Fridges, freezers, and fridge-freezers are all designed to operate in 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 (although 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 and could therefore experience problems (e.g. Freezer defrosted: Can you put a fridge freezer in a garage?)
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 appliance in the UK it is highly likely to be only designed to work in a kitchen or utility room.
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”.
| Climate Class | Min Temperature | Max Temperature |
|---|---|---|
| N | 16 ° | 32 ° |
| SN | 10 ° | 32 ° |
| ST | 18 ° | 38 ° |
| T | 18 ° | 43 ° |
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Peter says
Would draping a blanket over a freezer’s condenser during the winter solve the problem?
Washerhelp says
The problem is to do with the outside temperature causing the thermostat inside the appliance to shut off the compressor. If the appliance is a fridge-freezer with only one thermostat in the fridge section controlling the fridge and freezer section it will cause the freezer to stop cooling too.
The only remedy is to prevent the ambient temperature getting too cold or move the appliance to a better location. The condenser at the back gets hot and needs to dissipate heat, insulating it wouldn’t affect the thermostat inside the fridge turning off because the ambient are in the room has become cold enough to trigger it.
James says
I was told by a fridge salesman that a low-power light bulb,permanently switched on and placed in the fridge compartment will provide enough heat to periodically force the fridge to operate and thus maintain the required temperature in the freezer section. This is probably what the Whirlpool Gladiator fridge that Anthony Chapman refers to is doing.
Washerhelp says
James: That sounds iffy to me to be honest. It would have to be not mains voltage, and also waterproof to run in such a damp environment.
Also, if the bulb is capable of raising the temperature of the fridge above 5 degrees to trigger the stat then the fridge would be constantly competing with the bulb to maintain the temperature at 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 degrees depending on which setting the thermostat is set to.
I never trust salesmen ;-)
C.Standen says
Having a cold plate with a defrost heat would solve the problem but defrost heaters aren’t the most reliable of gadgets.
The temperature in the fridge must be approx 3.4 on the cold plate for the fridge – fridge/freezer to cycle and so a defrost heater would raise the temperature to cause the unit to cycle but they can blow and occasionally blow through the cold plate. The thermostat senses the temperature of the cold plate and switches the unit off at approx -24 degrees and it switches back on at +3.4 so the aim is to raise the cold plate temperature above +3.4 and a defrost heater is by far the cheapest and easiest way of doing this.
Washerhelp says
Thanks for your input C. Of course if they simply installed a separate thermostat control for the freezer compartment it would solve the problem for less cost and with less complication.
MIKE GILLARD says
some fridge freezers have an ambient switch in the fridge cavity,on a few models this switches the 10w lamp on to raise the fridge temp. FACT.
DOES NOT INCLUDE 15W BULB MODELS
Fridgeguy says
In reply to Anthony’s comment of a garage fridge yes they are available in the UK. Although not specifically called that. They work on a small heating element just by the fridgestat phile which fools the fridge into thinking it is warmer then it actually is (not for prolonged use though as I have seen a few faults from the switch being left on. Also some of the fridges which run NTCs instead of stats run ambient temp sensors which the electronics work out the temp required. But always research the model you want not with sales staff though with the manufacturer or an engineer.
M Bruinvels says
Fantastic, useful info….i am trying to run a LEC wine cooler in a garage,and of course had i read your previous comments i would have realised the chiller has a climate rating, which is much warmer than my garage, and hence the chiller would not work properly! Many thanks.
Washerhelp says
Thanks M. If it’s just a wine cooler creating temperatures similar to a fridge then if it gets cold in the garage and the fridge turns off it will still be cold inside the cooler. This issue only really affects a certain type of combined fridge-freezer.
However, the issue of the recommended climate class still remains so I can’t guarantee there would be no issues at all. A garage may get very hot in summer for example, which may cause the cooler to have to work very hard.