Outside Shed - Washing Machine & Freezer

[Douglas Arfempty]

Due to the small kitchen in a property i've purchased, i'm looking at having the WM and Freezer in the shed which is attached to the house. Shed already has a water connection as it currently has a toilet plumbed in.

Just wondering as to any problems once the sub-zero temperatures hit in winter? Also, is it possible to secure each appliance should the shed be broken into?

Anything else i've not considered?

[Z4monster]

Washers don't like sub Zero weather. They freeze up and split their pipes , etc.

Also Freezers can actually freeze externally and don't like very low temps. Check the info on them and they have a minimum operating temp.

The gas in the circuits gets colder in the compressor than inside the freezer so doesn't want to move and can screw the compressor. It happens with out cooler units at work.

[anonymous-user]

My beer fridge/freezer in the garage spent most of the winter beeping because the temp was too low! Anything in the freezer is ruined as it thaws then freezes etc & tastes st. In the summer you get the reverse-it's like an oven so it is going non stop to keep things cool!

[Johnnytheboy]

I've got an old freezer in my garage which has functioned flawlessly for a few years now.

[Simpo Two]

Good luck to any burglar who tries to lift a washing machine!

[singlecoil]

Johnnytheboy said:

I've got an old freezer in my garage which has functioned flawlessly for a few years now.

What is the lowest temperature you see in the garage?

[C&C]

I have a Beko fridge freezer in the garage and it's worked fine for a few years although I suspect the temp doesn't actually hit freezing in there.
I was looking at getting an additional freezer and on the Comet website someone asked exactly the question about putting it in the garage. The Comet guy came back saying that freezers should not be used in cold garages, but it appears the Beko guy corrected this indicating that all their fridges and freezers are designed to operate at ambient temps as low as -15 degrees C. Which might be why the current one I have has not had any problems.
Link to comment
Link to Beko website - click on refrigeration

[Johnnytheboy]

singlecoil said:

What is the lowest temperature you see in the garage?

I don't know - sub zero this year though.

[Neil_Sc]

I have a washing machine in an outside building, I boxed it in with a couple of 60w tubular heaters on a thermostat. They kept the temperature inside the box acceptable, so that it never went below 4 C throughout winter and so the washer never froze, even when it was -12 outside.

[Douglas Arfempty]

Thanks very much for the comments all.

I have seen some of the freezer specs stating operations limits, and these do vary from -10ish up to 0 ish, so that should aide my selection.

With reference to the tubular heaters, this was something i'd considered in the space. It is only 1600d x 800w x 1700h, so shouldn't take too much heating, especially being brick, along with an insulated roof.

Many thanks once again,

Matt

[Johnnytheboy]

One thing that emphatically does stop working in the cold is the dehumidifier in my garage.

[Hugo a Gogo]

if it's a brick sthouse shed, why not line it with some wall insulation? (stuff that's about half inch thick) and plug all the gaps

[hyperblue]

We've had the same chest freezer in our garage for over 10 years, never had a problem.

I can see that a machine machine might not appreciate being frozen though.

[Cupramax]

hyperblue said:

I can see that a machine machine might not appreciate being frozen though.

What's one of them?

[.:ian:.]

Freezers are generally ok, but fridge freezers with only a thermostat for the fridge will turn off when the ambient temperature goes below this, causing the freezer to come up to ambient temperature. If there are 2 sensors, or 2 compressors, then it should be ok.

[Douglas Arfempty]

.:ian:. said:

Freezers are generally ok, but fridge freezers with only a thermostat for the fridge will turn off when the ambient temperature goes below this, causing the freezer to come up to ambient temperature. If there are 2 sensors, or 2 compressors, then it should be ok.

T'would be a freezer only.