If space is at a premium in your kitchen, you might wonder if you can put a freezer in the garage. Or perhaps you’re considering getting a second freezer to increase your storage space. So can you put a freezer in the garage?
Can You Put a Freezer In the Garage?
Extremes of temperature can damage freezers, but here in the temperate climate of the UK, this shouldn’t be an issue. Check the maximum and minimum temperatures that you are likely to experience in the place where you live, and buy a freezer that is designed to work in these temperatures.
What Happens to a Freezer If the Ambient Temperature Gets Too Low?
You might think being kept in freezing conditions would be suitable for a freezer.
However, it can confuse the freezer’s thermostat into thinking it is cold enough inside the freezer when it isn’t, causing it to not work as hard as it should or occasionally to stop working altogether, meaning food will start to thaw.
Equally, frost can build up inside the freezer’s insulation layers. This would then thaw and repeatedly freeze, risking damage to the insulation, meaning it can’t retain its temperature as effectively.
This means the freezer must work harder, using more power and costing you more money. It also causes more significant strain on the working parts of the freezer, meaning it won’t last as long.
What Happens to a Freezer If the Ambient Temperature Gets Too High?
Unsurprisingly, in warmer temperatures, a freezer would have to work harder to maintain its low temperature.
This would again mean using more power at a more significant cost to you, as well as causing more wear to its working parts and reducing the life of the freezer.
What Makes a Freezer Garage Ready?
Freezers marketed as garage ready are designed to perform at a broader range of temperatures than the average freezer. Typically, they can function between -18oC and 43oC.
However, tests have revealed that some appliances marketed as garage ready didn’t perform as well as expected when tested, so it’s worth doing some of your own research to choose the best appliance for your needs.
As noted above, it’s also worth bearing in mind that it’s very rare for the temperature to reach these extremes in the UK, so rather than looking for a freezer that’s labelled as garage ready, it’s probably better to find out what the lowest and highest likely temperatures are where you live and find a freezer that will work in these temperatures.
Are All Freezers Garage Ready?
In the temperate climate of the UK, most freezers will work effectively in a garage, as the range of temperatures at which most freezers function usually falls well within the maximum and minimum temperatures we experience.
Check the information that comes with the freezer; this will tell you the maximum and minimum temperatures at which that appliance can function.
Will House Insurance Cover a Freezer Kept in a Garage?
You may not know this, but most home and contents insurance policies cover the food in your freezer as long as the appliance is less than 10 years old.
You will need to check your policy, but most policies cover frozen food in case of power failure, power surge, or mechanical failure of the freezer, and some policies cover accidental damage too.
If you consider putting a freezer in your garage, you will be relieved to hear that most policies cover appliances kept in garages and outbuildings.
However, policies are unlikely to cover planned power outages or if the power was accidentally turned off. Additionally, you won’t be able to claim for food that hasn’t spoiled or for any non-food items.
Will Putting My Freezer in the Garage Invalidate the Warranty?
When purchasing a freezer for use in the garage, you must check the warranty carefully.
Some freezers are designed to work at ambient temperatures as low as -15oC, whereas others specify that the warranty no longer applies if the appliance is kept below -10oC.
The temperature rarely gets as low as this in most of the UK, but it is still something to bear in mind.
Is It a Good Idea to Put a Freezer in the Garage?
Now that we know you can, it’s essential to consider if you should!
Bear in mind that, due to the damp air, it is likely the appliance will rust prematurely, but this is only a superficial issue and might not bother you.
A more significant consideration might be whether you will make full use of it. Think about whether you are really going to want to go out to the freezer in all weather just to get a bag of chips or frozen peas.
Of course, it may be that you have no other choice, in which case, you may have to make do.
Related FAQs
Do you have further questions about storing freezers outside your home? Then check these FAQs out:
As long as the shed is well built, with solid walls and no leaks in the roof, you can put a freezer in the shed. Sheds are less likely to have a power supply, so if your shed doesn’t have one, you will need to get a qualified electrician to install one.
Yes, a freezer can be placed in a cellar providing that the temperature doesn’t fluctuate drastically and doesn’t drop too lower during the colder months.
