Fridges. Ambient temperature…

Juliet27

Hopefully there’ll be no problem with the small fridge in our garage as the tortoise is hibernating in it! We keep a thermometer in there and check every so often that the temperature remains at about 5 degrees C

What make is your fridge? Is the tortoise in the fridge? Or just the garage?

I don’t believe this. I still have the second fridge that still isn’t working. But Currys have messaged me to say the replacement fridge to the original damaged fridge is going to be delivered tomorrow, even though I asked to be reimbursed when the damaged fridge had been returned to them. I only wanted it to use at Christmas. Let’s just hope the original damaged fridge isn’t on it’s byway back to me again! I think I’m going mad!

I do think that it should be made more obvious when you buy a fridge or freezer that they need to be kept in a room above a certain temperature. I’m assuming that the freezer in my utility room is only ok because it’s very old. The room is well insulated but has no heating. I’ve always made a point of keeping fridges and freezers as far away from heat sources as possible. Even my kitchen gets quite cold as there is no heating in it and I keep the door closed so it doesn’t drain heat away from the rest of the house. I did make a point of asking about room temperature when I bought it but I don’t think the person I spoke to understood what I was querying. The first mini fridge I bought arrived damaged so I returned it; it did say 10 degrees + on the spec but when I phoned the manufacturer they said it was 16 degrees +. It seems wrong, given that we’re all trying to reduce our energy use because of cost but also to protect the environment, that we have to run something to keep our food cold in a warm room! I think that, even if I’d gone to a shop to purchase it, the people in the shop wouldn’t be clued up on it. I’m not going to return it as, if it gets damaged in transit I’ll not get a refund. And I can use it in the summer when the weather is warmer. I only bought it as part of my zero waste food policy as my main fridge isn’t very big.

Apparently modern energy saving fridges and freezers can cut out if the ambient temperature drops too low. I wanted to replace my huge chest freezer in the garage but JL would not sell me one on that basis so I bought a large upright which matches my fridge and they stand side by side in the utility room. Given that temperatures in this part of the country rarely drop below freezing any more, I think this seems an excess of caution, but gave in. I have heard of friends returning from Christmas breaks to find their “overflow” garage fridge or freezer has switched off, ruining the contents . Frustrating.

I have a fridge in the garage and it's ambient temperature is 5 degrees, just like my kitchen one.
I too have a fridge thermometer in it.

Hopefully there’ll be no problem with the small fridge in our garage as the tortoise is hibernating in it! We keep a thermometer in there and check every so often that the temperature remains at about 5 degrees C

Have you actually tried to use that mini fridge in the utility room? Must say I was a little puzzled at your message as 10 degrees is obviously cooler than 12 degrees. Then I realised that you probably mean minus those figures.

If it was me, I would actually take the risk and try it - sure the extra minus two degrees is unlikely to effect it. In years past, always found more problems with freezers in rooms which had windows through which the sun came in caused far more problems that cooler rooms.
Of course, you could always put a very small time controlled heater in that utility room just to boost the ambient temperature there.

We have a fridge/freezer in our garage which is unheated and it works perfectly. It is quite old, however.

We did buy a small freezer to put in the garage but that clearly stated it could be kept in an outhouse. I keep my upright freezer in the utility room because I assumed that having it in a cool room would make it cheaper to run. The problem with buying large goods online is that returning them is problematic. I bought one from Currys that took a week to arrive (should have been next day!) and arrived badly damaged. I won’t be reimbursed till Currys get the damaged one back. They arranged for it to be collected on Monday, which it was. Then yesterday DPD brought it back to me. It was like Groundhog Day! I couldn’t work out what was happening. So I’m not going to attempt to send the one I replaced it with back because if it gets lost/damaged I won’t get a refund. I’ll just have to use it as a very expensive shelf/storage cupboard! Maybe my grandson will need it when he goes to uni….I’m just snowed under with fridges, both damaged or unusable

Perhaps it is because people now have those huge American fridges in their kitchens so they no longer use overflow fridges and freezers in the garage as much?

Thats annoying for you MayBee70.
I wouldn't have thought about it, but DH is a bit of an expert in these things. We bought a new tall freezer last month to go in our cold garage in readiness for Christmas. The choice was very limited in the correct temperature range. I'll look out the booklet if anyone needs to know more.