Fridges, freezers, and fridge-freezers are all designed to operate within specific temperature ranges (climates). If you place one in a kitchen, or in a separate room inside your house, it’s likely that it will operate as intended. However, it’s not advisable to place a refrigeration appliance next to a heat source such as a radiator or a cooker – or even in strong direct sunlight).
If you place one in an outside building such as a shed or garage you may be putting it into temperature ranges that fall outside the designed limits. You could then experience problems such as not working properly or completely malfunctioning.
So think carefully before installing a refrigeration appliance in a garage or outbuilding if the temperature inside is likely to get much higher or much lower than that of its stated climate class. If you buy any refrigeration appliance in the UK it is highly likely to be only designed to work in a kitchen or utility room. (e.g. Freezer defrosted: Can you put a fridge freezer in a garage?)
All fridges, freezers, and fridge freezers should have a climate class printed on their rating plate (or maybe in the instruction book). This class indicates the minimum and maximum temperatures that the appliance is suitable to work in. The most common climate classes sold in the UK are listed in the form below. (where is the serial number on a fridge or freezer?)
NOTE: Your appliance may not necessarily use the phrase “climate class”, on my freezer the writing is very small and it just says “class SN”. I would expect most refrigeration appliances in the UK would be climate class SN but check your rating plate.
| Climate Class | Min Temperature | Max Temperature |
|---|---|---|
| N | 16 ° | 32 ° |
| SN | 10 ° | 32 ° |
| ST | 18 ° | 38 ° |
| T | 18 ° | 43 ° |
The above climate classes stand for – N = Temperate climate, SN = Extended Temperate climate, ST = Sub Tropical, T = Tropical.
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Whirpool in North America sells a garage fridge (Gladiator), which can operate at sub-zero temperatures because it has a heater as well as a cooling unit.
Can this model, or any analogue, be purchased in Europe.
Thanks
Tony
I think it’s highly unlikely Tony. Not unless there are parts of Europe where such a requirement would be desired. The idea of a fridge needing to heat up its contents instead of cooling them down is quite novel for the UK :-)
not sure if this right forum for this question. If i buy a fridge/freezer in the uk and then ship it out to cyprus would it work ok given that temperatures in cyprus are far higher than uk
Geoff, you need to ask which climate class it is and check the maximum temperatre to see if it can cope with the type of temperatures over there. Some of the refrigeration sold in the uk is designed for a maximum temperature of 32 degrees C.
Excuse-me,
But I think what is interesting people like Anthony and me is knowing if it is possible to buy in Europe a freezer we can put in our garage.
And, in our temperate countries, temperature in a garage could vary from -10°C to +40°C … And, even in winter, I don’t want to cook all what I have in my freezer.
Thanks a lot in helping us in putting this noisy thermodynamic machin in our garage
The Mountain Troll
Is it possible to insulate the siting i.e an outside shed to make it suitable for housing a fridge freezer?
Hello Peter: The issue with a shed or out-building is that they can get way too hot or way too cold. If one is modified so that it maintains similar temperatures to those inside the house it should be ok – if that can be done. Insulating may help in winter, but could make it even hotter in summer – not that we have much of one in the UK these days.
What does SN-T mean ; its seen on some Refrigerators
SN and T are both separate classes. Could it be a fridge freezer with different classes for each unit? Not sure.
Would draping a blanket over a freezer’s condenser during the winter solve the problem?