Chest freezer question: outdoor use?

[Mosca]

I’ve been thinking about getting one of these for a few years now. The main thing stopping me is that I don’t have anywhere to put it indoors. There’s no room in the kitchen for a large appliance, and the garage gets just as cold as outside in the winter.

But I’m doing more research, and it looks like the frost-free freezers are not recommended for outdoor use, but some manual defrost chest freezers are okay. Specifically some Frigidaire models. Quoting from the owner’s manual for FrigidaireFFCS0722AW, "Choose a place that is near a grounded electrical outlet. For the most efficient operation, the appliance should be located where surrounding temperatures will not exceed 110°F (43°C). Temperatures of 32°F (0°C) and below will NOT affect operation. Additional compressor heaters are not recommended."

https://images.webfronts.com/cache/fragdghkxgpv.pdf

This sounds to me like a unit that can be left outdoors. A typical winter in our area will be between 20*F and 40*F, with extreme lows of sometimes a week around 0*, or a couple weeks between 10* and 20*.

Thoughts from the crew?

[Red Man]

Sounds like you should be fine to me.

[Red Man]

The colder it is outside, the less cooling capacity they will have and they will be less energy efficient. The thing is, once it’s below freezing outside, they won’t have to work very hard to stay below zero, so it doesn’t matter that they won’t have as much cooling capacity.

[jfmorris]

Mosca I had a 12 cubic foot or so chest freezer in the garage in Alabama for about 10 years before it gave up the ghost. It survived freezing temperatures in winter and 100 degree days in summer. It finally died one hot August - I found out maybe 2 weeks later the hard way.

I recommend a freezer alarm so you don’t get the surprise I got, but it should be fine outside. I do recommend somewhere the sun doesn’t shine directly, but I’ve seen friends and family out in the country who had their chest freezer on the back porch many times in my life.

[ComfortablyNumb]

You beat me to the 'post' button. Fortunately I found my failed freezer while it was still cold.

[wu7y]

Put your freezer "where the sun doesn't shine.." ?? Oh! Never mind. I just didn't read far enough. Sorry. I'll leave now.

[ComfortablyNumb]

Most of mine sit in unheated outbuildings, which only protects them from rain and snow, not temps. I've never had a problem other than one that died in the summer, which would have gone unnoticed in the winter.

[Mosca]

Okay, this sounds good then. I don’t think I’ll need it for 10 years, but you never know. It will be under the eave, so rain and snow would be minimal. GE makes a similar model that also has a lock, that would be good because we get bears sometimes.

With the freezer part of our refrigerator, it fluctuates around 0*, like -10 to +10. But also, it’s just completely jam packed. This will allow both to run more efficiently I think.

[fzxdoc]

I've read that fuller freezers run more efficiently. At least that's my excuse.
K.

[smokin fool]

There was one on the farm that was outside in an unheated, dirty, damp, pretty much open to the weather garage.
It lasted decades untouched but we did luck out with it.
It just ran and ran. Go figure.

[HouseHomey]

What could go wrong?

[Bkhuna]

From Consumer Reports - "You need to make sure that the unit is not exposed to temperatures above 110° F or below 0° F, because that may damage the freezer," says Larry Ciufo, who oversees the ratings for Consumer Reports’ freezer tests.

Wendy Treinen, director of brand and product communications at GE Appliances, agrees. "In hot weather the freezer has to work overtime and in very cold temperatures, the freezer "gets confused’ and shuts off, failing to keep a freezing temperature because it ‘thinks’ it is already maintaining a temperature of 0° F,” she says.

I would at the least get a MIN/MAX thermometer to alert you if there has been a temperature problem with the unit.

[Mosca]

We only have a couple days less than zero every 2-3 years. And rarely over 100.

[Attjack]

I don't see why not I have outside refrigerators.

[fracmeister]

modern super efficient ones dont tend to hold up in outdoor use as the old ones. but they use less electricity per day during their shorter lifes...

[glitchy]

GE has ‘garage ready’ freezers. I’m guessing it’s more marketing, but it got me.

[Bkhuna]

I recently bought a "garage ready" unit. Being the OCD type of person, I spent weeks searching articles online about the benefits. I took the advise of Consumer Reports. Cold isn't an issue here on the Space Coast of Florida, but heat is.

[Randy-Phx]

Me too. It sits in my garage which is regularly above 100 degrees. We had 55 days over 110 and it is still going strong.

[Mosca]

I broke the news, got a "WHAAAAAT?" And the band aid has been ripped off. It’s a done deal.

[Steve R.]

Going into that conversation with a plan that you are prepared to explain always helps.

[Old Glory]

I had a small fridge/freezer in my garage and it was an issue for the freezer. Stuff defrosted in cold weather. I was told I neede one of those garage ready units.

[Mosca]

Turns out there are lots of ads, not very much available stock. Found a Hotpoint 7.1c/f for a few dollars more than the Frigidaire and GE that I was looking at. Those cost less, but all that I could find was pictures of them.

[jfmorris]

Freezers have been hard to come by since COVID-19 and hoarding started. They sold out early on, and from what I am told, tend to sell about as fast as stores receive them.