Would like to put older side by side refrigerator in our garage. I was told in the winter, when it gets cold the freezer side will not keep foods frozen. I had an older top freezer refrigerator in the garage for over 10 years and it worked fine. Is this true? We have an older freezer out there too and was hoping to eliminate the older freezer and just use the side by side.

First some fridge 101, the refrigerator/freezer models cool by directly refrigerating the freezer section and the refrigerator section is cooled when "some" of the cold air from the freezer is directed over to the refrigerator side (typically by a fan) to keep food fresh and not frozen a temperature controlling damper opens and closes to regulate the temperature of the fridge by introducing more or below freezing air into the cabinet. In older models where the freezer was on top the air simply "gravity" drained into the refrigerator cabinet, if the food was too cold you turned the fridge knob up and less air sank from the freezer to the fridge, simple but effective.

When you adjust the temperature level it controls the freezer temperature and this turns the compressor on and off to keep the food frozen. There is typically a knob or lever and some even have electric dampers that open and close to direct more or less air from the freezer and direct it to the refrigerator cabinet based on your temperature requirements.

Now that you know how it works there are a couple things to check. If the condenser coil is plugged with dust the internal system pressure will rise and in some cases make the fridge an over achiever and can chill too much so check/clean the condenser coil. Check the freezer temperature control and turn in up, also make sure the fridge temperature control setting is not set too cold.

Finally as the temperature changes around the refrigerator it will have an effect on the inside of the fridge too so expect to turn it up and down as the environment changes, down in the summer and up in the winter.

Hope the novel helps to resolve your issues.

There is only one source of cold in many refrigerators. If yours is a top freezer, then most likely it is in the freezer.
But the thermostat that you set temperature with is in the refrigerator, not the freezer.
In the cold garages, what can happen is that the refrigerator stays cold enough that it does not call for cold. So the freezer does not get enough cold.
The freezer control works by diverting cold air into the freezer WHEN THE RERIGERATOR HAS TURNED ON THE COOLING. If it is not turned on, oh well.
The best you can do for this is to put both on max cold. Then the refrigerator will call for more cold at a lower temperature, and the freezer will get it more often and will divert more when it is cooling.
This can result in the refrigerator freezing things too. You can try raising the refrigerator setting JUST A LITTLE and see if both work, but keep freezer on max cool.
This works for my situation, but ambient temperature fluctuations in the garage make this dicey. We don't put things like lettuce in the refrigerator in the garage in the winter because freezing damages them.
Good Luck

Many residential refrigerator / freezers are designed to work at temperature considerably above above freezing. Most modern refrigerator / freezer have a single electric thermostat - located in the fresh food compartment. This lone thermostat will control the compressor to keep the fridge (fresh food) section at the desired temperature (usually between 34 - 38 degrees F). The freezer will get colder regardless of how cold it is already whenever the fridge thermostat turns the compressor on.

Now that you see how the thermostat works, let's look at what happens when the fridge is placed in an unheated space - like a garage. In winter time, the temperature can drop considerably below 38 degrees. If the outdoor temperature remains cold enough, for long enough - it will affect the thermostat in the fridge. The temperature inside the fridge could drop below 38 degrees, preventing the thermostat from telling the compressor to turn on. Meanwhile, the temperature in the freezer compartment slowly rises from the normal -10 to 0 F degrees. It will continue to rise until it is the same temperature as the fresh food compartment or until the thermostat in the fresh food compartment tells the compressor to turn on again. This means the freezer contents will thaw.

If the temperature in the garage is even in the 40 to 50 degree range, the loss of cold in the fridge may not happen often enough to keep the compressor coming on often enough to keep some freezer items frozen solid - such as ice cream. Remember, water freezes at 32 degrees F, other products may require lower temperatures to remain frozen, and could thaw at 28 or other temperature.

Good luck!

It maybe too cold in your garage in winter check your owners manual and see what the recommended room temperature is.

Refrigerators do not work correctly in the winter in unconditioned space.
It is too cold for the unit to run normally.The compressor oil gets sluggish and strains the compressor when it does run.
The thermostat never warms enough for the unit to come on and run.
Therefore the temperatures in fresh food and freezer stay at the top end of the set point. This would cause about 42-43 in fresh food and around 18-25 in the freezer.
In the spring time it should start running correctly again.

He is correct. The temp in the refrig controls how often and for how long the refrig runs. Lets say the temp in your garage is 34 degrees, and you have your refrig set to 36 degrees: The refrig will never run, the fresh foods section will cool to 34, and the freezer will warm to 34. Even if the temp is 45 in the garage and you set the fresh foods to be 33, the refrig will not need to run long enough and often enough to keep the freezer temp cold enough. You will most likely need to have the ambient room temp at least 55 degrees to get satisfactory refrigerator performance. Insulating the refrig will not help. (by the way, outdoor beverage vending machines use an internal heater in cold weather to prevent liquid beverages inside from freezing,..... so using that info, you could put a low wattage heater in your refrig to make your refrig run enough to make the freezer section work. The %&#* with that, just move it into the house!)

Yes there is a solution. You need to install a garage Thermostat Heater. This will trick the thermostat into thinking it is in a warm environment. This article will tell you why this is happening and the solution as I described. Sorry but for some reason I cannot post this as a link. Copy & Paste into your browser. http://applianceparts.wordpress.com/2009/01/12/why-won’t-the-freezer-in-my-garage-refrigerator-freeze/

Domestic refrigerators nowadays are designed not to operate at temperatures less than 45 degrees. First, if it's 45 degrees in the house, people probably are not living there. 2nd, 45 degrees keeps food refrigerated. 3, if people are not living in a space, then they don't need to keep frozen food.

This is a result of the changes in refrigerants we've been going through since 1992.
If you want an outdoor freezer, buy one, and make sure it's designed to be used in a non conditioned space.

is it a frigidaire model by any chance?? if so you can call the manufactue they do have a garage kit, to help the machine run at a lower ambient temp.

You need a new defrost heater