Refrigerator Not Working in your Garage? Here's Why
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 ก.ย. 2013
- Video explaining why your refrigerator in the garage is not freezing food in the winter time.
Top Freezer fridges are designed to run in your kitchen, so you may run into some issues in the winter months with refrigerators running in an unheated environment.
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Your comments below helped me to figure out a GFCI switch in the garage needed to be reset! A simple fix -- Thanks for sharing your site!
Bill. Thanks for explaining the refrig-in-cold-garage issue. I live in an environment that gives us zero degrees Fahrenheit and below for much of the winter. For a couple of days now, I've been searching web for an answer to whether I could have a refrig in an unheated garage in the winters here. "D35's" comment below was the first clear answer I found that further explained the consequences of winters like that on a refrigerator. Thank you for clarifying the topic.
Thanks man, that explains exactly what's going on with my fridge in the garage. Fridge is working, stuff in the freezer is getting soft, really noticed it after a streak of cold weather.
I understand this fully, trying to explain it to someone who do not understand is the most difficult thing.
This was so helpful. I thought my fridge was broken. Thank you so much! Makes a lot of sense.
Excellent job. It might help those that don't quite get it to remind them that the cold air is being produced from the freezer area and blown down to the fridge. Therefore if you allow less air to flow down to the fridge by closing off the air flow, you are causing more cold air to remain in the freezer compartment, making it colder (unless of course the fridge thinks it is below 40 already and doesn't need the cold air to be produced in the first place).
Good Job!!! Thanks, saved me a service call!
Thank you for your time and especially your knowledge. Your video made perfect sense.
That makes so much sense, thank you. I glad I found this video.
Thanks for the great explanation!
No Problem!
Thanks for Watching!
Thanks Bill. My garage frig is doing what you've described. I understand now why that is so. Merry Christmas.
Thank you Bill , I did what you suggested and it solved my problem
john leidich Nice!
Very thorough explanation of why it is happening but I didn’t hear anything about what to do to fix it
Thanks, Bill! Now I know why...
Thanks Bill. I knew all this but you do a great job explaining things. I enjoy your videos and learn alot.
You look sooooo young and healthy! And thanks for the vids!!
Great video, that was my problem to a tee! Nicely done Bill!
Thank you! Yes, makes sense!😊
good video thanks. for almost many kind of refrigerator, the main reason in cool places, is sub cool liquid in the radiator is so cool and cannot change phase(cannot evaporate) in evaporator, to solve this you must put something like blanket or ... on radiator in winter.
Perfect explanation. Thank you for taking the time.
No problem! You'd be surprised of how many times I've explained this, and people with tell me that doesn't sound right and something is wrong with the fridge.
Thanks for Watching!
Thank you! Totally needed this explanation!
Two thumbs up! Makes sense!
Awesome. Bought a heater unit. Thanks
Wow. I just learned something.
thanks for posting!
I live in Canada and this winter its been - 40 and my garage fridge freezer has been not getting cold enough to freeze, my wife got all pissed off and said the fridge was crap . I told her that it was to cold in the garage for it to work right Im not a tec but to me this was common sense . so im glad I found this to show her we turned the heat up in the garage and alls good. remember guys happy wife happy life
Hey, here is a video of a part that is made by Frigidaire. It’s a heater element that warms the housing that holds the cold control sensor that is contained within the Fridge section. The issue comes when the ambient temp drops below the interior temp of the Fridge. So, the heater 'fools' the sensor and causes the fridge to run more often. th-cam.com/video/hwh-yenKNJA/w-d-xo.html I hope that helps.
Appreciate the tips.
Good explanation. Thanks
Good explanation!
thanks' for all your videos Bill, those are helpful you are with God now, thanks for everything and blessings for for all your family. thanks, thanks thanks thanks,,,,
Thanks! This has been a problem for ever. and all our stuff freezes in the refrigerator.
Great video was thinking that was the reason now you have confirmed it for me
I'm not sure why he didn't go a step further in telling you what to do about this. I just yesterday learned this from an appliance manager. She first of all said, only freezer on top, refrig on bottom refrigerators can work outside in the garage in cold weather - not side by sides. I have one that does this exact thing in the winter - everything in the freezer thaws which made no sense to me. She told me about a simple part to install that you can find by searching "garage refrigerator kit". You'll see multiple hits come up. What this does is heat the compartment a little to then turn on the refrigerator's cooling. Sounds simple and I plan to try it.
Thank you.
"if you don't understand it, watch the video again" LOL! that was so awesome. and sadly necessary.
Bill thanks very much for this info. I thought my fridge was done for but the refrigerator side was working fine. Couldn't understand why the freezer wasn't. This makes a lot of sense. It's very cold where I live and my garage isn't insulated. I have a woodstove that I fire up every weekend. I suppose it's best to wait until the temp of the garage heats up before I plug it in again?
thanks!
I'm sure you get this often, but thanks for the help man! I had pulled the fridge apart and put it back together with no success. Atleast I know the components of a fridge now haha
@@zb7858 thanks for the info, mine is nothing at all like his. I'm just a guy that loves learning how stuff works and how to troubleshoot a new situation.
Why does my double wide fridge run in the living room and not in the kitchen?
Awesome video. Thanks a lot.
Bill: SO glad I found this video. We hit record breaking lows here in NJ this winter and I could not figure out/had NO Idea why my freezer wasn't "freezing" and everything was thawing out! Do you suggest a freezer/fridge garage kit? Also, at this point, should I just shut my unit off/unplug it if it's not operating correctly? Right now I think think based on what I'm learning the evaporator fan could be frozen over or it could just be a matter of the extreme cold? We have the EXACT same unit in our garage as you showed here in the video. Again, so glad you posted this. I hope hubby and I can remedy this on our own!
Thanks, Bill. I had mine repaired last summer by a service tech and now that Spring is on the way, I see now that everything in the fridge is room temp again, including the freezer. The fan blows, it's just not cold anymore and I don't want to spend a lot to fix, considering I just did this summer. Do I need a garage kit as well?
Good vid. Wonder if you thought of an update solution to running fridge in garage in winter? Thanks
Excellent. Thank you. Unfortunately it's bad news because I wanted to buy a nice refrigerator freezer and put it in my garage as a backup. Now what? The garage-ready ones haven't gotten very good reviews.
Well that explains the soft ice cream. Thanks. Our garage is about 50 degrees in winter. Would a kit fix this? We'd rather do that than heat the entire garage.
Thanks again. Very helpful
Bill, thank you very much for your information. I frequent my late Great Grandparents Farmhouse in New England year-round and have to replace a very old refrigerator in this unheated building which definitely goes below freezing. I use wood burning stoves when I am there for heat. I'm told that in addition to the freezer not operating properly, that damage is likely, probably due to the oil in the compressor becoming to thick to circulate in very cold temperatures. The Gladiator Chillerator, Garage Refrigerator, is an option, but is too big. I have been told of a garage kit, which I believe is made by Frigidaire that might work, though not sure, nor do I know how it works. Any suggestions would be helpful as the small ancient refrigerator has been on life support for some time.
Thanks Bill, that is very clear to me.
A question though for your direction. ~- My refrigerator was working great thru the summer, but from time to time, the freezer would have water droplets on the inside upper surface and freezer frost crystals formed on containers. Then the next day, all of this would go away. It happened twice, but isn't happening right now. Any thoughts on what happened. Thanks for your help...G
Hi Bill
Thank you for the explanation. So I wouldn't have this
problem in the garage with an upright or chest freezer?
Very helpful. Though for my case my refrigerator is in my kitchen in a house with no heating accessibility...so it a way its the same.
Hello Bill- I live in Pa and have a Whirlpool side-by-side door freezer/ refrigerator in my garage. It has a separate temperature control knob for the freezer (labeled A,B,C) and one for the refrigerator (labeled 1-2-3-4-5). What temperatures should I set these knobs to in the winter, and ditto for the summer? Thanks so much for your help- you are wonderful!
Shammy's Mom
We just had a repairman here for this exact reason. Our basement fridge, a Frigidaire, the freezer is at 5 to 8 degrees at the maximum cold setting. I'm still unsure as to how to warm it up? Especially with the holidays fast approaching, I need this freezer! Thanks in advance!
Thanks For the Video. I understand why it wouldn't work during the winter in the garage.
So the question is how to do make it work in the garage in the winter?
Joey Mahmood we all need solution for this common problem...
Hey, here is a video of a part that is made by Frigidaire. It’s a heater element that warms the housing that holds the cold control sensor that is contained within the Fridge section. The issue comes when the ambient temp drops below the interior temp of the Fridge. So, the heater 'fools' the sensor and causes the fridge to run more often. th-cam.com/video/hwh-yenKNJA/w-d-xo.html I hope that helps.
Joey Mahmood get the garage kit for refrigerator.
For those of you who dont want to buy or install a fancy heater kit for your thermostat:
th-cam.com/video/JvCEqe-h9yA/w-d-xo.html And use a lower wattage bulb if available/remove lense housing so it doesnt melt.
Add heat. I use micro (for thin wires)incandescent (for most heat) christmas lights and thread them through the door. I use 100 string micro lights. At 40° less lights and at 20 more lights.
So what you're saying is, here in Miami, where the garage is always very warm, my garage fridge should work fine? I have not put it out there yet but will do so soon when my new fridge arrives. Thank you so much.
Thanks for the info - I have a Frigidaire top freezer/fridge in a WV weekend cabin that has no central heat - I saw where you can get this garage heater kit for $24 - and it says that it will help to keep it working down to 34 degrees. 3 questions - does it need to be removed in summer? and also, what will happen if the temp goes below 34 for a period of time? Will the compressor burn up, as I read somewhere that the oil will thicken and cause it to burn out faster. Thanks again.
Bill, Do you have a video of the installation of the frigidaire refrigerator heater. I have the part on order. It would be helpful to see how its done
Thanks for sharing your know how, Frank said it right, but will the average fridge handle sub zero temps? I mean like -20. I had one go to crap over this past winter and thought the extreme cold had something to do with it... or maybe it was just old and tired.
Good explanation, thanks! But isn't there also a factor involving the defrost cycle which doesn't happen properly when the refrigerator is in the garage? Same for frost-free freezer?
This is awesome! Thanks so much for clarifying that for us! I was just getting ready to call in the repair guy!
Thanks for your video. What if your refrigerator has two dials (both in the non-freezer side) - one for the freezer and one for the regular side. How do you control the freezer temp using both dials?
Great info, thanks. I have a Frigidaire fridge in an unheated cabin and we started having this issue when winter first started - stuff would start thawing in the freezer when temps went below 40 - occasionally it gets 32 or even a bit lower there. The solution was to get a "garage kit" from the company, which was basically a heater wrap that you install in the thermostat box and it forces the compressor on every once in awhile even in cold temps. The issue we are having now is that after 4-5 years we have to keep the dial for the fridge all the way to max to keep everything cold enough, fridge and freezer - I wonder if the cold temps have damaged it or if we need more coolant added due to the environment?
Hi, thanks, this makes sense. But, current situation is that it is 90 degrees or more in the garage. I have condensation pooling in the fridge and it is freezing on the shelves. Any tips?
so if you have a heater in the garage with a thermostat at what temperature should it be set at for both parts to work efficiently without ruining food in the freezer due to thawing or freezing things in the refrigerator section?
Wonderful video... I have same problem, now the food in the freezer is not being frozen and we lost a lot of such food. The bottom line, what we can do with the old freezer instead of throwing it away? Can we fix this problem? If we move the refrigerator to the basement there might be another risks also... What can we do? The size of the new Mytag refrigerator is not enough though it's big and we need additional one. Please help.
clear as mud
So from what I have gathered, a garage refrigerator kit will fix this issue right?
Thank you So much for explaining this!!! If we put the winterizing kit into our garage fridge, should we remove it for the summer time? Thanks again!
Could you do a video demonstrating how to install a thermostat heater for garage refrigerators?
I have a Sears/Frigidare 10.1 cubic foot frig. The top shelf in the fridge has become so cold that it semi-froze what is in there. The setting is almost completely off or to the left. What can I do? Should I adjust the setting back to recommended? The items that froze were mushrooms and cauliflower. I put these up top, because in the crisp drawer, the temperature was too cold a few weeks ago when we were between 50-70. Now we are in the 20-30 degree range? Thanks for your help!
PS: Only until recently have I had any problems. The frig is 3 months old.
Thanks! Very helpful. So, how can I get the freezer to work during the winter time in my garage? Is it possible? Thanks.
exactly what happened to my 6 month old refrigerator. but i did not get a FIX (remedy) in the video, which was very good, nor did i read any in the comments below. so what can i do, outside of not using it in the winter in chicagoland. its a shame the salespeople dont know this, when one goes to buy a REFRIGERATOR FOR THE DETACHED GARAGE. thank you so much. i would really like to bypass Sears giving me the "nothing we can do" statement
Hi Bill, Is there a way to keep the "indoor" refrigerator/freezer in the garage throughout the winter and have it work properly (have the freezer in fact keep the frozen food frozen)? We have a side by side ref/freezer and it has been very cold here in Chicago (under 40 degrees F) for over a week and it's not going to get much warmer for the next 4 months or so. If not, is there a ref/freezer you do recommend type/brand etc...? THANK YOU! E
I suspected this very thing ( I haven't ever torn the whole thing apart though) I have a fridge freezer exactly like the one you have there in the vid. i got it to work again by placing a space heater in the area and also lowering the temp inside the fridge.
BUT, i also have a medium sz upright fridge right next to my fridge. This upright has Shelves that have the cooling tubes In the shelves. no fan blowing inside there. Both of these units got way too cold. I took everything out of the upright, its all outside in the cold in boxes. i defrosted the freezer . my freezer is making a hum like it is working but it;s not getting cold, I left it on all night thinking it just takes time but I was thinking it should be getting really cold now. i keep checking the temp and its staying around 39 about the same temp as the garage.
I can't believe it's broken, has to be something else going on i just don't know what.
You got it, you want to replace that thermostat with one that's pretty close and with a clip to clip it to the evaporator.
Good Job!
Thanks for Watching!
Thanks so much for posting this! I can't find the Frigidaire "Garage Kit" anywhere - everyone is out of stock including the factory! Do you have any thoughts for something I could rig or a way to make my own "garage heater kit"?
Currently, I have put a 60 watt bulb in the fridge compartment and keep the door open enough for the light to be on (my garage is about 34 degrees). This has been forcing the fridge to come on, but I'm looking for a better way.
I live in Michigan, and temp in the garage in winter will be -10-20 degrees, the freezer part will be fine, but the refrigerator part will freeze the food in it, even though the doors are sealed properly any idea what to do.
ours is playing up
weather here in the UK is cold. our fridge freezer is going nuts.
is there a way of blocking it off.
it's ok I am trying the heater method.
Makes sense... what do I do to fix this?
So our temps were in the minus digits for about 3-4 days now our freezer in garage is not freezing just cold but everything was thawing. Is it worth having frig repaired or is it now dead? Do I turn up knob to colder in freezer or what ? Your video was very helpful but now just need to figure out options
Hi, our fridge was already on the colder setting when it stopped working, any suggestions, thanks!
Hi Bill: We live in Canada and have a BOTTOM freezer GE fridge (about 14 years old now) in the garage. Still works great for 3 seasons out of the year, but have the same problem you describe in the winter, where the temperature drops below zero for several months. I guess the thermostat shuts off and the freezer food initially increases in temperature until it gets into equilibrium with the fridge (which explains why my ice cream melts), then eventually everything in both compartments equilibrates with the garage air temperature. Is there anything different about the bottom freezer configuration that could help us beat this problem (or does it worsen the problem)?
I live in Wisconsin and it gets colder than 40° in my garage during the winter. Will the refrigerator stopped working altogether because it is negative outside?
Hi, if the fridge has two Compressors it would work in garage or outdoors thanks
We have a Kenmore 363.9635759 with the thermostat on the back wall. I am wondering if the Frigidaire garage kit will work in this refrigerator? Thanks and love the video!
OKay so do I have to buy a new fridge or can I bring it inside and it will be okay once readjusted to the temp? Thanks so much!!
You must be Canadian for it seems you are mixing Fahrenheit and Celsius temperatures in your discussion. ;-)
Thanks for the explanation, now to figure out a solution. (y)
I just bought a brand new Frigidaire refrigerator 3 months ago, it has a freezer on top, same style as the one in your video except the front part is stainless steel. We purchased it in August, everything was fine. Now that it's December & the weather is getting colder I recently found that all my food in my freeze, at some point, defrosted & then re-froze again, as if it's not running all the time. Problem is we do not have heat in our house right now (can't afford a delivery of heating oil to properly heat the entire house) so the fridge is basically in a kitchen that's maybe 50 degrees probably less at night. I'm starting to think maybe this is the problem??? The back panel in the freezer is the same one you held in the video, it is set at "normal". Once in a while I'll open the door & I hear silence & no vapor-like frost comes out, other times I open the freezer door & I can hear it running & the vapor pours out like it's cold. I just lost ALL of my food in my freezer that I had for the rest of the month to eat & food that I had for Christmas. I am assuming the room temp is the issue?? It's only 3 months old so I can't see anything else causing the problem, I'm so upset I lost all the food. Can I remedy this by just placing the setting to "coldest"? and if I do that does that mean the lower fridge part won't get as cold? I hope I understood the video, I watched it twice.
I have a question. I have a side by side. All of a sudden the ice cream gets soft. Everything else will stay hard. I originally found stuff freezer burned and some fruits and veggies starting to defrost. So I thought maybe someone left the door open. I emptied everything. Put new things back and it was fine for a few days and now back to not hard ice cream. I also noticed that Since I first got it I don't hear it running barely ever as compared to my old side by side. I think this has been a bad fridge since day 1 but I would like to understand why the ice cream won't stay hard. Both fridge and freezer settings are on highest settings. They have to be or neither side keeps cold. Also this fridge was bought brand new 3 years ago. Thanks.
Then How do you make it run in the winter? Sorry could you update the solution in your description? great video as I am having the same issue here
Hey, here is a video of a part that is made by Frigidaire. It’s a heater element that warms the housing that holds the cold control sensor that is contained within the Fridge section. The issue comes when the ambient temp drops below the interior temp of the Fridge. So, the heater 'fools' the sensor and causes the fridge to run more often. th-cam.com/video/hwh-yenKNJA/w-d-xo.html I hope that helps.
How about the hotter enviroment like summer time, 90 F? Is it recommended to have one garage refige?
Thanks for this explanation, we will subscribe to your page. Now I need a solution! We have heard putting a light bulb in the fridge helps. How do you implement the light bulb solution and does it work? We have also heard of garage heater kits. Thoughts on this option? Thanks!
I was given an old chest deep freezer, it had no inbuilt thermostat because it had previously been used in a laboratory and the thermostat was controlled by a wired probe inside the chest with an external controller. I got rid of the thermostat and I run the freezer via a timeswitch, it now runs at minus 15 celcius degrees using the timer set at 12 minutes every hour.
Bill,
My garage Kenmore top mount refrigerator freeze discharge air is only 40 degrees.The t stat in the refrigerator is set to # 7 ( coldest) and i also set the freeze to the coldest. The compressor appears to always be running. Do have have any suggestions.
Thanks Joe
I like the show and tell, but I still don't get it for some reason. My question is: Will installing a garage kit adversely affect the summertime cooling?
great info..and thanks for the explanation...but doesnt sound like there is a good solution....right...??
I have two refrigerators in my garage, winter frequently gets into the negatives. One refrigerator eventually will freeze things at those temperatures, but I have another fridge that keeps everything perfect, no frozen milk even when temperatures dipped below -10 F. Makes me wonder if it has some sort of heater in it.
We bought a new fridge because the old one was too small, and moved the old one out to the garage. Put the old one up on Craigslist. True to form, when a buyer shows up, the fridge can't be shown to work, as temp's here in Buffalo have been sub 40 degrees most of the winter. May have to wait until we get a warm spell (most likely to May) to resolve this.
Hello Bill, how can I trick Frigidaire mini fridge without freezer in unheated garage to run colder in winter? Thanks for your help
I followed the 2 excellent long videos on defroster testing and have 2 questions. After manually turning timer to defrost, I set kitchen timer to 30 minutes, and after 30 minutes, compressor etc. came back on. This would show timer is ok? My heater isn't coming on but ok. You test the thermostat by cutting it out and putting it in ice water which I don't have. Anything wrong with briefly bypassing thermostat? If timer then turns on the heater, thermostat is problem?
Ii have a TRUE T-23 DT refrigerator freezer. it has stainless steel doors the fridge is on top and the freezer is on the bottom. when i run my hand around the outside and sides closest to the gasket the door feels warmer than the rest of the door which is actually cooler, the gaskets around the door are fine. i was wondering if there was any kind of heating element inside the door? is this normal? I would appreciate any advice from you. thank you and i hope to hear from you.
What about a side by side fridge. Is it the same principal. Would it work to turn the fridge down to its lowest setting.
Is there a way around this problem. Thanks