"Edgar Iredale" wrote in message
...
nightjar wrote:

"Edgar Iredale" wrote in message
...
I have just bought a Frigidaire upright freezer. Reading the booklet I
discover it is only intended to operate in ambient temperatures between
16degC and 32degC. I have never seen such a restriction before and have
used freezers in unheated undercover outside spaces - garages and
utility
rooms etc. without trouble. Should I have known of this restriction?
It is a normal restriction on freezers sold for domestic use. I have
known
of it for a long time. I have no idea whether there is any reason that
you
should have known or not.

Are you in the trade?

No.

I'd be surprised if it was common knowledge.

A straw poll at work today suggests that quite a few people know there is a
reason not to use freezers outside, although not necessarily what that
reason might be.

First can anyone explain just what happens if I run it in a colder
space?
The temperature regulation does not work properly.

I should have added "in detail".

I don't recall the detail.

....
Putting a freezer somewhere below 16C is not unusual. Currys are well
aware
that many people put freezers in garages and other cold places.

Unless you specifically asked whether it was suitable for use outside, it is
unlikely that a Court would rule that it was unreasonable of Currys to
assume that you would not be using a kitchen appliance in a kitchen.

So I think
that an ambient temperature requirement of over 16C should have been
pointed out one way or another. I don't maintain my house at 16C when I'm
away, just frost free.

I've never seen the point in that. It is a marginal saving at best.

....
Yes. I'm tempted but my previous freezers didn't have the restriction, at
least it wasn't mentioned in the paperwork, but perhaps things have
changed
in the 14 or so years since I last bought one - different motors,
insulation, refrigerants, controls, etc.

I would think it more likely that it is a result of our move towards the
compensation culture and the resulting need to give ever more warnings of
things that won't affect the majority of people.

Colin Bignell