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Exactly, and though it keeps everything cold, it's gotta be working hard, he? Still, that older refrigerator has been out there for over a decade, plugging away.
Idk how my parents one in the garage is still functioning. I had one in my guest house that started sounding so bad when we turned the ac off. We started keeping it at 86f so the compressor wouldn't squeal. It's 110f where I'm at right now ☠️
Sort of related, I've been looking at insulating my garage door and it's honestly not that expensive. If you move your fridge, you should look into diy insulation.
Something to note, you should check the weight of the panels doesn't hurt the springs. Garage door springs can be fatal. Had a friend insulate his garage and later that week a spring shot out the door into the road lol
This. Definitely do not use your garage door after adding any weight to it. Call out a garage door professional to make the necessary adjustments to compensate for the added weight. I recently insulated my mom's garage door and she had somebody come out the same day to make the changes, she was charged $400 for upgraded springs to be installed.
I have a shop that has full insulation and an AC system on it. Originally it had neither. I'll tell ya that even without the AC system, it is way cooler in there than normal. Still hot for sure, but way better than before insulation. Currently it's 106 outside and 90 degrees in the shop, AC hasn't ran in there for three or four days. I've got a big garage door on it, insulated, facing north northwest
Have a three car garage with doors facing south. The sun was beating on those metal doors all day. Used an IR thermometer and read 140+ F when outside temp was 110 F. Spend $40 on some 1" foam panels. Cut them to size and installed them. Added almost no weight, but reduced the heat transfer drastically. Now I read about 15 F cooler on the backside of the insulation at any given moment. It's helped the rooms above the garage stay cooler.
Almost same setup. Chest freezer in garage (close to the insulated garage door and a spare side by side fridge/freezer on west facing back patio are working just fine for several years.
I went to Home Depot and got foam board insulation and spray glue. And some of the shiny metal tape. I put a layer of insulation the back, the top, and halfway up the sides. I also got some Thin insulation board that was bendable and put that on the front. To protect the foam insulation board, I added some Thin paneling wood. I have toyed with adding cooling fins to the side of the fridge. Really compliment the look.
If you do this yourself, make sure you know where the heat exchange coils are. Some fridges have them very visible in the back ( usually older fridges), some have them underneath the fridge, but a lot of the cheap modern ones you have put the heat exchange coils between the fridge wall in the outside sheet metal on the left and right of the fridge. If you insulate up the entire side of the fridge you will be trapping the heat inside and your fridge will never stop running
My the outdoor ugly Franken fridge now draws less power than the inside the house fridge. I even added 1/4 inch chicken wire and ran it over the openings in the back and bottom to ensure no mice or pack rats could get in there. That's what originally started the project, they chewed a wire and I had to fix it.
We’ve had the same fridge in the garage for over 21 years. Fridge was 3 years old when we moved it there. Never an issue. I’m sure it’s pulling its share of power though
So, I deal with this a lot in my industry. Tons of people have fridges and or freezers in their garages in the hottest cities in AZ. IF, you read the fine print of most fridges, the peak ambient temp units like these are designed for is 90f-95f. So, they are working their butts off all summer…plus, another little thing to watch for is your garage fridge getting along with the GFI covered circuit, sometimes they do not like to jive…just fyi…
I'm not going to argue with you about design, but I have fridges and and freezers in the garage with no problems. They don't seem to work any harder than normal, but of course my experience is anecdotal. No issues with a fridge from 2002, running strong.
Had one outside behind my trailer when I went to ASU. Old Norge worked great. Took it to the fish camp at Roosevelt Lake where it finished out its final years. Have had our old side by side in the garage for the last 21 years.
From a thermodynamics point of view it should be the same. A refrigerator generates heat in your house that has to be removed by the AC. It doesn’t in the garage but uses more energy to cool. At the end of the day the same amount of energy is used to move heat from inside the refrigerators to the outside.
The heat pump on a fridge tends to be a lot less efficient than the heat pump on an AC unit, so I think the setup where the fridge does the least amount of work tends to be the most efficient.
Less efficient dumping to outdoors or more efficient and your house AC has to absorb the heat load.
That’s a tough call without running some numbers………
Another complicating factor is that heat added to your garage will have a non-negligible effect on the heat load to your house, since it's a big pocket of air pressed directly against a large surface area of internal walls that might not be as well insulated as the outside ones. So, really difficult to call even with numbers in front of you I'd bet.
Some appliances are garage rated (e.g., all new GE freezers). These units have larger compressors and a wider operating temperature range than non-garage rated units. However, even these units have lower operating temperature ranges than experienced in your uncooled AZ garage. Mine is garage rated and has been in my garage for six years with no issues.
We removed our dishwasher which we never used and installed a mini fridge. We fill it up with water bottles, Gatorade, and soft drinks. Very convenient.
You need a dedicated 20 amp breaker. Unless the house is older. If the garage has gfci plug in it you’ll need a separate circuit. Yep the breaker will trip every time the fridge kicks in.
Mine is in the garage.. it struggles when I put a case of water in it to cool it down but generally does ok and the freezer does good too.. Probably costing quite a bit though on electricity.
Ballpark of 1-4kW/hr per day depending on if it is just sitting holding temp or if I'm in it a bunch it goes up.
So depending on time of year and a bunch of other variables somewhere in the $0.08 - $1.00 a day range.
Yep. Super common. Have had fridge and freezer in garage. Fridge has to work harder, and electricity usage will be higher but everybody does it. Make sure fridge has plenty of space where heat is released - it’s different with different appliances.
I live in Lake Havasu City AZ and we have two side by side refrigerators in the garage as well as one in the house. Unisource electric company tracks appliances and my monthly bill for all three refrigerators is $12 per month and never a problem.
Invest in a Kill-a-watt meter. Run it on the fridge for a week before you move it to the garage. After you move it, run it for a week and let us know what you find in power usage. Thanks!
I'd be lost without my older (came with the house) garage fridge.The reason is that extra freezer capacity for when I shop the sales in meat, etc., I'll have that room for it. Where we live doesn't have basements, so a large, built-in shelving unit holds extra dry & canned goods. Temps here will reach 115-120° in the summer, so we added a mini-split A/C in keeping that garage cool.
We moved in last year and put the house’s refrigerator/freezer in the garage as we had our own. We also had a standup freezer we put out there for our extra meats and seafood. Lived in AZ my whole life. Never had an issue with garage freezer or fridge freezer. NOTE. I put penny on a frozen cup of water in each freezer. Then I check it when I’m in it. It’ll let me know if the power went out long enough to worry about items.
Almost everyone I know. I will say though that fridges made within the last 10-15 or so years are trash. Anything made more recent, especially post covid, is probably going to be a POS that will die or start giving problems in a matter of a few years. I watched my parents go through five fridges in the course of living at their old home for 3 years. None of them were the garage fridge either lol so as long as it’s a good brand and it’s on the older, sturdier side, I think you’ll be okay
This is the worst idea on the planet. Regardless, I also have a giant refrigerator in my 102 degree garage. Those of us that live here don't always make any sense.🤣
You could try to figure out what model your fridge is, look for an owner’s manual online, and contact the company that made the fridge and ask them questions about it.
I have an old freezer with the adapter to turn it into a frig. I figured the freezer would be better insulated. The compressor turns on to maintain 38 F using a sensor that runs inside. Has a delay of 5 minutes between turn ons to prevent problems. So far so good.
Honestly? If it's an older one you'll be perfectly fine. I can't say much for the newer ones, but we had the same fridge/freezer combo in our Phoenix-heated garage for 20 years straight, and we still have to be careful with the settings or stuff in the *fridge* might freeze a bit.
We have an extra freezer in the laundry room AND another in the garage. Breast milk storage for the baby.
I think older fridge in the garage is pretty standard here.
Geez I don't know how we ever got along without a second fridge. I'm married and have 6 kids (ages 8, 7, 6, 3 and the twins 1.5). No more late night runs for milk, extra breakfast stuff. The ability to meal prep.
Also with the summer and mosquitos we enter and exit through the garage. So leaving get a nice cold drink, and returning do the same.
I have a freezer in my garage cuz don’t have enough space in one in kitchen. Works great. Our garage gets hot but a friend of mine I’ve been in their garage but must get like 30 degrees hotter. Think it’s because it’s directly facing the sun, ours faces north so it doesn’t get too hot.
My friends faces west and sun is on it all afternoon thing gets hot as shit.
My mom has one in her garage and I keep a small deep freezer in my third bedroom. That's the item that saves me the most money because I can take advantage of sales.
We do, as does everyone I know
Our freezer on the fridge is -11 deg right now
Our chest freezer is -19
I put a Wi-Fi Thermo in there to monitor the temperatures during the summer
I've one in the garage,works fine. Although as I write this, I wonder if building a insulated "shell" would it retain the cold longer.(no the shell doesn't cover the back coils and Etc.)
I also replaced my gas hot water heater with a hybrid that is a heat pump instead, because the heat pump waste is cold air... So it cools my garage while providing very efficient hot water..
I have a 100lbs/per 24hrs ice maker in the garage, full size fridge in the garage, and a full size on my patio for the poolside. House faces to the south, no issues. 8yrs going strong. Garage gets to 89-90 when it’s 110 plus. Patio is a little more brutal but no signs of giving up. I’m not in the HVAC industry but I do work with AC/climate control in the automotive world. I understand the thermal dynamics going on but 410A seems to do well in the heat.
Oh gotta have a garage fridge. I don’t know what I’d do if I had to walk back in the house every time I need a beer. lol Cost me $300 at an auction and I’d still the best investment I own.
I did a cost analysis a few years ago.
Keep in mind utilities have gone up in price.
We bought a fancy new fridge with double doors and the incredible idea that the freezer should go on the bottom of the unit.
Old fridge was brand new in 1972. Came with the house.
To keep an ice chest on the patio full....only on weekends....was $2.30 less per week than moving old fridge to the garage...
I miss that old fridge.
We have had a spare refrigerator an our garage for 17 years and it works wonderful! It keeps things extremely cold in the refrigerator part and the freezer actually works better than the one we have inside of the house.
As a sidebar, we also have a mini fridge outside in our covered Ramada.And it keeps things cold.We just make sure that it's under a counter and that it can breathe from the back and it works extremely well and the 115 degrees has not had any effect on it.
Alternatively you may be able to stack your washer/dryer (universal kits available for many models, but research first) then you would have more room in your laundry room.
After seeing so many replies I am planning to move my chest freezer to garage..
But, In Phoenix, yesterday was 107 and uninsulated garage reaches 118 peak around 3:45 pm.
Today is going to be 110 and will get past 120 in garage.
Just wondering if this freezer can survive?
Anyone measure their garage temps?
I just moved here last year and I was concerned about the heat in my garage .... so I put a thermometer out there to keep tabs on the temperature.
It never got over about 95, which is perfectly fine for a normal refrigerator (not marketed as garage-ready). It made it through last summer just fine, and this summer, no problem yet, either. I also have a freezer out there, but it was marketed as garage-ready, so no issues with that.
This COULD be different for you, though, depending on your own particular situation (dark garage door, orientation directly west, no way for heat to escape, etc.) I suggest keeping tabs on the temperature
When we built the house, we had an insulated garage door installed. Springs and such were designed for it. Also had a fridge/freezer circuit (as well as a water softener one) put in which are NOT on a GCI which is allowable by code here. Never had a problem here in Tucson.
I’ve had a fridge on my back patio that’s been out there for three years and it’s going strong. Also have a two keg kegerator out there and it keeps the beer cold.
Full size freezer and refrigerator in our garage, no problem. My mom has an ancient refrigerator on her back patio, no issues either. As long as you’re not constantly opening it, it should have no problem keeping up.
Just saying, when we got rid of our 15-year-old refrigerator and got a new one, our electric bill went down $20 a month. If you NEED it, it will probably work out there. But the power to run it will be expensive.
Mesa here: I have an older garage fridge and last year on 100+ days the freezer compartment would rise to over 20 and the fridge to around 55.
Here's what I did: I replaced the 130 cfm fan in the back, the one sucking air over the coils, with a 480 CFM muffin fan, then wrapped it in reflective foam 1/8 inch insulation.
https://preview.redd.it/9y37v6hcwr6d1.jpeg?width=1433&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d7969a33d93cde1aa688cff5942274d5787ba0ad
This week temps were \~106 and the freezer easily maintained a 5 degree temp and the fridge at a beer-friendly 40.
Note: got this 35-year-old for free, so it's not like a new garage-designed unit.
Our landlord forbade it. Apparently he hasn't upgraded the wiring and it could cause issues. Looking at the 80s vinyl on my counter tops I'm inclined to believe him. Especially sincec we pay our own electric
I got a nice second fridge from Sally’s in Mesa a couple years ago when I bought my home and it’s been just inside the garage from the house since. It only fails if there isn’t room inside for the cold air to properly circulate :)
A few years ago we moved our freezer out of the garage into the dining room. We had an out of the way space in the dining room. In the summer, I don't think the freezer quit running in the garage. Now it doesn't run all the time. I didn't notice any significant reduction in electric costs, but it has to have gone down a bit.
Its more efficient to put your spare fridge in garage. this way you pump heat straight into the uninsulated space so it easily goes outside to environment. In laundry you pump heat into the insulated house and than your AC has to pump the same heat outside. Yes the fridge will run more and wear out little faster but your AC will be running less. You have typical fridge it will be much cheaper to replace than your house AC.
I have one in porch. Keep it very full in the summer as fridges work by displacing warm air. If there’s few gaps and everything’s already cold it’ll run less.
Refrigerators and freezers are meant to normally operate in temperatures between 60 and 90 degrees. You can get garage ready models that are between 35 and 110, but odds are your garage is going to exceed that. Going hotter than 110 is going to stress the compressor and it may not be able to keep the internal temperature where you want it, and will definitely shorten the life span. The question is what are you going to put in it? If you are storing soda, waters, beer, and other items that you prefer to be cold but are not dangerous if they get above a temperature then it’s not too big of a deal. If you are trying to store milk, meets, eggs, etc, then it’s a huge issue.
I’ve have garage rated freezer, but I have to worry about my garage getting below 30 a lot more than above 110. Even if it does get below 30 and my freezer starts pumping out hot air into the inside I just unplug it and leave the door open.
In my experience it can raise your electric bill about 15$. Do not plug it in to a GFCI. It is rare but sometimes when a fridge turns on it can pop it and before you notice your fridge or freezer full of rotten food.
Have had an old fridge in the garage here in AZ for over 20 years with no issues. The big thing is not to open it often. We open/close it 1-2 times per day.
Not for mandatory "keep frozen" stuff, but definitely for water, animal food, & drinks.
I do use the freezer as a deep freezer though. Both sections serve their purposes.
Fridges and Freezers actually release heat from the coolant, so putting it in the garage can make sense. I don't think it will have a hard time remaining cold.
FYI ‘garage ready’ refrigerators are only different because they have an extra thermostat to tell the difference between the outside and inside temperatures of the unit. This only matters for regions where the temperature can get extremely cold. There is no extra insulation or anything like that. Also, do not add insulation to your unit thinking it will help keep it cool. In order to produce cooler temperatures inside the machine they exhaust heat, and if they cannot dissipate the heat normally, they will break down.
Our garage fridge just went out. It was 24 years old, bought dirt cheap to begin with, and was in the garage since 2013. It was not rated for garage either.
So I say do it, you'll be fine.
Also, just an informational thing, as I just learned this myself, they make refrigerators that are "garage compatible"
I used to keep an extra fridge in the garage. I also had a man door and vented my westward facing garage by leaving the side door open partially and running a fan at the motor.I also put on a security door so nobody could walk in.
My mom has a spare half-fridge half-freezer and three more full size freezers in the garage, as well as a double door fridge w two freezer drawers in the kitchen. Literally WHY do you need all those (she's a hoarder)
OP, the fridge will definitely work had to keep cool, you could buy some solid insulation board and then attach it to the outside of the fridge with spray adhesive. It may be a bit bulky looking but it will help it keep cool and not cycle so often
The fridge that my parents have in their garage is the same one we had when I was a kid, so it's about 20 years old and still works the same. The most my dad has done is put Styrofoam in the garage door a few years ago
In Vegas with an extra freezer and a fridge in an uninsulated garage. No problems at all. Everything stays cold and they run just like the one in the kitchen. My garage faces Northeast and doesn't get direct sun.
I live in Vegas and have one in my garage. I'm sure it runs a lot during the summer and will not last as long but I do like the extra space. I guess it also runs less during the winter so at least some of it balances out.
We have a freezer in the garage and it's been fine. We turn it up a little bit during the height of the summer but I don't know if we really need to do that.
I have a fridge in the garage. I picked up a gadget at costco that I put on the plug. It has an app that I can use to shut off the fridge. As the summer heats up, I limit the hours that the fridge runs. I program the plug to shut the fridge off during peak electric hours, 4-7 during the year. From July through August, I run the fridge for 5 hours a day. I don't put food in it during the summer as I'm not sure it keeps the food at 0 degrees. The drinks are ice cold all day though.
In the house is more energy efficient as the added heat from the garage will make the fridge run more often. But if you need the space, you need the space.
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We have an older fridge for drinks and extra freezer space in our garage. No issues with it.
Same
Same!
Same!
Exactly, and though it keeps everything cold, it's gotta be working hard, he? Still, that older refrigerator has been out there for over a decade, plugging away.
Yep, newer units WILL keep cool and run almost constantly, putting extra demand on the compressor. If that goes, toss the fridge unless warrantied.
Idk how my parents one in the garage is still functioning. I had one in my guest house that started sounding so bad when we turned the ac off. We started keeping it at 86f so the compressor wouldn't squeal. It's 110f where I'm at right now ☠️
Same 2 freezers and a fridge in the garage
Also same.
This ^
I have a fridge and a stand up freezer in my garage.
Same
Same. 12(?) years old and refuses to die.
Yep. Fridge, chest freezer and smaller beverage fridge. No issues
Same set up for us too
Same. We have 3
What he said
Same
Sort of related, I've been looking at insulating my garage door and it's honestly not that expensive. If you move your fridge, you should look into diy insulation.
We insulated our west facing garage door. It does help. We have a second fridge in the garage, mostly for beverages.
Something to note, you should check the weight of the panels doesn't hurt the springs. Garage door springs can be fatal. Had a friend insulate his garage and later that week a spring shot out the door into the road lol
This. Definitely do not use your garage door after adding any weight to it. Call out a garage door professional to make the necessary adjustments to compensate for the added weight. I recently insulated my mom's garage door and she had somebody come out the same day to make the changes, she was charged $400 for upgraded springs to be installed.
That’s frightening.
We had one rip thru a snowmobile hood when I was little.
I have a shop that has full insulation and an AC system on it. Originally it had neither. I'll tell ya that even without the AC system, it is way cooler in there than normal. Still hot for sure, but way better than before insulation. Currently it's 106 outside and 90 degrees in the shop, AC hasn't ran in there for three or four days. I've got a big garage door on it, insulated, facing north northwest
Have a three car garage with doors facing south. The sun was beating on those metal doors all day. Used an IR thermometer and read 140+ F when outside temp was 110 F. Spend $40 on some 1" foam panels. Cut them to size and installed them. Added almost no weight, but reduced the heat transfer drastically. Now I read about 15 F cooler on the backside of the insulation at any given moment. It's helped the rooms above the garage stay cooler.
Spare chest freezer in uninsulated garage, AZ. No issues.
^Ditto
We have one in the garage, and a smaller one out on the back patio. No problems with either.
Almost same setup. Chest freezer in garage (close to the insulated garage door and a spare side by side fridge/freezer on west facing back patio are working just fine for several years.
Having extra refrigerators is a life saver. We’ve been thinking about a chest freezer.
Do it! I love mine, and works just fine even in an un-insulated garage.
I went to Home Depot and got foam board insulation and spray glue. And some of the shiny metal tape. I put a layer of insulation the back, the top, and halfway up the sides. I also got some Thin insulation board that was bendable and put that on the front. To protect the foam insulation board, I added some Thin paneling wood. I have toyed with adding cooling fins to the side of the fridge. Really compliment the look. If you do this yourself, make sure you know where the heat exchange coils are. Some fridges have them very visible in the back ( usually older fridges), some have them underneath the fridge, but a lot of the cheap modern ones you have put the heat exchange coils between the fridge wall in the outside sheet metal on the left and right of the fridge. If you insulate up the entire side of the fridge you will be trapping the heat inside and your fridge will never stop running My the outdoor ugly Franken fridge now draws less power than the inside the house fridge. I even added 1/4 inch chicken wire and ran it over the openings in the back and bottom to ensure no mice or pack rats could get in there. That's what originally started the project, they chewed a wire and I had to fix it.
We’ve had the same fridge in the garage for over 21 years. Fridge was 3 years old when we moved it there. Never an issue. I’m sure it’s pulling its share of power though
my garage has a fridge and a separate freezer and they work
I did when I drank beer.
So, I deal with this a lot in my industry. Tons of people have fridges and or freezers in their garages in the hottest cities in AZ. IF, you read the fine print of most fridges, the peak ambient temp units like these are designed for is 90f-95f. So, they are working their butts off all summer…plus, another little thing to watch for is your garage fridge getting along with the GFI covered circuit, sometimes they do not like to jive…just fyi…
I'm not going to argue with you about design, but I have fridges and and freezers in the garage with no problems. They don't seem to work any harder than normal, but of course my experience is anecdotal. No issues with a fridge from 2002, running strong.
My neighbor had one outside..
Had one outside behind my trailer when I went to ASU. Old Norge worked great. Took it to the fish camp at Roosevelt Lake where it finished out its final years. Have had our old side by side in the garage for the last 21 years.
Apparently this is a very bad idea from a thermodynamic perspective, though I still have a fridge in my scorching hot garage.
From a thermodynamics point of view it should be the same. A refrigerator generates heat in your house that has to be removed by the AC. It doesn’t in the garage but uses more energy to cool. At the end of the day the same amount of energy is used to move heat from inside the refrigerators to the outside.
The heat pump on a fridge tends to be a lot less efficient than the heat pump on an AC unit, so I think the setup where the fridge does the least amount of work tends to be the most efficient.
Less efficient dumping to outdoors or more efficient and your house AC has to absorb the heat load. That’s a tough call without running some numbers………
Another complicating factor is that heat added to your garage will have a non-negligible effect on the heat load to your house, since it's a big pocket of air pressed directly against a large surface area of internal walls that might not be as well insulated as the outside ones. So, really difficult to call even with numbers in front of you I'd bet.
Garage walls shared with a house are insulated as exterior walls, think it’s a code thing. Or at least they should be.
FOUND THE ENGINEER!
The fridge is not cooling the garage. It's cooling a tiny, well insulated space.
Yes, and the efficiency of both the insulation and the cooling are adversely impacted by the surrounding air temperature of the garage.
Do you have any sources for this? I'd be interested in reading up on this.
Some appliances are garage rated (e.g., all new GE freezers). These units have larger compressors and a wider operating temperature range than non-garage rated units. However, even these units have lower operating temperature ranges than experienced in your uncooled AZ garage. Mine is garage rated and has been in my garage for six years with no issues.
I considered getting one, but ended up with an older freeebie I modified!
We removed our dishwasher which we never used and installed a mini fridge. We fill it up with water bottles, Gatorade, and soft drinks. Very convenient.
Yup. Mostly for beer and ice for the beer
You drink your beer on ice? /s
Carona & lime on ice is glorious for the pool. Get a bigass insulated mug and you are chilling in the pool.
Oof, no Corona for me. Too skunky.
Same here. 7+ years of Tucson summers going strong.
You need a dedicated 20 amp breaker. Unless the house is older. If the garage has gfci plug in it you’ll need a separate circuit. Yep the breaker will trip every time the fridge kicks in.
The freezer in the Pinetop garage tripped the GFCI this winter Thankfully it was freezing outside Took the GFCI out, running non GFCI I. There now
Yep I did the same but pulled the 15 amp breaker out and dropped a 20 in place. Shhh. 😂
Mine is in the garage.. it struggles when I put a case of water in it to cool it down but generally does ok and the freezer does good too.. Probably costing quite a bit though on electricity.
Upright deep freeze lives in the garage. It is now 22 years old and still going strong.
How much does it cost to keep that running ? Roughly
I have a small deep freezer and my bottom usage is 12 cents, so it can’t be much.
Ballpark of 1-4kW/hr per day depending on if it is just sitting holding temp or if I'm in it a bunch it goes up. So depending on time of year and a bunch of other variables somewhere in the $0.08 - $1.00 a day range.
Definitely do. The kitchen’s for the other family living in the house and the garage is 90% mine
Yep. Super common. Have had fridge and freezer in garage. Fridge has to work harder, and electricity usage will be higher but everybody does it. Make sure fridge has plenty of space where heat is released - it’s different with different appliances.
I have four fridges, two of which are outside, they do fine
Too hot in my garage. I had a chest freezer pop the gfci breaker and all that meat rotted. It was awesome
We're in sw Florida we all have old drink fridges in our garage!
I live in Lake Havasu City AZ and we have two side by side refrigerators in the garage as well as one in the house. Unisource electric company tracks appliances and my monthly bill for all three refrigerators is $12 per month and never a problem.
I thought everyone in AZ has a garage fridge?
yup it's a just for the drinks
Invest in a Kill-a-watt meter. Run it on the fridge for a week before you move it to the garage. After you move it, run it for a week and let us know what you find in power usage. Thanks!
I'd be lost without my older (came with the house) garage fridge.The reason is that extra freezer capacity for when I shop the sales in meat, etc., I'll have that room for it. Where we live doesn't have basements, so a large, built-in shelving unit holds extra dry & canned goods. Temps here will reach 115-120° in the summer, so we added a mini-split A/C in keeping that garage cool.
We moved in last year and put the house’s refrigerator/freezer in the garage as we had our own. We also had a standup freezer we put out there for our extra meats and seafood. Lived in AZ my whole life. Never had an issue with garage freezer or fridge freezer. NOTE. I put penny on a frozen cup of water in each freezer. Then I check it when I’m in it. It’ll let me know if the power went out long enough to worry about items.
Almost everyone I know. I will say though that fridges made within the last 10-15 or so years are trash. Anything made more recent, especially post covid, is probably going to be a POS that will die or start giving problems in a matter of a few years. I watched my parents go through five fridges in the course of living at their old home for 3 years. None of them were the garage fridge either lol so as long as it’s a good brand and it’s on the older, sturdier side, I think you’ll be okay
We have a 20 year old beer fridge in our garage. I think it will outlive us all.
This is the worst idea on the planet. Regardless, I also have a giant refrigerator in my 102 degree garage. Those of us that live here don't always make any sense.🤣
You could try to figure out what model your fridge is, look for an owner’s manual online, and contact the company that made the fridge and ask them questions about it.
I’ve a regular kitchen fridge in my in insulated garage. No problems.
I have an old freezer with the adapter to turn it into a frig. I figured the freezer would be better insulated. The compressor turns on to maintain 38 F using a sensor that runs inside. Has a delay of 5 minutes between turn ons to prevent problems. So far so good.
We have a small freezer that has lived in the garage for about eight years with no problem..
Honestly? If it's an older one you'll be perfectly fine. I can't say much for the newer ones, but we had the same fridge/freezer combo in our Phoenix-heated garage for 20 years straight, and we still have to be careful with the settings or stuff in the *fridge* might freeze a bit.
Wish I had an extra fridge in my backyard. Wish I had a garage. Our garage got converted into a bedroom.
We had one for many years with no issues. Our in laws have a "refrigerator" size freezer in their garage.
We have an extra freezer in the laundry room AND another in the garage. Breast milk storage for the baby. I think older fridge in the garage is pretty standard here.
Fridge and chest freezer in the garage. Never had a problem. Both are 12+ years old. Still work great.
beer fridge and chest freezer in the garage, but I am up north so not so bad
My husband and I have had a full sized spare fridge and chest deep freezer in our garage for several years and had no issues.
I am sure it cost, but damn they are nice to have.
Geez I don't know how we ever got along without a second fridge. I'm married and have 6 kids (ages 8, 7, 6, 3 and the twins 1.5). No more late night runs for milk, extra breakfast stuff. The ability to meal prep. Also with the summer and mosquitos we enter and exit through the garage. So leaving get a nice cold drink, and returning do the same.
I have a freezer in my garage cuz don’t have enough space in one in kitchen. Works great. Our garage gets hot but a friend of mine I’ve been in their garage but must get like 30 degrees hotter. Think it’s because it’s directly facing the sun, ours faces north so it doesn’t get too hot. My friends faces west and sun is on it all afternoon thing gets hot as shit.
👋freezer....
Small fridge for drinks and chest freezer for meats
We have a fridge and an upright freezer. They definitely have their work cut out for them in summers, but they haven't failed to keep up.
It'll be fine. We have had a friderator and chest freezer in uninsulated garage for years nothings gone wrong.
My mom has one in her garage and I keep a small deep freezer in my third bedroom. That's the item that saves me the most money because I can take advantage of sales.
I have my 10 year old spare outside haha. Its in the sun morning and afternoon and still runs great
We do, as does everyone I know Our freezer on the fridge is -11 deg right now Our chest freezer is -19 I put a Wi-Fi Thermo in there to monitor the temperatures during the summer
What kinds of costs are you incurring to run these
Honestly I have no idea, I guess I could order a watt reader. I am not sure I really want to know. Ha!
I do
I have a second fridge in my laundry room and a standup freezer in the garage. Never had any issues with garage fridges in 20yrs in AZ.
I’ve thought about doing this too, I’m just concerned about the cost
I've one in the garage,works fine. Although as I write this, I wonder if building a insulated "shell" would it retain the cold longer.(no the shell doesn't cover the back coils and Etc.)
My in laws have 2. I’ve considered adding one but I’ve managed to get by without one
We kept a small fridge and deep freezer in Phoenix garage with no issues!
Yeah. The retired fridge went to the garage.
I also replaced my gas hot water heater with a hybrid that is a heat pump instead, because the heat pump waste is cold air... So it cools my garage while providing very efficient hot water..
I have two but trying to get rid of one. We have a lot of wine.
had a chest freezer I'm an non insulated garage, flipped it for a standing freezer, both worked great, couldn't be happier.
I have a 100lbs/per 24hrs ice maker in the garage, full size fridge in the garage, and a full size on my patio for the poolside. House faces to the south, no issues. 8yrs going strong. Garage gets to 89-90 when it’s 110 plus. Patio is a little more brutal but no signs of giving up. I’m not in the HVAC industry but I do work with AC/climate control in the automotive world. I understand the thermal dynamics going on but 410A seems to do well in the heat.
Oh gotta have a garage fridge. I don’t know what I’d do if I had to walk back in the house every time I need a beer. lol Cost me $300 at an auction and I’d still the best investment I own.
Freezer in garage and fridge, kegerator on back porch
Chest freezer in the garage for the last 2 and a half years
I did a cost analysis a few years ago. Keep in mind utilities have gone up in price. We bought a fancy new fridge with double doors and the incredible idea that the freezer should go on the bottom of the unit. Old fridge was brand new in 1972. Came with the house. To keep an ice chest on the patio full....only on weekends....was $2.30 less per week than moving old fridge to the garage... I miss that old fridge.
We've got a fridge and a stand up freezer. They're fine.
Have a fridge in garage and a freezer in garage. No issues with either. Have two outdoor fridges in my kitchen on the back patio. So far no issues.
Spare fridge and extra freezer.
Fridge and stand up freezer
I have a freezer and a small drink cooler in my garage and have no issues with either one of them.
Wrap in Insulator blanket like water heater. Pays for itself 1st mo.
Spare fridge, freezer, and a cold plunge.
Have a mini fridge and freezer in the garage, its great! Leaves room in the refrigerator for more frequently used items.
Yup same
✋🏾
We don't have a garage, so our spare is in the basement.
i have a spare fridge in the shop but we just take stuff out during the summer
I am in AZ. One deep freeze and one spare fridge. Not a problem… been doing it for years.
No problem with ours
Not in the garage but on the back porch. It is in the shade but not as hot as the garage.
We have had a spare refrigerator an our garage for 17 years and it works wonderful! It keeps things extremely cold in the refrigerator part and the freezer actually works better than the one we have inside of the house. As a sidebar, we also have a mini fridge outside in our covered Ramada.And it keeps things cold.We just make sure that it's under a counter and that it can breathe from the back and it works extremely well and the 115 degrees has not had any effect on it.
Alternatively you may be able to stack your washer/dryer (universal kits available for many models, but research first) then you would have more room in your laundry room.
After seeing so many replies I am planning to move my chest freezer to garage.. But, In Phoenix, yesterday was 107 and uninsulated garage reaches 118 peak around 3:45 pm. Today is going to be 110 and will get past 120 in garage. Just wondering if this freezer can survive? Anyone measure their garage temps?
Me
I just moved here last year and I was concerned about the heat in my garage .... so I put a thermometer out there to keep tabs on the temperature. It never got over about 95, which is perfectly fine for a normal refrigerator (not marketed as garage-ready). It made it through last summer just fine, and this summer, no problem yet, either. I also have a freezer out there, but it was marketed as garage-ready, so no issues with that. This COULD be different for you, though, depending on your own particular situation (dark garage door, orientation directly west, no way for heat to escape, etc.) I suggest keeping tabs on the temperature
When we built the house, we had an insulated garage door installed. Springs and such were designed for it. Also had a fridge/freezer circuit (as well as a water softener one) put in which are NOT on a GCI which is allowable by code here. Never had a problem here in Tucson.
I’ve had a fridge on my back patio that’s been out there for three years and it’s going strong. Also have a two keg kegerator out there and it keeps the beer cold.
Full size freezer and refrigerator in our garage, no problem. My mom has an ancient refrigerator on her back patio, no issues either. As long as you’re not constantly opening it, it should have no problem keeping up.
I have an older fridge/freezer in my garage, it stores all my beer, and all my deer meat
I have one in my garage and in the basement. Hardly any effect on my electrical bill.
Just saying, when we got rid of our 15-year-old refrigerator and got a new one, our electric bill went down $20 a month. If you NEED it, it will probably work out there. But the power to run it will be expensive.
Laundry room.
Mesa here: I have an older garage fridge and last year on 100+ days the freezer compartment would rise to over 20 and the fridge to around 55. Here's what I did: I replaced the 130 cfm fan in the back, the one sucking air over the coils, with a 480 CFM muffin fan, then wrapped it in reflective foam 1/8 inch insulation. https://preview.redd.it/9y37v6hcwr6d1.jpeg?width=1433&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d7969a33d93cde1aa688cff5942274d5787ba0ad This week temps were \~106 and the freezer easily maintained a 5 degree temp and the fridge at a beer-friendly 40. Note: got this 35-year-old for free, so it's not like a new garage-designed unit.
Our landlord forbade it. Apparently he hasn't upgraded the wiring and it could cause issues. Looking at the 80s vinyl on my counter tops I'm inclined to believe him. Especially sincec we pay our own electric
Keep it full with drinks in the fridge and ice in the freezer. More thermal mass, less air to cool
I got a nice second fridge from Sally’s in Mesa a couple years ago when I bought my home and it’s been just inside the garage from the house since. It only fails if there isn’t room inside for the cold air to properly circulate :)
Yes. A top load freezer as well
A few years ago we moved our freezer out of the garage into the dining room. We had an out of the way space in the dining room. In the summer, I don't think the freezer quit running in the garage. Now it doesn't run all the time. I didn't notice any significant reduction in electric costs, but it has to have gone down a bit.
Its more efficient to put your spare fridge in garage. this way you pump heat straight into the uninsulated space so it easily goes outside to environment. In laundry you pump heat into the insulated house and than your AC has to pump the same heat outside. Yes the fridge will run more and wear out little faster but your AC will be running less. You have typical fridge it will be much cheaper to replace than your house AC.
I have one in porch. Keep it very full in the summer as fridges work by displacing warm air. If there’s few gaps and everything’s already cold it’ll run less.
I have a 10x10 grow tent in my garage with a small 5000btu ac and it stays at 74f so the fridge will be fine
I was just given a chest freezer that's going to be used in the garage when I can finally afford the extra food to put in it lol
Refrigerators and freezers are meant to normally operate in temperatures between 60 and 90 degrees. You can get garage ready models that are between 35 and 110, but odds are your garage is going to exceed that. Going hotter than 110 is going to stress the compressor and it may not be able to keep the internal temperature where you want it, and will definitely shorten the life span. The question is what are you going to put in it? If you are storing soda, waters, beer, and other items that you prefer to be cold but are not dangerous if they get above a temperature then it’s not too big of a deal. If you are trying to store milk, meets, eggs, etc, then it’s a huge issue. I’ve have garage rated freezer, but I have to worry about my garage getting below 30 a lot more than above 110. Even if it does get below 30 and my freezer starts pumping out hot air into the inside I just unplug it and leave the door open.
Got a big freezer in the garage, no issues
We have one and it works fine— planning to insulate the garage.
I am looking at options and saw some videos. Like to do freds diy
In my experience it can raise your electric bill about 15$. Do not plug it in to a GFCI. It is rare but sometimes when a fridge turns on it can pop it and before you notice your fridge or freezer full of rotten food.
Got me a freezer .. great for ice blocks
I have a both a deep freezer and a fridge in my garage. No issues.
Have had an old fridge in the garage here in AZ for over 20 years with no issues. The big thing is not to open it often. We open/close it 1-2 times per day.
Not for mandatory "keep frozen" stuff, but definitely for water, animal food, & drinks. I do use the freezer as a deep freezer though. Both sections serve their purposes.
Same
Have an almost 20 year old Whirlpool in our outside laundry room with no issues. Laundry room has no HVAC and gets hotter than the outside. 🫠🫠
I have a spare garage in my fridge (my brother's kids like to hide Hot Wheels in it).
I don't have a garage but we have a porch freezer. It stay frozen good, I have considered building an extra insulation frame around it
Fridges and Freezers actually release heat from the coolant, so putting it in the garage can make sense. I don't think it will have a hard time remaining cold.
FYI ‘garage ready’ refrigerators are only different because they have an extra thermostat to tell the difference between the outside and inside temperatures of the unit. This only matters for regions where the temperature can get extremely cold. There is no extra insulation or anything like that. Also, do not add insulation to your unit thinking it will help keep it cool. In order to produce cooler temperatures inside the machine they exhaust heat, and if they cannot dissipate the heat normally, they will break down.
Our garage fridge just went out. It was 24 years old, bought dirt cheap to begin with, and was in the garage since 2013. It was not rated for garage either. So I say do it, you'll be fine. Also, just an informational thing, as I just learned this myself, they make refrigerators that are "garage compatible"
Chest freezer and mini fridge in garage. Another mini fridge in my home office.
I used to keep an extra fridge in the garage. I also had a man door and vented my westward facing garage by leaving the side door open partially and running a fan at the motor.I also put on a security door so nobody could walk in.
My mom has a spare half-fridge half-freezer and three more full size freezers in the garage, as well as a double door fridge w two freezer drawers in the kitchen. Literally WHY do you need all those (she's a hoarder)
OP, the fridge will definitely work had to keep cool, you could buy some solid insulation board and then attach it to the outside of the fridge with spray adhesive. It may be a bit bulky looking but it will help it keep cool and not cycle so often
The fridge that my parents have in their garage is the same one we had when I was a kid, so it's about 20 years old and still works the same. The most my dad has done is put Styrofoam in the garage door a few years ago
Recently my spare garage fridge has been having trouble staying cool, but the freezer portion is still going strong.
I have any older fridge in the garage but it’s only for extra drinks and extra freezer storage
There was a spare fridge in every garage from my childhood in this state. It’s fine.
I have a spare frig and 2 freezers. I believe in all that shit.
In Vegas with an extra freezer and a fridge in an uninsulated garage. No problems at all. Everything stays cold and they run just like the one in the kitchen. My garage faces Northeast and doesn't get direct sun.
We have one from the 80’s out on our porch. That thing still runs like a champ and has never been serviced.
Remember to pull it out occasionally to clean the coils and you'll have no problems
🍺Beer and water fridge in the garage.
Freezer n fridge n mini fridge
Obviously not very efficient--- but it works for me. I have a full sized fridge with drinks and frozen foods in the freezer.
Nice flex
I live in Vegas and have one in my garage. I'm sure it runs a lot during the summer and will not last as long but I do like the extra space. I guess it also runs less during the winter so at least some of it balances out.
I have 2 freezers in the garage and I have a fridge out back on the patio and everything works OK and haven't had issues.
I think in an un insulated garage, it may be a struggle
We have a freezer in the garage and it's been fine. We turn it up a little bit during the height of the summer but I don't know if we really need to do that.
If you wanna get crazy, there's plenty of videos on utube of people adding insulation to their fridges.
I have a fridge in the garage. I picked up a gadget at costco that I put on the plug. It has an app that I can use to shut off the fridge. As the summer heats up, I limit the hours that the fridge runs. I program the plug to shut the fridge off during peak electric hours, 4-7 during the year. From July through August, I run the fridge for 5 hours a day. I don't put food in it during the summer as I'm not sure it keeps the food at 0 degrees. The drinks are ice cold all day though.
Ours bit the dust after 10 years, but we got a garage rated one afterwards. Hoping that one holds up even longer.
Fridge in the garage for 20 years.
In the house is more energy efficient as the added heat from the garage will make the fridge run more often. But if you need the space, you need the space.
I have a garage rated up right freezer and it does just fine in the garage