Has anyone here turned a chest freezer into a garage fridge?

My garage fridge is ancient and failing, I am going to replace it with a chest freezer .. but for some weird reason chest fridges don't seem to exist. I have seen some interesting ways to turn a chest freezer into a fridge online including it being as easy as One Temp Control Plug. Curious if anyone has done this or has a better solution for a garage ready fridge. I was thinking 7cuft was about all I needed.

a reply to: OccamsRazor04
Because of the coolant cycle system one should always take such appliances into operational mode when it's in it's supposed working orientation.

For fridges and similar it's important to let them equalize a few hours before they are turned on. For the coolant to go where it's supposed to be for operational usage.

That's why I would not turn it on it's side.

Add: Lot's of such pumps use the fluid they pump for lubrication. That's just one reason to not run them dry and may be one reason to wait for the coolant to assemble where the engineers wanted it to be for startup. It can take away a lot of lifetime in combustion engines so I imagine similar for these thing.

a reply to: ThatDamnDuckAgain

You use the chest freezer in it's normal position, you just use a different thermostat for cycling so it stays at fridge temp not freezer.

a reply to: OccamsRazor04

That's one of the few cases I would consult a manual. Because depending on the type of compressor build, oil from the suction silencer could get into the compressor and into the coolant system. It depends on the build so better be safe than sorry.

There may be a way of turning a freezer into a fridge by taking apart the thermostat and altering the setting. Although, I did that years ago to make a beer cooler and back then the same thermostat was used but you had to turn something to adjust it. That was back in the eighties, I do not know if you can do that with new freezers.

My kitchen fridge is a duel purpose. It is an all fridge or all freezer.....two different thermostats in it. I figured that if I had a freezer go out I could temporarily turn it into a freezer but right now, I have three freezers going and I am going to start moving stuff around and defrost one of them that is getting frost burdened. Once I am finished moving stuff around, I will then take the third one down again to cut the electric bill. Till now there has been too much stock in our freezers. Strawberries are going to be coming next week, I have to defrost that freezer pretty quick here.

a reply to: rickymouse

You can change the internal thermostat, or you can use a plug like the one I linked which has it's own thermostat and overrides the stock one.

Problem with the standing fridges (other than higher power requirements) is they cost about 3-4x as much. I can get a garage ready 7cuft chest freezer and conversion thermostat for $300. A garage ready fridge is going to be bigger and cost $900+.

Most residential refrigerators and freezers are designed to work properly in an environment that has ambient temperatures similar to a heated/air conditioned home.
If the garage is not heated in the winter or cooled in the summer, the temperatures may go well above or below what the equipment is designed to operate at, which would be detrimental to the unit.

originally posted by: OccamsRazor04
...for some weird reason chest fridges don't seem to exist...

What...? Not sure where you are, but in South Florida they're at Lowe's, Home Depot, Sam's Club, BJ's, and a bunch of other appliance shops. Have you checked used appliance shops?

As a home brewer I use a chest freezer with a temp controller, works great!

Mine actually has an extension so it has more space.

a reply to: cmdrkeenkid

Can you link me an example?

a reply to: OccamsRazor04

Here's one.

Go to the websites of any of those major retailers and search for others. I'm sure if you're anywhere near a city you have local or regional appliance shops as well. Or check resale shops, as they probably have some for cheap. That's where we bought our garage fridge from.

a reply to: cmdrkeenkid

Those are chest freezers. That is what I am planning to convert to a chest fridge which for some reason appears to not exist.

a reply to: OccamsRazor04

You need one of these.



I make my own all grain beer and temp control the fermentation with a temp controlled fridge and glycol chiller.

What you'll need to do is plug the freezer into this unit and set the freezer to it's warmest setting. Place the thermostat from the temp control unit into the freezer and set the temp to 2°C (of the equivalent °F). Should work.

a reply to: myselfaswell

Basically identical to my plan.

Hi, i'm an HVAC contractor, and although i'm certain you can put a temperature sensitive switch before the power to your freezer, causing it to short cycle. This would not be an ideal setup. A freezer and a fridge are completely different animals. Your going to waste a lot of electricity and have problems with the coil freezing up. A converted freezer is also not going to remove the humidity from the box or conversely remove too much.
If you decide to give it a shot, just pull the thermostat out from the freezer, it'll have a tiny little flat tip screw that usually has a slash of paint across it to show proper placement, every brand is different but by turning that screw you'll change the thermostat. Id suggest measuring the temp while running(after several hours) then turn the screw half a turn either direction and check temp again after an hour or so. Mark which way you moved it, then make adjustments as necessary until your above freezing.

As someone else mentioned, whether a fridge or freezer, it'll really need a crankcase heater if it's in an unconditioned space such as an unheated garage. Your old fridge handles that fine, but most new stuff won't! (Not long tem)

As someone else mentioned, whether a fridge or freezer, it'll really need a crankcase heater if it's in an unconditioned space such as an unheated garage. Your old fridge handles that fine, but most new stuff won't! (Not long tem)

a reply to: Countryboyseein

They make garage ready chest freezers designed for 32-110 degrees.

a reply to: OccamsRazor04

If that meets your needs, go for it, but short cycling any refrigeration system.... wil only lead to problems

I don't know your definition of ancient, but I still have a 1950s Kelvinator in the garage for beer that runs at around 31 degrees with a once monthly defrost. The newer stuff can't handle the abuse that the old stuff can, I promise you

a reply to: Countryboyseein

It wouldn't be short cycled I don't think, the only thing changed is what temperature causes it to cycle on it would still cycle on just as often, maybe slightly less so. Getting a 1950's Kelvinator isn't a solution for me, I do appreciate the insight though.