Appliance gurus needed! Outdoor freezer?

[charby]

I have a 7.0 cubic foot Holiday (made in China) chest freezer I bought 4.5 years ago from Lowes. http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=73849-33112-LCM070LC&lpage=none

The last two years I have owned it, it has lived out in my garage. Temps range from 104F to -17F in Iowa. Haven't had a problem with it.

I can fill it with 3-4 deer and half a pig, with room to spare.

[Firethorn]

So, to clarify, freezers will be okay in sub-zero temps, but refrigerators and refrigerator/freezers won't operate correctly?

Correct.  If nothing else - you mentioned your father stores beer in the fridge.  In the middle of winter(at least in my area), the fridge won't operate at all, but the contents will still freeze.  Not a good thing for a fridge section.  A true 'Garage Fridge' is more of a 'Climate Control System'.  Seperate systems for the freezer/refridgeration unit, including the capability of heating to maintain the temperature above freezing in the fridge section.

Above ~40 - operate as normal, if not in an area with AC, 120F+, heavy duty AC unit might be good.
~40-32 - you need seperate cooling for the freezer and fridge sections.  Otherwise the fridge freezes...  Electric heating strips would also work, but be inefficient.
1-32 - Still need a circuit for the freezer, heater for the fridge section
Below 0 - need a heater for the fridge.  Freezer won't turn on.

My freezer has a heating element to heat the compressor to operating temperature if necessary, so between ~0-32F it actually uses MORE electricity than at slightly higher temps.  But it still runs less often, so I figure the energy use remains about constant, my food remains cold, and I'm happy.  I have a fairly large unit, so keeping it in the garage is a big space saver.  It's out of the sun and rain.  I DO have it elevated a couple inches just in case of flood.

If you expect it to experience freezing temperatures a lot, I'd check the manuals to make sure it's got the compressor heater - many of the cheap chinese ones don't, and they'll specify not for use below freezing.  Mine only says that for best efficiency it's best to keep it out of freezing temperatures - 'Energy usage may increase' or something.

BTW, I'm in North Dakota, so it gets even colder than Charby's.

[stevelyn]

As you may have seen in this thread, I'm going hunting for the first time this year. One sticky wicket is where to store the meat. Our apartment has no real good place to put a deep freeze, except our little porch/balcony thingy. The problem with that is it would be somewhat exposed to the elements. Any covering would be somewhat flimsy in nature, as our lease frowns on building a shed on the back deck. :)

So is there a make/model of freezer designed for or capable of being placed into a relatively open air situation?

I know this is going to offend the sensibilities of the uptight HOA types on here, but a lot of folks up here in Alaska keep freezers outside year round especially out in the bush where they may have to have more than one. As long as you keep them up off the ground a little and and shelter them somewhat, you shouldn't have any problem. I've seen freezers that were constantly exposed to rain and snow work for years without any problems. The upside is that once temps drop down to 0* F or colder, you can unplug them and save on the power. When I lived up on the Yukon River and in the interior, I could shut down my freezer from about mid-Nov. through the end of Feb.

[detritus]

Wow, thanks for the tip Detritus. Would it not be noticeable at the time of purchase, but then come up later?

Ok bear with me a minute here...

unit that's stored fish (unless the fish was in freezer bags), probably 90% of the time WILL smell of fish no matter what anyone does.

As for those aflicted by mildew, or teh smell of meat gone bad.  A Seller that has a unit that is thusly afflicted, can to some extent hide the odors by washing the the interior with bleach, and baking soda paste to deodorize then prompty plugging it in, when the unit is running it the cold prevents mold/mildew from growing, and (i'm not sure of how this works, just know it happens) the lingering smells of fish and bad-meat are reduced. stops going racid at sub-zero maybe?   the smell of bleach can mask loads of stuff as well.
the problem is, if or maybe i should say when a buyer comes along they're likely not going to unplug it, rush it home and get it plug back in and running before the unit thaws.

Oh and btw when transporting freezers/fridges if at all possible transport them upright, as in don't lay them over on their back/side.  Or if you HAVE to do so to safely transport it, when you get it home let it sit in place for several hours (Pref. 12-24 if it was layed over an hour or more) before plugging it in.  when layed over on a side or back some of the oil in the compressor can start to flow into the coils, and for various reasons it takes longer to get back INto the compressor than it did to get out.  running the unit in that condition can wreck the compressor, and that's most of the cost of the unit.

[Jamisjockey]

I was once given a mini fridge that didn't keep anything cold.  Turned it upside down for a day, set it upright, ran like a champ and would freeze beer if it wasn't full.

[coppertales]

Guys...........what do you think was used before the age of air conditioned houses?  Nothing, except movie theaters and high end restaurants, were air conditioned when I grew up in Miss and south TX back in the 50s.  Refrigerators and freezers worked just fine then without air conditioning.  Just buy a small chest freezer, Sears usually has them on sale for under 200 bucks.  Any used one that freezes water will do just fine.  Youngsters....geeezzz....chris3

[Balog]

I was thinking more along the lines of it getting rained and snowed on....

[Scout26]

There's a used appliance store not to far from where I live.   Over the years I've bought 2 fridges and freezer for out in the garage.  The first fridge lasted 12 years before it gave up the ghost.  The second fridge and freezer are still going strong.  I think I've paid a total of $250 for all three.

Go used, especially for a "Garage" fridge.

[Mabs2]

I live in WA state, so it's generally pretty mild.

Sounds good.

Mabs, my grandparents live in NC (Goldsboro to be specific). The freezer will work harder, but it should still last longer than Balog on a tree stand. :D

Chris

pwnd

[Jamisjockey]

http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/wdc/100531247.html

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

go to freecycle.org  get a free freezer



this was one of the truest things i've ever read  at least if you are a hunter like me
"ALSO Hunting being what it is, may I suggest finding a freezer, killing the deer, THEN buying the freezer."
i could harvest more deer with my f250 than i ever did with a gun or bow   all i gotta do is stop hitting the brakes.  dressing em out sucks though

[Jamisjockey]

go to freecycle.org  get a free freezer



this was one of the truest things i've ever read  at least if you are a hunter like me
"ALSO Hunting being what it is, may I suggest finding a freezer, killing the deer, THEN buying the freezer."
i could harvest more deer with my f250 than i ever did with a gun or bow   all i gotta do is stop hitting the brakes.  dressing em out sucks though

Go faster....you'll field dress 'em

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

worst infection in my life came from gutting a car killed deer  reached in got scratched by broken ribs.  arm was technicolor

[thebaldguy]

We've been using one of those smaller chest freezers about the size of a dishwasher. It works great and we've had it 12+ years. It's enough for the two of us and it doesn't take up much space in the basement. You can get quite a bit of stuff into it.