I have a chest freezer that has operating temperatures down to -15C. I want to leave it on the balcony, which has a roof and it is shielded from the elements. But for shorter periods of the year we get weather colder than -15C.
Will it damage the freezer? Will the freezer just stop running temporarily? If the ambient temperature is -20 and the inside is -5-10C then atleast it won’t get hotter, so the food won’t spoil if it gets colder inside.
Edit: I could connect a smart plug and disconnect it if below -15, if that would help
I’m not sure about -15C but don’t operate a freezer at -15K as it violate the fundamental laws of thermodynamics.
And the consequences of such a violation could be dire. Maybe time travel
The one problem I can think of is it might get so cold that the compressor motor is frozen solid, can’t start and ends up damaging itself.
But the compressor shouldn’t be running if it’s that cold, except maybe due to a defrost cycle but IDK if chest freezers do that or just normal fridges.
My mom’s deep freezer has been in her garage for 30+ years, reaching ambient temperatures as low as -30C.
Send it.
One key factor is that it was made 30+ years ago.
True, true. Today, there is entirely too much silicon in their circuitry. Copper was - and is - a far more reliable means of delivering power to compressor.
It depends on the freezer. Some are “garage rated”, so they are designed to operate in a greater temperature range, while normally, they should only be used at room temp (plus and minus reasonable swings). Check your manual to see if it gives an operating range. I suspect that the more important factor is when it’s too hot outside for the level of insulation and compressor to keep up with, but too cold could be a problem
I was a little curious myself, so I found an article about it.
I admit that I don’t know exactly how a freezer works, but my impression is that the cold temperatures not only make it more difficult for the freezer to run, but apparently regardless of if it’s running they can damage the insulation.
So I suppose that even if you do disconnect the power, the damage to the insulation will cause more work for the compressor, which will increase its energy costs and cause more strain for the part.
Knowing that, if it was me, I’d probably bring the freezer in for the winter. Although I suppose if you want to keep your food on your balcony you could swap the freezer for any insulated cooler. The winter is pretty long here though, so I guess I’d just find a more permanent home for the freezer if I could
I could connect a smart plug and disconnect it if below -15, if that would help
If you didn’t know already, many smart plugs are not rated for the amount of power that fridges and other compressor based appliances. They can overlosd the plugs and cause failures or fires. Also shutting off a compressor mid cycle increases the wear.
operating temperatures down to -15C
I would personally triple check to make sure this means what you think it means.
Assuming it does, you should be in the clear. Cutting the power when it gets colder is probably not necessary since the freezer won’t have any reason to run, but it might be a worthwhile precaution anyway. If for some reason the compressor does try to run with frozen oil, it might damage itself or try to draw too much power and blow a breaker (or start a fire if your wiring is sketchy). Better to be on the safe side.
Not sure what’s wrong with -15c. Northeastern us and southern canada will routinely get much colder than that.
I have a chest freezer that has operating temperatures down to -15C.
Are we talking about the temperatures the freezer is freezing things down to, or the temperatures the freezer’s components are able to run at? Because those are two very different metrics and if it is the former, then that does not mean that the freezer’s components can handle those temperatures themselves.
I don’t know the answer, but I’d guess that lubricants might be a factor.
Wont your pipes freeze?
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Pretty sure my fridge freeze combo, with freezer on the bottom had a freezer temp defaulted to -18. So maybe it’s within operating parameters?
OP is asking about ambient temperatures below -15°C.
I recently bought a cheese freezer which had the exact same specification listed as a feature. I considered keeping mine in the garage that I keep around 7-10°C in the winter.
How much cheese do you have???
Lol 🙃
That was supposed to be chest freezer. Thanks for the laugh auto-correct!
I usually don’t freeze cheese, but I did do it on some longer sailing voyages in an earlier life.
Oh shit, I completely missed that, thank you.
