Just bought a basic larder fridge from Comet to go in the garage - go to
keep the festive drink somewhere! Of course, it comes with the usual
helpful reminders, such as:

"This appliance is for refrigerating food"

Much to my surprise, it also states in the instructions that it should not
be operated "in a room where the temperature is likely to fall below 16degC,
as it is designed to operate in ambient temperatures between +16 and +32
degC. At lower temperatures the refrigerator may not operate....."

Anyone know why this might be so? Is it normal for standard domestic
fridges? Certainly, I expect that mine will be in ambient temperature
ranging from around +2 to +25 degC. Even if I put it in my kitchen, I would
expect that the temperature coudl fall below 16.

Will my fridge last? Am I screwing up my guarantee?

Hoping for advice....
Steve

"Steve W" wrote in message
...
Just bought a basic larder fridge from Comet to go in the garage - go to
keep the festive drink somewhere! Of course, it comes with the usual
helpful reminders, such as:

"This appliance is for refrigerating food"

Much to my surprise, it also states in the instructions that it should not
be operated "in a room where the temperature is likely to fall below
16degC, as it is designed to operate in ambient temperatures between +16
and +32 degC. At lower temperatures the refrigerator may not
operate....."

Anyone know why this might be so?

Because the compressor struggles to get the coolant cool enough in such an
environment

Is it normal for standard domestic fridges?

Yep.

Certainly, I expect that mine will be in ambient temperature ranging from
around +2 to +25 degC. Even if I put it in my kitchen, I would expect
that the temperature coudl fall below 16.

I think there's a bit of leeway here, but not down to 2 degrees

Will my fridge last? Am I screwing up my guarantee?

None of the above, It simply won't work (as a fridge).

tim

tim..... wrote:
"Steve W" wrote in message
...
Just bought a basic larder fridge from Comet to go in the garage -
go to keep the festive drink somewhere! Of course, it comes with
the usual helpful reminders, such as:

"This appliance is for refrigerating food"

Much to my surprise, it also states in the instructions that it
should not be operated "in a room where the temperature is likely to
fall below 16degC, as it is designed to operate in ambient
temperatures between +16 and +32 degC. At lower temperatures the
refrigerator may not operate....."

Anyone know why this might be so?

Because the compressor struggles to get the coolant cool enough in
such an environment

The compressor just compresses the gas back to a liquid, surely the fins on
the back do the cooling, and if the external temp was lower, surely it just
makes it's life easier, and makes the unit run less, as there is less heat
getting into the fridge.

Is it normal for standard domestic fridges?

Yep.

Really?

I thought the problem was with a shared compressor fridge freezer, where the
fridge relied on the freezer cycling the compressor for it's cooling, but if
the unit was outside, then this would not cycle as much, therefore the
fridge would net get as cool as normal.

Certainly, I expect that mine will be in ambient temperature ranging
from around +2 to +25 degC. Even if I put it in my kitchen, I would
expect that the temperature coudl fall below 16.

I think there's a bit of leeway here, but not down to 2 degrees

Will my fridge last? Am I screwing up my guarantee?

None of the above, It simply won't work (as a fridge).

tim

On Mon, 22 Dec 2008 21:02:47 +0000, Toby wrote:

"Steve W" wrote in message
...

Much to my surprise, it also states in the instructions that it
should not be operated "in a room where the temperature is likely to
fall below 16degC, as it is designed to operate in ambient
temperatures between +16 and +32 degC. At lower temperatures the
refrigerator may not operate....."

I thought the problem was with a shared compressor fridge freezer, where
the fridge relied on the freezer cycling the compressor for it's
cooling, but if the unit was outside, then this would not cycle as much,
therefore the fridge would net get as cool as normal.

Some clue-free PR droid has probably copied the warning for
shared-compressor fridge-freezers to a type that's not affected by this
problem.

--
John Stumbles

This message has been rot13 encrypted twice for added security

On Dec 22, 6:02*pm, "Toby" wrote:
tim..... wrote:
"Steve W" wrote in message
...
Just bought a basic larder fridge from Comet to go in the garage -
go to keep the festive drink somewhere! *Of course, it comes with
the usual helpful reminders, such as:

"This appliance is for refrigerating food"

Much to my surprise, it also states in the instructions that it
should not be operated "in a room where the temperature is likely to
fall below 16degC, as it is designed to operate in ambient
temperatures between +16 and +32 degC. *At lower temperatures the
refrigerator may not operate....."

Anyone know why this might be so?

Because the compressor struggles to get the coolant cool enough in
such an environment

The compressor just compresses the gas back to a liquid, surely the fins on
the back do the cooling, and if the external temp was lower, surely it just
makes it's life easier, and makes the unit run less, as there is less heat
getting into the fridge.

Is it normal for standard domestic fridges?

Yep.

Really?

I thought the problem was with a shared compressor fridge freezer, where the
fridge relied on the freezer cycling the compressor for it's cooling, but if
the unit was outside, then this would not cycle as much, therefore the
fridge would net get as cool as normal.



Certainly, I expect that mine will be in ambient temperature ranging
from around +2 to +25 deg C. *Even if I put it in my kitchen, I would
expect that the temperature could fall below 16.

I think there's a bit of leeway here, but not down to 2 degrees

Will my fridge last? Am I screwing up my guarantee?

None of the above, It simply won't work (as a fridge).
tim- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I agree. The problem as heard over here (North America) is exactly
that.

In a cool/cold location (such as an unheated garage etc.) the fridge
may not run sufficiently often or long enough to freeze the freezer
section.
Since many fridges, here anyway, depend on sharing the cold air
flowing from the cold compressor coils, between the freezer and fridge
sections it is sometimes a problem to get a correct balance between
them.

There is a variable shutter inside the cool section of our fridge; the
fridge itself is located on an outside wall adjacent to the door to
our attached garage, for example, that has be set and occasionally
adjusted (although it rarely gets hot here) as the seasons change.

Once or twice something stowed in the fridge has disturbed the shutter
setting and the fridge section then gets too cold or not cold enough.

However we had two older fridges used only for the sake of their
cooling sections, not freezer sections, that operated fine for several
years in an attached but unheated storeroom. We kept thermometers
inside them which we monitored. Here the recommended Health Dept.
temps. seem to be. Freezer = 0 deg. C or slightly lower. Fridge
section = 4 deg C (approx 40 deg F).

Good luck. BTW. Right now with certain parts of our mid continent at
minus 20 C or colder the fridge wouldn't run at all!!!!!! Ice chest
anyone? Or just bury the stuff in a snow bank. No bears in your area
we hope?

terry wrote:


However we had two older fridges used only for the sake of their
cooling sections, not freezer sections, that operated fine for several
years in an attached but unheated storeroom. We kept thermometers
inside them which we monitored. Here the recommended Health Dept.
temps. seem to be. Freezer = 0 deg. C or slightly lower. Fridge
section = 4 deg C (approx 40 deg F).


I think you mean "Freezer = 0 deg. F or slightly lower."

--
Rod

Hypothyroidism is a seriously debilitating condition with an insidious
onset.
Although common it frequently goes undiagnosed.
www.thyromind.info www.thyroiduk.org www.altsupportthyroid.org

terry wrote:
I agree. The problem as heard over here (North America) is exactly
that.

In a cool/cold location (such as an unheated garage etc.) the fridge
may not run sufficiently often or long enough to freeze the freezer
section.

The OP doesn't have a fridge/freezer, just a fridge.

I suspect JS is right, the information is wrong.

Tim

On 22 Dec, 21:02, "Toby" wrote:
tim..... wrote:
"Steve W" wrote in message
...
Just bought a basic larder fridge from Comet to go in the garage -
go to keep the festive drink somewhere! *Of course, it comes with
the usual helpful reminders, such as:

"This appliance is for refrigerating food"

Much to my surprise, it also states in the instructions that it
should not be operated "in a room where the temperature is likely to
fall below 16degC, as it is designed to operate in ambient
temperatures between +16 and +32 degC. *At lower temperatures the
refrigerator may not operate....."

Anyone know why this might be so?

Because the compressor struggles to get the coolant cool enough in
such an environment

The compressor just compresses the gas back to a liquid, surely the fins on
the back do the cooling, and if the external temp was lower, surely it just
makes it's life easier, and makes the unit run less, as there is less heat
getting into the fridge.

Is it normal for standard domestic fridges?

Yep.

Really?

I thought the problem was with a shared compressor fridge freezer, where the
fridge relied on the freezer cycling the compressor for it's cooling, but if
the unit was outside, then this would not cycle as much, therefore the
fridge would net get as cool as normal.

Certainly, I expect that mine will be in ambient temperature ranging
from around +2 to +25 degC. *Even if I put it in my kitchen, I would
expect that the temperature coudl fall below 16.

I think there's a bit of leeway here, but not down to 2 degrees

Will my fridge last? Am I screwing up my guarantee?

None of the above, It simply won't work (as a fridge).
tim



There's a recent previous thread on this in uk.d-i-y entitled "Feezers
in Garage" (no 'r' in Feezers on purpose) which goes into some detail
on this.

If you search in Google Groups for it, it should come up fairly
easily. I'm afraid I don't know how to link to it directly.

Cheers,

Sid

wrote:

There's a recent previous thread on this in uk.d-i-y entitled "Feezers
in Garage" (no 'r' in Feezers on purpose) which goes into some detail
on this.

Or try this thread from 1999:
http://groups.google.co.uk/group/uk....ass%22&lnk=ol&

The general conclusion at the time, IIRC, was that in practice most
appliances will operate OK well below the 'official' lower limit set by
the climate class rating. If you push your luck too far though, there
is a risk of damaging the compressor.

--
Andy

On 23 Dec, 10:19, wrote:
On 22 Dec, 21:02, "Toby" wrote:



tim..... wrote:
"Steve W" wrote in message
...
Just bought a basic larder fridge from Comet to go in the garage -
go to keep the festive drink somewhere! *Of course, it comes with
the usual helpful reminders, such as:

"This appliance is for refrigerating food"

Much to my surprise, it also states in the instructions that it
should not be operated "in a room where the temperature is likely to
fall below 16degC, as it is designed to operate in ambient
temperatures between +16 and +32 degC. *At lower temperatures the
refrigerator may not operate....."

Anyone know why this might be so?

Because the compressor struggles to get the coolant cool enough in
such an environment

The compressor just compresses the gas back to a liquid, surely the fins on
the back do the cooling, and if the external temp was lower, surely it just
makes it's life easier, and makes the unit run less, as there is less heat
getting into the fridge.

Is it normal for standard domestic fridges?

Yep.

Really?

I thought the problem was with a shared compressor fridge freezer, where the
fridge relied on the freezer cycling the compressor for it's cooling, but if
the unit was outside, then this would not cycle as much, therefore the
fridge would net get as cool as normal.

Certainly, I expect that mine will be in ambient temperature ranging
from around +2 to +25 degC. *Even if I put it in my kitchen, I would
expect that the temperature coudl fall below 16.

I think there's a bit of leeway here, but not down to 2 degrees

Will my fridge last? Am I screwing up my guarantee?

None of the above, It simply won't work (as a fridge).
tim

There's a recent previous thread on this in uk.d-i-y entitled "Feezers
in Garage" (no 'r' in Feezers on purpose) which goes into some detail
on this.

If you search in Google Groups for it, it should come up fairly
easily. I'm afraid I don't know how to link to it directly.

Cheers,

Sid

There are fairly good pictures of a thermostatic refrigerator valve
and a capillary tube he

http://www.e-refrigeration.com/metering-device/

Regards,

Sid