Appliance Repair in 08094 · Sewell, Glassboro & Williamstown

Many Monroe Township homes keep an upright or chest freezer in the garage for bulk groceries, venison or garden harvests. In summer, those freezers fight the heat. In winter they face a less obvious problem: cold.

It sounds backward, but many freezers and refrigerators struggle in a garage that drops near or below freezing. A combination refrigerator-freezer typically has a single thermostat in the fresh-food section. When the garage is cold, that thermostat rarely calls for cooling, the compressor barely runs and the freezer section warms up. Standalone chest freezers usually handle cold better, but oil in the compressor thickens in deep cold, and some models are not designed to run in an unheated space. Owner's manuals list the room temperature range each model tolerates.

Other winter issues show up too. Door gaskets stiffen and seal poorly. Condensation forms and freezes around the lid. A garage outlet on a GFCI may trip when moisture gets into it, cutting power without anyone noticing until the food thaws.

Some manufacturers make models rated for garage use, and some offer a garage kit with a small heater. If your freezer is acting up seasonally, we will check its thermostat, defrost system and start components and tell you whether the issue is the unit or its location.

Look up the operating temperature range in the manual if you have it. Move the freezer's contents to a cooler or indoor freezer if it is warm, check that the outlet has not tripped and leave room around the unit for the technician to work.