' building, kept on medium, and it will keep the building at a constant 65 degrees when it is zero outside.

 

[djd99]

I've had our other fridge in my unheated 30x40 for 5 years now and pretty much leave it on 24/7 all year long and it still works fine. Nothing freezes extra and beer always stays super cold even when it's 30 below outside. I wouldn't do anything extra to keep it warm as I don't believe it's necessary and It will still operate fine. You have to remember a refrigerator has insulated walls so outside temp really isn't a big deal as it just doesn't have to work as hard in the winter.

 

[NVR2FST]

When mine was plugged in, everything froze inside. So now I just unplug it when it starts getting cold and it works out just fine.