Chest freezer in garage or basement?

[Norminn]

We are contemplating buying a high-eff. chest freezer, about 18 c.f. It
would be a lot handier to have in our attached garage, but I have no
idea how an unheated garage will affect efficiency....summer gets pretty
hot in garage, but can leave it open on hottest days. I'd like to hear
experiences of others, especially if they have operated the same freezer
in both places. We are in Indiana, so hottest days can be 100+ and
coldest (this winter) minus 22.

[dpb]

I wouldn't worry too much about the efficiency part; that's the least of
your worries. The biggest problem in an unheated space if it gets and
can stay below 40F or so there's a real likelihood the freezer cooling
will never kick on and you can actually lose product in dead of winter.
Happened to daughter in Olympia, WA, and it's not all _that_ cold
there. Turns out newer units are far more susceptible than older as
they had had an ancient unit for years but the new replacement one was
the culprit the second winter.

You can solve the problem by building a closet area around it and
keeping either a small heater or perhaps as small as a 100W
(incandescent) bulb.

--

[Tony Hwang]

Hi,
Our upright freezer stays inside the insuslated but not heated garage.
Works fine. I am in Calgary, AB much colder than Olympia, WA. Maybe high
humidity there has something to do with it? Our winter time relative
humidity ia often below zero %.

[Stormin Mormon]

On 2/27/2014 1:24 PM, dpb wrote:
> You can solve the problem by building a closet area around it and
> keeping either a small heater or perhaps as small as a 100W
> (incandescent) bulb.
>

You're not encouraging the OP to be a
criminal smuggler of illegal bulbs?

--
.
Christopher A. Young
Learn about Jesus
www.lds.org
.

[bob haller]

my wife insited on a freezer, so we got a chest type. it saved no money at all and just cost money for the electric. we got it, she did a big shopping trip then didnt use the stuff before it got freezer burn. ultimately we tossed nearly everything in that freezer. I have several friends who had the same experience...

!YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

[IGot2P]

On 2/27/2014 11:57 AM, Norminn wrote:
>

In SE Iowa we have one in an unheated and uninsulated attached garage
with absolutely no problems. Been there since we moved here about eight
years ago...think we bought the freezer at the same time. Don't know
what the temps in the garage get to but outside it can be as cold as -15
degrees F and as high as 100 degrees F.

All in all, I don't think that you should have any problems either.

Don

[tra...@optonline.net]

The data sheet for the freezer will have the operating temperature
range. Personally, I would buy an upright unit. Much easier to access,
see what's inside, etc. And definitely get one that self defrosts.

[TimR]

If you lose power in the summer, in an unheated garage, and nobody checks it for a couple of weeks like happened to my neighbor,

you really do not want to smell the results.

Probably want to have some kind of pilot light setup for wherever you put it. In this case one breaker tripped, and the garage lost power but the rest of the house did not.

[Oren]

On Thu, 27 Feb 2014 12:57:56 -0500, Norminn <nor...@earthlink.net>
wrote:

I'm in the Mojave Desert. Have an upright freezer in the finished
garage. Temps can reach triple digits in the summer, lasting for
months, highest being 117°F so far. No problems in the freezer or its
operation. Winters are mild, reaching 28°F on occasions but not
lasting long. This is ~ 1997 freezer than came with the house. I did
replace a start motor and capacitor once, but IMO, it was more related
to age then the location in the garage.

[Oren]

On Thu, 27 Feb 2014 12:49:46 -0800 (PST), bob haller <hal...@aol.com>
wrote:

>my wife insited on a freezer, so we got a chest type. it saved no money at all and just cost money for the electric. we got it, she did a big shopping trip then didnt use the stuff before it got freezer burn. ultimately we tossed nearly everything in that freezer. I have several friends who had the same experience...
>
>!YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Bob,

Foods that have freezer burn are not related to the freezer. It is
because of using the wrong product to wrap and store the frozen food.

Use only butcher paper specifically designed for use in the
freezer...one side plain and other side with the wax coating.

[DerbyDad03]

TimR <timot...@aol.com> wrote:
> If you lose power in the summer, in an unheated garage, and nobody checks
> it for a couple of weeks like happened to my neighbor,

And if you lose power in a _heated_ garage things would be better?

I can only speak for myself, but unless I was on a vacation, it wouldn't be
more than 8, maybe 10, hours before I knew that the power was out in my
garage. I'm in there every day, usually multiple times a day.

I wonder how many people would go a couple of weeks without knowing the
power was out in their garage.

Survey says?

[DerbyDad03]

Chests are more efficient than uprights. When you open the lid the cold
stays inside. When you open an upright a lot of cold air falls out.

I don't know the numbers, maybe they're insignificant, maybe not. I guess
it would depend on how often and for how long the upright was opened.

[IGot2P]

Ours, and I think most, have a loud buzzer that goes off if the
temperature goes over a certain point. I need to check and see if that
is battery powered or powered from the AC. If powered from the AC it
obviously would not do a lot of good.

Don

[bob haller]

>
> Bob,
>
>
>
> Foods that have freezer burn are not related to the freezer. It is
>
> because of using the wrong product to wrap and store the frozen food.
>
>
>
> Use only butcher paper specifically designed for use in the
>
> freezer...one side plain and other side with the wax coating.

my wife was too lazy to go to the basement to get food to cook, as a matter of fact once she stockedv the freezer she lost nearly all interest in cooking. she changed to DVRing cooking shows...

After talking to many friends most reported their freezers didnt save any money.

I hope your experience was better than here.

She is now my X, for lots of good reasons:)

[Vic Smith]

On Thu, 27 Feb 2014 23:16:12 +0000 (UTC), DerbyDad03
<teama...@eznet.net> wrote:

>TimR <timot...@aol.com> wrote:
>> If you lose power in the summer, in an unheated garage, and nobody checks
>> it for a couple of weeks like happened to my neighbor,
>
>And if you lose power in a _heated_ garage things would be better?
>
>I can only speak for myself, but unless I was on a vacation, it wouldn't be
>more than 8, maybe 10, hours before I knew that the power was out in my
>garage. I'm in there every day, usually multiple times a day.
>
>I wonder how many people would go a couple of weeks without knowing the
>power was out in their garage.
>
>Survey says?
>

Every year when I go on vacation for 2-3 weeks.
Multiple times a year for 1 week between lawn mowings.
Doesn't make much difference if you don't visit the freezer for 2
weeks.

[Oren]

On Thu, 27 Feb 2014 15:28:01 -0800 (PST), bob haller <hal...@aol.com>
wrote:

>
>>

>> Bob,
>>
>>
>>
>> Foods that have freezer burn are not related to the freezer. It is
>>
>> because of using the wrong product to wrap and store the frozen food.
>>
>>
>>
>> Use only butcher paper specifically designed for use in the
>>
>> freezer...one side plain and other side with the wax coating.
>
>my wife was too lazy to go to the basement to get food to cook, as a matter of fact once she stockedv the freezer she lost nearly all interest in cooking. she changed to DVRing cooking shows...
>
>After talking to many friends most reported their freezers didnt save any money.
>

We used to buy a quarter side of beef, half a pig from local farms,
plus fish I caught. Never had a freezer burn problem when packaged
properly. Even with fresh grown garden vegetables.

>I hope your experience was better than here.

The idea is to get the air out as best you can. Food vacuum sealer
bags are good for that. Butcher paper elsewhere.

>She is now my X, for lots of good reasons:)

LOL

[DerbyDad03]

Every since I put a freezer in my garage, I don't think we've gone more
than a day or two without getting something from it. Bread, ice cream, a
frozen burrito for breakfast, etc. Different strokes...

[cl...@snyder.on.ca]

Now that's a new one - you will loose food because it's too cold for
the freezer to run???? No reason a freezer won't run at 40F.

[nestork]

I agree with the advice to contact the manufacturer and find out what
temperature range they specify for the freezer. While colder
temperatures will increase the efficiency of the condenser in getting
rid of the heat removed from the food, the oil in the compressor is
going to get more viscous with colder temperatures and may not lubricate
the moving parts in the compressor sufficiently.

Chest freezers are inherently more efficient than upright freezers
because cold air is denser than warm air. So, when you open a chest
freezer, the cold air remains inside as Derby Dad says.

Never ever never buy a used chest freezer if it's been turned off.
That's because chest freezers are built differently than refrigerators.
In a chest type freezer the evaporator coils line the inside of the
freezer side walls and the condenser coils line the outsides of the
freezer side walls. That's why the walls of a chest freezer will feel
warm, just like the condenser coils on the back of a fridge when it's
running. Because chest freezers don't have a automatic defrost like
fridges, over the course of several years, frost will accumulate on the
evaporator coils of the freezer. This space is sealed off and so you
don't get the kind of frost accumulation that you get on a manual
defrost fridge, but it will accumulate with time.

The problem is is that space is sealed off. So, if you turn off or
unplug the freezer, that frost melts and forms a puddle at the bottom of
the freezer. That water won't do any harm at all to the aluminum
evaporator coils on the inside of the freezer walls, but in time it will
cause corrosion of the STEEL condensor coils on the outside of the
freezer walls. That corrosion will make the steel rough, and that
results in what engineers call "stress raisers". If you have a notch in
a steel tube, and you continuously pressurize and depressurize that
tube, a crack will propogate from that notch because the stress on the
steel is highest at the notch because the wall thickness of the tubing
is smallest at the notch.

So, if you plan to sell an old freezer, put your ad in the paper, but
leave the freezer plugged in and running until it's sold. Otherwise,
knowledgable buyers won't want to buy it for fear it's not going to last
long.




--
nestork

[Stormin Mormon]

On 2/27/2014 7:38 PM, cl...@snyder.on.ca wrote:
> On Thu, 27 Feb 2014 12:24:20 -0600, dpb <no...@non.net> wrote:
>
>> your worries. The biggest problem in an unheated space if it gets and
>> can stay below 40F or so there's a real likelihood the freezer cooling
>> will never kick on and you can actually lose product in dead of winter.
>> Happened to daughter in Olympia, WA, and it's not all _that_ cold
>> there. Turns out newer units are far more susceptible than older as
>> they had had an ancient unit for years but the new replacement one was
>> the culprit the second winter.
>>

> Now that's a new one - you will loose food because it's too cold for
> the freezer to run???? No reason a freezer won't run at 40F.
>

Perhaps the writer meant refrigerator / freezer.
In household refrig, the cold control is in the
refrig. So, a refrig in 40F would never run.

[Tony Hwang]

Hi,
I understand upright uses little more power than chest type but wife
hated chest freezer we had first, bending down and digging out stuff
she needed. After we bought upright we use it more. She is happy.

[Tony Hwang]

Hmm,
Some freezers have temp. warning indicator light our new one has it.

[Ed Pawlowski]

On 2/27/2014 3:49 PM, bob haller wrote:
> my wife insited on a freezer, so we got a chest type. it saved no money at all and just cost money for the electric. we got it, she did a big shopping trip then didnt use the stuff before it got freezer burn. ultimately we tossed nearly everything in that freezer. I have several friends who had the same experience...
>
> !YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
>

That can be avoided, but you have to be willing to do the extra work to
be sure things are properly wrapped and used in a timely manner. There
are ways to save a lot of money on meats. A Foodsaver can keep wrapped
meat for a couple of years.

Also, an upright is much easier to find things in than the chest.

[Harry K]

On Thursday, February 27, 2014 3:16:12 PM UTC-8, DerbyDad03 wrote:
> TimR <timot...@aol.com> wrote:
> > If you lose power in the summer, in an unheated garage, and nobody checks
> > it for a couple of weeks like happened to my neighbor,

> And if you lose power in a _heated_ garage things would be better?

> I can only speak for myself, but unless I was on a vacation, it wouldn't be
> more than 8, maybe 10, hours before I knew that the power was out in my
> garage. I'm in there every day, usually multiple times a day.

> I wonder how many people would go a couple of weeks without knowing the
> power was out in their garage.

I have a 10 or more year old freezer - it has a power out alarm. I would assume all new freezers have one.

As for cold temps hampering the operation. Being a skeptic I would really like dto see the reasoning behind that. Mine sits on an unheated, enclosed porch in a climate that commonly sees temps below zero in winter - no trouble at all with the freezer.

Harry K
Harry K

[micky]

On Thu, 27 Feb 2014 15:28:01 -0800 (PST), bob haller <hal...@aol.com>
wrote:

>
>>

In college, we had a fridge that froze the lettuce, We found another
fridge in the apartment building's basement and dragged it one flight up
the back stairs.

Then someone had the idea to buy a quarter cow and use the fridge to
keep it. The company delivered the meat, already wrapped by the piece.
Four of us ate 4 meals together a week, and we used that meat mostly.

We ate it all. No freezer burn, but they wrapped it. It was probably
a good idea altogether, but our electric bill was quite high.

[nestork]

Ed Pawlowski;3204460 Wrote:
>
> Also, an upright is much easier to find things in than the chest.

I'm thinking that even though the cold air spills out of an upright
freezer when you open it's door, that may not affect it's efficiency all
that much because the mass of the cold air spilled out is tiny. And,
realistically, you only open the freezer door 2 or 3 times a day to put
food in and take food out.




--
nestork

[gregz]

My thoughts, and many others, self defrosting units will cause freezer burn
more than manual defrost. Temperature fluctuations help cause freezer burn.
I don't have any full size units right now. I've data logged typical upper
freezer refrigerators. During defrost air temperature can go well into the
20s. If it's opened during that period, even worse. I was just reading
searches, because I never really worried about it much.

I bought my parents a large sears chest, around 1970. It sat in the garage
for 35 years, always running. I ended up giving it away still working. It
got close to 32 degrees at times in the garage. It was not used that well,
mostly empty. Great for large items, and making ice bricks.

I found a problem recently. A self defrosting unit, against a cold wall
will condense water vapor, causing mold.

Greg

[gregz]

And if it was on defrost.

How full the unit is might be more concern. Air has little mass.

Greg

[gregz]

I wonder if they sell any mechanical memory devices. Like the turkey pop
ups.
You can buy cheap battery operated temperature monitors. You could just
monitor maximum temp, but an alarm device might cost more.

Greg

[Ed Pawlowski]

On Thu, 27 Feb 2014 23:16:12 +0000 (UTC), DerbyDad03
<teama...@eznet.net> wrote:



>

>I wonder how many people would go a couple of weeks without knowing the
>power was out in their garage.
>
>Survey says?

I have a detached garage and I don't keep the car in it. Yes, I could
easily go a couple of weeks in the winter. I do have the snow blower
in their so this winter it was visited often.

[harryagain]

"bob haller" <hal...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:4314c190-4123-4eef...@googlegroups.com...

my wife insited on a freezer, so we got a chest type. it saved no money at
all and just cost money for the electric. we got it, she did a big shopping
trip then didnt use the stuff before it got freezer burn. ultimately we
tossed nearly everything in that freezer. I have several friends who had the
same experience...

!YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

We have three freezers, quite small ones so we can shut some down as they
empty.
We grow most vegetables in the garden and freeze the surplus.
Some of it is in there for two years.

We also buy frozen stuff.
You need to learn how to use a freezer and prepare food before you put it
in.

[harryagain]

"micky" <NONONO...@bigfoot.com> wrote in message
news:kj90h9p59r74pbiep...@4ax.com...

Any electricity used goes to heat the room/building.
So, not wasted.

[harryagain]

"Norminn" <nor...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:1JmdnV6aDLM_4ZLO...@earthlink.com...

>
> We are contemplating buying a high-eff. chest freezer, about 18 c.f. It
> would be a lot handier to have in our attached garage, but I have no idea
> how an unheated garage will affect efficiency....summer gets pretty hot in
> garage, but can leave it open on hottest days. I'd like to hear
> experiences of others, especially if they have operated the same freezer
> in both places. We are in Indiana, so hottest days can be 100+ and
> coldest (this winter) minus 22.

There is signifacant heat given offby a freezer.
If you have it in the garage,you wont benefit from it.

So garage best in Summer, (but adds to AC load) Basement best inWinter.

[Norminn]

I had a garden last summer, which was my first full-scale veggie garden.
I planted much-too-much for the two of us, but shared a lot and froze
some in the fridge. I think I could easily save the energy cost by
freezing more garden produce. And the gas we use to go to the grocery
store would be reduced.....got to make more frequent trips just for
bread. I really, really miss the fresh garden produce. Just about set
up to start some seeds in the basement, hoping spring will arrive by
June :o) Looks like another blizzard party this weekend; staying more
fit by shoveling snow.....my neighbor keeps trying to get rid of it for
me :o)

[Norminn]

Our garage is attached and not heated or cooled. Gets pretty hot in
summer, and that was my main concern. We can keep the door open during
hottest part of the day, but I hoped someone had real data. Our
basement gets TOO cool in summer with AC running, just from the heat
loss from ducts....not finished and no vents in basement. Could correct
it if hubby goes for it.

[tra...@optonline.net]

I guess there is no summer, no open windows, no AC in your part
of the world? An igloo or cave perhaps?

[mako...@yahoo.com]

>Yes Stormin is correct a REFRIGERATOR/FREEZER with the fridge section set to 40 deg for example in a garage at 35, might never run and therefore the freezer section will heat up to 35.

Mark

[micky]

On Fri, 28 Feb 2014 07:49:14 -0500, Norminn <nor...@earthlink.net>
wrote:

>
>
>I had a garden last summer, which was my first full-scale veggie garden.
> I planted much-too-much for the two of us, but shared a lot and froze
>some in the fridge. I think I could easily save the energy cost by
>freezing more garden produce. And the gas we use to go to the grocery
>store would be reduced.....got to make more frequent trips just for
>bread. I really, really miss the fresh garden produce. Just about set
>up to start some seeds in the basement, hoping spring will arrive by
>June :o) Looks like another blizzard party this weekend; staying more
>fit by shoveling snow.....my neighbor keeps trying to get rid of it for
>me :o)

I hear the cold temps may kill the stinkbugs.