Freezer not getting cold enough.

Many residential refrigerator / freezers are designed to work at temperature considerably above above freezing. Most modern refrigerator / freezer have a single electric thermostat - located in the fresh food compartment. This lone thermostat will control the compressor to keep the fridge (fresh food) section at the desired temperature (usually between 34 - 38 degrees F). The freezer will get colder regardless of how cold it is already whenever the fridge thermostat turns the compressor on.

Now that you see how the thermostat works, let's look at what happens when the fridge is placed in an unheated space - like a garage. In winter time, the temperature can drop considerably below 38 degrees. If the outdoor temperature remains cold enough, for long enough - it will affect the thermostat in the fridge. The temperature inside the fridge could drop below 38 degrees, preventing the thermostat from telling the compressor to turn on. Meanwhile, the temperature in the freezer compartment slowly rises from the normal -10 to 0 F degrees. It will continue to rise until it is the same temperature as the fresh food compartment or until the thermostat in the fresh food compartment tells the compressor to turn on again. This means the freezer contents will thaw.

If the temperature in the garage is even in the 40 to 50 degree range, the loss of cold in the fridge may not happen often enough to keep the compressor coming on often enough to keep some freezer items frozen solid - such as ice cream. Remember, water freezes at 32 degrees F, other products may require lower temperatures to remain frozen, and could thaw at 28 or other temperature.

Good luck!

Lack of freon isn't an issue. Check the internal fan between the freezer and fridge. It is usually located behind the back panel in the freezer. If not there, check upper back of fridge. The internal fan blows the cold air from the freezer to the fridge. When it goes out, the freezer will freeze but the fridge won't cool.

If the garage is unheated and the garage temperature is below 50 deg F this is the reason that the freezer is not able to freeze. A refrigerator is designed to work in a heated space. The thermostat is in the refrigerator compartment while the cold evap coils are in the freezer compartment. The fridge thermostat is typically set to around 40 deg F. When the fridge is in a colder environment, the compressor does not need to work that hard to get the refrigerator to temperature. But the freezer on the other hand, will be above freezing.

To fix this, there are garage refrigerator heater kits available, for just this situation. They are placed in the refridgerator compartment to heat the thermostat. This causes the compressor to run longer, and thus maintain the freezer temperature better. You could get one of these heaters or you could put an light bulb in the refrigerator to do the same thing as the heater. Remember to use a regular light bulb, and not a cfl or led light bulb, they won't generate enough heat. Also remove the light bulb or heater in the warm months unless you want a higher energy bill. Hope this helps you.

The problem is with the garage temperature. The temperature sensor for the refrigerator is in the fridge compartment, but the evap coils are in the freezer. Refrigerators were designed to work in an air conditioned space. When they are put into unheated spaces, it does not work well. The fridge thermostat typically is set to 40 deg F. If the outside temperature is close to that, then it does not turn on the compressor as much so the freezer will have a hard time staying below freezing.

There are garage refrigerator kits for people who put fridges in un heated garages in the winter. They just simple electric heaters that warm the fridge's thermostat to cause the compressor to run more often. This helps the fridge to maintain temperatures better in the freezer compartment. The same thing can be accomplished by putting a small wattage bulb in the refrigerator compartment. Just remember to remove it during the warm weather otherwise you will pay a large electricity bill in the summer months.

Hi,
You will be okay as long as the garage does not go below freezing. If the fridge gets that cold it could start to have problems.

heatman101

Yes, You can use most any refrigerator in an unheated area. Just be aware that if it is in a below freezing area for a long period of time that the cold may penetrate enough to get the refrigerator temperatures below freezing also.

You do not say what type of Fridge/Freezer it is. Some types will not work in cold ambient temperatures, ie unheated garages.

Check the user instructions, if it does not say anything about this, get onto the service department for advice.

Modern fridge/freezers are built to automatically defrost themselves. To do this they require that the room temperature is well above freezing to allow the defrost to take place. If you site the freezer in too cold an environment it is unable to defrost itself and will eventually stop working. It sounds strange but if it is too cold the freezer cannot work. The solution is to buy and fridge/freezer that does not automatically defrost itself if you want it to work in a cold environment.

Switch off fridge unscew & lower stat & light housing, note positions of blue doulble wire & red/grey, the blue wire spade is permanent live for light, fit red/grey to this spade the motor should then run,I let it run for 5mins then replaced wires to there normal position,I think it is due to fridge not running enough when cold. it worked for me so try it. (at your own risk.) best of luck.

hi there the problem you have is that the temp in the garage is to low, the fridge part of your fridge freezer has priority and will only activate the compressor when req'd ie. in cold weather the fridge may not need to switch on the compressor for days at a time this is when the freezer will defrost.
All you can try doing is having some very low heating in your garage in the cold weather

hope this is of help.