The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Smallholding => Equipment => Topic started by: GribinIsaf on April 23, 2019, 09:39:07 pm
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We need to replace one of the chest freezers in the shed and it does not seem as easy as one would think.
It appears that chest freezers are less popular than was once the case and so there is less choice out there.
We want an energy rating of A with as many ++ as possible. It also appears that some freezers are designed for a shed environment and others aren't although not sure if that is important.,
Would be interested if anyone has fairly recently bought a freezer that fits this spec.
many thanks
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It's hard to know exactly why some models are rated for external use and some aren't. I think that some of it is due to the external surface temperatures of the freezer, in that if it's cold, airborne moisture is likely to condense on it in a shed, whereas it wouldn't in a house.
FWIW, we have two 'Vestfrost' outdoor rated chest freezers and are very happy with them. They're both painted and galvanised, so should hopefully last a long time. They also come with a decent guarantee.
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Beko has been the leader in making syre their freezers are rated for use outdoors (down to - 15 I think) but a few other companies now do it too.
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A in house freezer will not like working in most sheds or garages as its to cold for the compressor to work
you would need a heater on to warm the shed for the freezer to freeze
Ask for a in garage freezer
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its to cold for the compressor to work
Do you know why that is? I've been trying to work it out, and I can't!
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its to cold for the compressor to work
Do you know why that is? I've been trying to work it out, and I can't!
I looked into this when i was buying a chest freezer 2 or 3 years ago. Never did get a definitive answer.
There are some cheaper fridge freezers that only have one compressor and thermostat doing both parts - if the ambient temp is low the fridge doesn't need to turn on so it doesn't - and the freezer defrosts. I think this has been a cause of a lot of the belief that frides and freezers won't work in a garage.
2nd some modern unit have electronic components/stats that might not cope with condensation that can form in a shed or garage.
Freezers are made to suit a climate class ( e.g. N normal 16 - 25c, sn subnormal 10 - 20c from memory) and are only guaranteed if operated within that range but will normally still operate outside it up to a point.
As i understand it the problem is that the refrigerant and lubricant going through the compressor are going to either freeze or get very viscous if they get cold enough. If the ambient temp is very low the temp of the refrigerant and lube coming through the evaporator will be very low too, possibly stopping them flowing through as normal.
I seem to recall when i bought mine (a+ , N,SN) i checked with the supplier / manufacturer that it would still work in the shed before i bought it.
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I went through all this when I wanted a freezer for an unheated outhouse in Cumbria, where we could get temps down to -20C or lower.
I found two which were rated to -10C. One was the Currys’ own brand, which was not very high quality (a friend had one), and the other was the Miele. I spoke to both manufacturers about the situation, and Miele were the most helpful. As far as I remember, they couldn’t warrant it below -10C, but didn’t seem to think it would come to any harm, and did seem to be sure it would work again once the temperature rose again. We agreed that at -18C ambient and lower, nothing would defrost anyway! Lol.
I still have the Miele, now in a North Cornish barn, and going strong. I must have had it seven years or so now, I would think.
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A in house freezer will not like working in most sheds or garages as its to cold for the compressor to work
you would need a heater on to warm the shed for the freezer to freeze
Ask for a in garage freezer
Isn't it fridges that won't work when the external temperature is below freezing because the heat exchanger can't raise the temperature to that of the 4oC or so inside a fridge? I remember some years ago when we had a winter with prolonged temperatures of -10oC and butchers were leaving the doors of their cold stores open because it was colder outside than inside the cold rooms.
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Why did Eskimos buy a fridge?
For heating!
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I asked a fridge engineer about this awhile ago. I believe the main (only?) difference is that "outdoor" freezers have a partially enclosed/insulated back panel, which limits heat loss from the compressor in extremely low temperatures.
We have a modern Whirlpool freezer and an ancient Zanussi freezer in our shed - both seem to work ok throughout Scottish winters.
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I also have an ancient Zanussi in an out side shed and my friend has 3 old chest freezers in a wooden shed and she has more of a problem with them overheating , so leaves the doors open summer and winter
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I asked a fridge engineer about this awhile ago. I believe the main (only?) difference is that "outdoor" freezers have a partially enclosed/insulated back panel, which limits heat loss from the compressor in extremely low temperatures.
We have a modern Whirlpool freezer and an ancient Zanussi freezer in our shed - both seem to work ok throughout Scottish winters.
Oh, you’ve reminded me now. There was one other brand rated to -10C, and it was Whirlpool. But they were adamant it would be damaged by temperatures below that, so I didn’t dare risk it.
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Been doing some research for my own purposes as we want to freeze some of our lamb to sell this year and Beko do freezers that have freezeguard apparently like this one http://www.ukchestfreezers.co.uk/products/beko-cfa1100apw (http://www.ukchestfreezers.co.uk/products/beko-cfa1100apw)
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Was lucky enough to be given a commercial point of sale ice cream freezer some 15 years ago it's sited out in the garage which is fairly well insulated , we have two seven watt CFL's wired in parallel to give 14 wats of heat that are switched on 24/7 from mid Nov and taken off at the first of May . Having the sliding glass top is fantastic as you can se at a glance where many things are.
I have a set of six 2 inch thick slabs of hard white expanded polystyrene that are used to pack out empty spaces & to raise the bottom of the freezer up as we eat our way through the contents . It helps keep the freezer working at max efficiency and helps keep running costs down .
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Just to say, thanks for all the contributions to my query!