Standup freezer in Florida garage - bad idea?

[Amethyst]

We are moving to Florida. The house we bought has a big SubZero fridge with no freezer. There's no room in the kitchen/utility space for a real freezer such as we had in our basement.

Of course the real estate agent blew it off with "Oh, everyone here has a freezer in the garage," but a Florida garage can easily be 90-100 degrees.

Does anyone think a freezer in the garage has a chance of functioning properly, surviving, and not inflating the electric bill?

 

[Spock]

A few put them outside here in AZ, but it will by default run more in higher ambient temp conditions. You can glue stiff insulation panels to the exterior surfaces to make it a little more efficient (we drape a cloth over the lid of our chest freezer in the kitchen... you can feel the difference), but we're in our freezers a couple times a day so we would not be a fan of having it very far from the kitchen.

 

[brett]

Check the user manual. Last time I looked at ours it said not to place it where the temp reached 41C, 104F.

The compressor will probably not last as long as it would in your home. It must burn more electricity but I have no idea how much more.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

I kept a beer fridge in my hot garage here in Virginia where it got to the upper '80's. It ran quite a bit, but it never crapped out. My bigger problem was that since the setpoint was in the high '40's in the fridge part, it wouldn't run at all in the winter so my hops in the freezer section would thaw. But that's not the same thing, I know.

 

[FlaGator]

We are moving to Florida. The house we bought has a big SubZero fridge with no freezer. There's no room in the kitchen/utility space for a real freezer such as we had in our basement.

Of course the real estate agent blew it off with "Oh, everyone here has a freezer in the garage," but a Florida garage can easily be 90-100 degrees.

Does anyone think a freezer in the garage has a chance of functioning properly, surviving, and not inflating the electric bill?

Yes, yes, it depends.

Not everyone has a freezer in the garage, but they are common. Buy a new one with the highest efficiency rating and lowest amp draw for the size you need.

Another thing to consider is having the garage door(s) insulated. I did that on west-facing metal doors and it's made the garage bearable on summer afternoons.

 

[Big_Hitter]

We are moving to Florida. The house we bought has a big SubZero fridge with no freezer. There's no room in the kitchen/utility space for a real freezer such as we had in our basement.

Of course the real estate agent blew it off with "Oh, everyone here has a freezer in the garage," but a Florida garage can easily be 90-100 degrees.

Does anyone think a freezer in the garage has a chance of functioning properly, surviving, and not inflating the electric bill?

friend down the street in houston used to keep all the family deer meat in a garage freezer - no issues unless the power went out for an extended period of time

this was in the 70s

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

I had an uncle that lived in south Florida most of his life. He had a freezer in the garage that came with the house when he bought in late 1970 something. When he died in 2001, it was still there...working just fine.

 

[Red Badger]

We've had them in both our GA and NC homes with no issues. The cadavers* inside never thawed.

*Deer, Turkey, Game Birds, Fish......

 

[Aerides]

We moved our old side by side fridge freezer into the garage when we got a new one about 10 years ago during a remodel.

The old one still works just fine, in South Florida. It's great for extra space as the freezer in it is bigger than our new one.

ETA: no discernible difference to the electric bill when we moved it, not that we were tracking but we never went "oh wow what happened". We also have ours placed backing onto the wall on the side of the garage that shares a wall with the house. I doubt that helps more than a degree or 3, but this is probably now a 20 year old unit.

If it died, I'd get another one, but probably a cheap unit.

 

[socca]

Does anyone think a freezer in the garage has a chance of functioning properly, surviving, and not inflating the electric bill?

Functioning: yes
Surviving: yes, but possibly with reduced lifespan due to heat & humidity
Inflate electric bill: will definitely increase it, but might be modest

My grandmother had a frig/freezer in her FL garage that worked fine for years (she also had one in her kitchen).

The frig/freezer in my kitchen has plenty of space for me, but perhaps you need more space. I gravitate toward a minimalist, highly efficient lifestyle, so a freezer in the garage wouldn't be an attractive option for me - YMMV.

 

[Buckeye]

Yes, yes, it depends.

Another thing to consider is having the garage door(s) insulated. I did that on west-facing metal doors and it's made the garage bearable on summer afternoons.

We insulated our garage door also and it made a big difference in temp. Highly recommend. I think we got our kits at Home Depot. I think it took 2 kits for our two car garage door. Everybody should do this as it's probably helpful in the winter, too.

We have a side-by-side in the garage and we have had no issues in 4 years. We moved out a new one from the kitchen to put in a french door/drawer/freezer on the bottom model.

 

[Moemg]

I am kind of surprised by the move . I did not think you liked Florida .
We do have a side by side refrigerator in our garage and have had zero problems .It was in our kitchen but started leaking so I replaced it with an LG french door which died at 3 1/2 years while the side bu side keeps on going .

 

[Amethyst]

Oh, no! I am just realistic about Florida, having lived there as a young woman If the job market had been better back then, I wouldn't have left, and my life would have been quite different.

Now, if the state legislature ever decides to have an income tax, I will change my tune!

I am kind of surprised by the move . I did not think you liked Florida .

 

[Texas Proud]

I have a stand up in the garage right now... lots of meat in there along with some other stuff we buy in bulk..


It was a used one from one of my sisters... probably 20+ years old now... it did have a part crap out a couple of years ago but got it fixed in time to save everything... the repair guy said what crapped out was very common with the one I had and was surprised mine had lasted so long...


Yes, more electricity is used but I really did not notice a big difference... just checked Home Depot and a new one is said to run 480 kwh per year... so even it you double it that is about 1000 kwh... at 11 cents that is about $9 per month max...




Now, one thing that I do have to do is clean the outside every once in awhile... with the high humidity it will get 'dew' on the outside at times and some mold will start to grow... about once or twice a year...

 

[Moemg]

Oh, no! I am just realistic about Florida, having lived there as a young woman If the job market had been better back then, I wouldn't have left, and my life would have been quite different.

Now, if the state legislature ever decides to have an income tax, I will change my tune!

Congratulations on your move !

 

[Luvdogs]

It depends...

About 15 years ago we bought one for our garage in FL; it lasted about five years.

But when we replaced our old side by side about eight years ago, we put the side-by-side in our garage. We had bought it in 1989--so it is 30 years old with no problems.

My appliance repairman (whom I trust) said that the old non-energy-savers continue to work great but the energy-savers don't last whether they are in the garage or in the house.

 

[Amethyst]

Appliance repair people all tell us the same thing about various appliances, washers, dryers, water heaters, even HVAC. The idea seems to be, not that "energy savers" are inherently more fragile. It's that "energy savers" would cost too much, if made as well as the old appliances. So these appliances "save on your bill" for a few years, then have to be replaced. Puts the onus of paying for "energy saving" "improvements" on the owner, not the manufacturer.

I

My appliance repairman (whom I trust) said that the old non-energy-savers continue to work great but the energy-savers don't last whether they are in the garage or in the house.

 

[Amethyst]

Thank you! If you are in Sarasota, you are right across the state from me now. We will have to visit!

Congratulations on your move !

 

[Winemaker]

My late MIL's 1947 International Harvester has been running flawlessly in my 26x26 unheated winery/woodshop since 2012. My mom's 1996 Amana frig/freezer has been running in my garage since 2012, also.

 

[Telly]

Last year, one DS researched and then bought an upright freezer specifically for hot Texas garage use. A Frigidaire 20.2 cubic foot, white, with 4 shelves in cabinet + 2 slide-out baskets, 5 shelves in door. It has thicker insulation than most other freezers, is Energy Star rated, and has electromechanical controls (NO electronics, a plus!). The compressor is made by Panasonic. The Frigidaire model # is LFFH20F3QW, and is available at Lowe's, they go on sale every once in a while, is on sale now through April 24th.

There is also the same basic unit but has only shelves and no baskets, Frigidaire model # FFFH20F2QW, also on sale at Lowe's through 4/24.

Somewhere we found a Frigidaire high ambient-temperature blurb that we couldn't find on any other manufacturers units looked at. That, and the thicker insulation we thought bodes well for hot garage use. Frigidaire has had a good reliability rating for freezers. His is doing well. He did note that part of the exterior cabinet sheet metal got quite warm on the initial cool-down run, that is where it radiates heat out. Once down to temp, it lessens. He's happy with the choice.

 

[kitesurfer2]

freezers could care less about room temperature/outside temperature. freezers remove the heat from the inside of the freezer, regardless of the outside temp. and yes, I have a freezer in my garage. it's a small chest type.

 

[Carpediem]

Any strong opinions about chest vs. upright freezers for the garage? The one mentioned by Telly earlier looks good but I see Lowes has a smaller chest type one for about $300 less. However, I'm guessing it's a pain to get to stuff in the bottom of the freezer.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Any strong opinions about chest vs. upright freezers for the garage? The one mentioned by Telly earlier looks good but I see Lowes has a smaller chest type one for about $300 less. However, I'm guessing it's a pain to get to stuff in the bottom of the freezer.

This. We have a chest freezer and I am not a fan. It's difficult to fit stuff "just right" and we have a lot of "duplicates" of stuff because we thought that we were out of an item...but it was just buried under a bunch of other stuff. My Dad had an upright and it was easy to see what was there and to access. So, yes...I would highly recommend an upright.

 

[Amethyst]

Hmm, that is the first time I ever heard this. I have always been told that using a refrigerator or freezer in high temps places stress on the compressor.

freezers could care less about room temperature/outside temperature. freezers remove the heat from the inside of the freezer, regardless of the outside temp. and yes, I have a freezer in my garage. it's a small chest type.

 

[Amethyst]

We have always had the freezer type that looks like a small, chunky refrigerator with several interior shelves, plus storage in the door itself. It would be a nuisance to have to dig through layers of frozen food to get at what's on the bottom.

Any strong opinions about chest vs. upright freezers for the garage? The one mentioned by Telly earlier looks good but I see Lowes has a smaller chest type one for about $300 less. However, I'm guessing it's a pain to get to stuff in the bottom of the freezer.