Freeze proofing a refrigerator

jCarroll

Well-known Member
Location
mid-Ohio
Looks like my "pop" refrigerator in my tractor shed will have its freezer full when we go south for a few weeks (we're in central Ohio). I undrestand how a fridge's cold control works. To keep the freezer frozen when it gets below 40, I plan to put a light bulb inside with the beer, to make the fridge run every so often.

What wattage bulb would you guess?

better ideas?
 
Why??

If its really cold out, the freezer does not need to run anyway.

I'm missing the point here. The insulation will protect it from getting hotter or getting colder.
 
(quoted from post at 11:45:45 11/20/14) Why??

If its really cold out, the freezer does not need to run anyway.

I'm missing the point here. The insulation will protect it from getting hotter or getting colder.
t is a combined refrigerator/freezer & the t-stat controls the refrigerator section & freezer is just along for the ride. So, if garage is cold enough to satisfy the refrigerator setting of maybe 35 degrees?, then compressor never runs & freezer warms up.
 
Distribute the frozen items to friends/relatives who have room in their freezers for safekeeping while you are away.

Unplug the refrigerator.

Give them your beer for their trouble.
 
Been a long time ago, times were tough, living in an uninsulated house...

I wouldn't even try to keep it warm when I wasn't home, so the inside temp would get well below freezing at times.

I discovered the refrigerator/freezer would actually be warmer inside than room temperature. I guess what was happening was the cold outside would somehow stop the evaporation process and heat from the compressor would transfer to the evaporator coils?

My guess would be to put the heat source near the condenser coil. But if it has a condenser fan you might want to disconnect it so it doesn't blow the heat away. How much heat do you need? How much is too much? Lots of variables to consider. Never tried it.
 
Between Dad and myself we've had refrigerators in our unheated shops for a combined total of well over 30 years. That said, there has never been a problem with them doing their jobs just fine in both the refrigerated, and frozen section. In fact if you look at how the majority of them operate anyways, the coils are all in the freezer section, and the cooling in the lower part comes from letting the cold air escape down into that section to do the cooling. In other words, as long as it's cold, and the colder the better actually, the compressor won't be running anyways. I say this because I have seen times, here in NC, where it will stay below freezing for a few days and the drinks in the lower section will start to get ice crystals in them, and the compressor hasn't been on in days. This tells me that the insulation is actually doing it's job 'in reverse' and keeping the products inside at least a little warmer than the temps outside, otherwise the drinks would be solid ice.

In the end, take your trip, and don't worry about it. Heck, even if power goes out, the items will still stay cold as long as the doors stay shut, and it stays cold/around freezing outside.
 
Never had a problem either.
When my grandparents got electricity, Grandma learned to put the milk in the fridge to keep it from freezing on the kitchen table.
Richard in NW SC
 
Exactly as JMOR stated. For a refrigerator in an unheated garage, to keep the refrigerator running enough so that the freezer stays at about zero degrees F, have used an 11 or 15 Watt incandescent bulb. Garage here does not get colder than about 35 degrees F.
 
I've often wondered about pop machines. I see them outside all over the place, year around. Sometimes we get well below 0 degrees with wind chills much colder than that, but the cans never freeze as far as I know. Knowing nothing about pop machines, I have to assume that the only thing that can cause that are temperature controlled heaters.

And as far as the refridge turning off because its so cold and the freezer defrosting because the compressor won't start up, been there, done that. Spoiled food in the freezer out in the garage.

Mark
 
the automatic defrost system causes the problem. they make a kit that goes on some refrigerators. I wouldn't run off and leave until I knew it worked. I've fought the problem for 10yrs, since I got an automatic defrost pop fridge. I've also heard an old style light bulb hung down by the compressor. I think a heat lamp bulb hung down there with a thermostat is the way I would go!!!
 
(quoted from post at 10:22:59 11/20/14)
What wattage bulb would you guess?

A 40 watt bulb works fine in unheated cabins when the temps can get to 35 below.

I think 40 watts is the standard bulb that comes in older fridges. Many people use the standard bulb, just disable the door switch.

1 watt is 3.5 BTUs so even a 40 watter is a lot of heat for a small insulated box.
 
Could you get a small freezer for the things you need to keep frozen? The freezer would do its thing and the refrigerator would almost never need to cycle all winter.
 

Never had a problem either.. but then again, its not really that cold here for that long... guess we have been lucky..

Also would depend on type of refrig, where the coils are, and auto defrost or not.. I'm guessing..

My newer fridge has a temp control for each freezer and the icebox...
 
We have a sand point water well. In the winter it can get below zero. If not protected the outside water pump and surrounding pipes will freeze solid.

I built a wood box around the pump and installed two things inside the box. One, a remote thermometer so I can monitor the temp from my recliner, and two, a 60 watt bulb. Outside temp has been around 10*, inside the box it was 50+*.

Hope that gives you a little help!

Gunny
 
Older refrigerator freezers just have one thermostat for the refrigerator section. Do the new ones have a separate condenser for each section, or is there an actuated door to direct cold air to the proper section?
 
Some of the pop machines made in the seventy's had a socket in the bottom(where we kept the few extra cans),a 25 watt bulb stopped the cans from freezing.
 
The problem with incandescent light bulbs is they only
have about a 2 month life span, and the new CFL's or
LED's don't wast energy generating heat. I think if the
inside of the enclosure were black the light would
convert to heat.
 
At one time or another I've had to work on just about every refrigerator I've owned over the years. That said, the two Dad and I have in our shops are around 20 years old, and both of them have only one coil. I just bought a new one for the house awhile back, and as far as I can tell it has only one coil, and the one it replaced only had one coil. Now when it comes to some of these fancy, high dollar ones with the freezer in the bottom, I don't know how they are set up as the whole idea of the cold air settling down from the freezer to the refrigerator idea goes out the window.
 
That's not really true, or only up to a point. I have a fridge on an open porch, and last year when the weather went sub-zero for several days, the fridge quit running of course, and a couple days later all the cans & bottles exploded from it being too cold inside. The beer was ok, due to lower freezing point, but the sodas were toast.
Even in freezing weather, the fridge needs to run a bit to keep the temperature controlled.
 
put your 40 watt bulb on a timer and close door on cord. Set timer 12 hours apart and let light run for 2 hours each setting. I had this problem and service tech told me to do this and it works. The food in the freezer will thaw some when refrigerator temp reaches outside temp. Doesnt sound right but thats what happens. I just used a heat lamp with clamp and removed the reflector.
 
You are going to spend a lot of money to keep things frozen in the winter, might be a better solution to store it somewhere else and turn fridge off.
 

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