Refrigerator: Why It Struggles With The Seasons
We all hate it when we sneak out to the garage to get our favorite drink or something from the freezer, and we find that our food is thawing and drinks are warm. During the winter months we get several calls about refrigerators not cooling properly. When our technician arrives and find the unit in a garage they know that the issue is not with the appliance, but, rather, the climate. The appliance’s owners manual states that refrigerators must be kept in an area with the ambient temperature between 55 and 90 degrees. This post will explain how the ambient air temperature affects your refrigerator and will keep it from cooling properly during the extreme seasons.
Cold Temps:
Refrigerators usually keep the freezer section at 0 degrees and the refrigerator section at 38 degrees. The temperature that controls the cooling is taken from the refrigerator section. This is where issues arise in cold weather. When the ambient temperature in the room is too cold the refrigerator will not cool. This is due to the fact that the refrigerator section is satisfied with the temperature and it is not warming enough to need cooling. These temperatures do not pose much of a problem for the refrigerator. The freezer, however, will begin to thaw due to the compressor not running. The freezer temp will rise until the unit warms enough to sense that cooling is needed.
Warm Temps:
The other issue is when the ambient air is too hot. Appliances use Freon for “cooling.” What actually happens is that the unit absorbs the heat inside the unit. The heat is then “transferred” to the outside air. When the temperature is extremely hot outside, the heat exchange process struggles to work. This causes inefficient cooling inside the refrigerator.
The Solution:
Both of these issues cause frustration for both the customer and our technicians because it is difficult to explain. With standard refrigerators, the only way to prevent these issues is to move them to a climate controlled environment. However, there is a company that makes refrigerators and freezer specifically designed for the garage. Gladiator is a company owned by Whirlpool, and they manufacture garage specific appliances. Below is the link to their website to checkout their garage products.
https://www.gladiatorgarageworks.com/pages/appliances
By keeping you appliance in a controlled climate or purchasing appliances deigned for the garage, you can prevent headaches and unnecessary service calls! However, if you find yourself in need of a service company, please do not hesitate to call us today at (865)947-4100. As always, thank you for your continued service and support!
