Winterizing Refrigerator in an unheated garage

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Redbeard5289

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Forgive me if this has been discussed before but my 1/2 hour of searching the forum provided no information.

This spring I inherited a fridge from my grandparents (5 year old Estate model) and promptly turned it into a kegerator for my garage. Love the thing... no more bottling for me :D

However I began to think about this winter and how cold it can get here in SouthEastern Minnesota (Rochester MN) and wondering if anyone had any solutions or DIY projects they might have did to keep their refrigerator going during the cold months of winter and hold a temp properly for beer serving.

I don't want to have the refrigerator break/stop working due to the cold climate nor do I want to fix frozen tap lines either this winter. As a last resort I could move the kegerator down to the basement for the winter but I am looking to avoiding a lot of heavy lifting and hours of convincing the SWMBO that the kegerator needs to be relocated inside.

Any insight would be appreciative on this subject. I know i have a few months ahead of me before I really need to start worrying but I have time and resources available to me this summer.

Thanks
Redbeard 5289
:mug:
 
I'm in Wisconsin and my fridge is in the garage all year. No problems at all. Maintains good serving temp.
 
im in central illinois and have frozen the kegs before. now im gonna wire a temp controller and a heat source inside the fridge before winter!! also help to keep my beer at a steadier temp in the summer months or a second lager chamber.
 
im in central illinois and have frozen the kegs before. now im gonna wire a temp controller and a heat source inside the fridge before winter!! also help to keep my beer at a steadier temp in the summer months or a second lager chamber.

Check your seals. It should be holding the temp.
 
oh its good the seals are fine its only five years old. the garage is not insulated and detached from the house. it gets too cold in the winter and the compressor shuts down, however mother nature dosent and i end up with frozen beer!! cant wait to install my wood burner!
 
oh its good the seals are fine its only five years old. the garage is not insulated and detached from the house. it gets too cold in the winter and the compressor shuts down, however mother nature dosent and i end up with frozen beer!! cant wait to install my wood burner!

My garage is not insulated and its detached and my fridge is a good 20 to 25 years old.
 
My garage is not insulated and its detached and my fridge is a good 20 to 25 years old.

does your fridge have a freezer, and what happens in that?

The main reason I've read for not using a refrigerator in an unheated garage in the winter is that at temps 32-45 F, the compressor would not run enough to keep the freezer section cold. If you are only using the fridge section, you should be OK.
 
im in central illinois and have frozen the kegs before. now im gonna wire a temp controller and a heat source inside the fridge before winter!! also help to keep my beer at a steadier temp in the summer months or a second lager chamber.

This is exactly what I did: simply wired up a lamp base on a junction box and ran the power out the same hole in the side of the fridge my temp probe and gas line go. As soon as the temp in the fridge starts falling below where I want it, I unplug the fridge power and plug in the light. A 60w bulb turning on occasionally kept my serving fridge at a comfortable 6c all through a brutal winter in an unheated outbuilding, and my ferm chamber at a toasty 21c whenever I needed it to be.
 
This is exactly what I did: simply wired up a lamp base on a junction box and ran the power out the same hole in the side of the fridge my temp probe and gas line go. As soon as the temp in the fridge starts falling below where I want it, I unplug the fridge power and plug in the light. A 60w bulb turning on occasionally kept my serving fridge at a comfortable 6c all through a brutal winter in an unheated outbuilding, and my ferm chamber at a toasty 21c whenever I needed it to be.

And if you get a 2 stage controller like the stc1000 you don't even have to unplug the fridge and maually turn on/off the lamp - it'll be all done for you :D
 
And if you get a 2 stage controller like the stc1000 you don't even have to unplug the fridge and maually turn on/off the lamp - it'll be all done for you :D

Oh, to be clear, it IS an STC-1000 -- I just don't plug them in together so there's no chance of them "competing" in a harsh environment ;)
 
Geordan and 1purpleranger,

I like both of your ideas for having a temp controller and a heat source inside the fridge to act as a heat source to keep the beer from freezing. The beer is in kegs so I am not worried about light affecting the beer. I think I will build something that will do the job like you both described.
The other concern I have is the compressor on the backside of the fridge. Will the sub-zero temperature affect this as well and put undo strain on the fridge. Would wrapping a brewer's belt or a heating pad around the compressor keep the oil inside more fluid-like during the winter.

Redbeard5289
 
Geordan and 1purpleranger,

I like both of your ideas for having a temp controller and a heat source inside the fridge to act as a heat source to keep the beer from freezing. The beer is in kegs so I am not worried about light affecting the beer. I think I will build something that will do the job like you both described.
The other concern I have is the compressor on the backside of the fridge. Will the sub-zero temperature affect this as well and put undo strain on the fridge. Would wrapping a brewer's belt or a heating pad around the compressor keep the oil inside more fluid-like during the winter.

Redbeard5289

I don't know about oil viscosity, but the refrigeration units that are built to go into unheated spaces have just this type of heater in them. The idea is that the heater tricks the compressor into acting as if the refrigerator is in heated room so it continues to run and keep the freezer cold.
 
Geordan and 1purpleranger,

I like both of your ideas for having a temp controller and a heat source inside the fridge to act as a heat source to keep the beer from freezing. The beer is in kegs so I am not worried about light affecting the beer. I think I will build something that will do the job like you both described.
The other concern I have is the compressor on the backside of the fridge. Will the sub-zero temperature affect this as well and put undo strain on the fridge. Would wrapping a brewer's belt or a heating pad around the compressor keep the oil inside more fluid-like during the winter.

Redbeard5289

My solution was simply to not allow the fridge to run below 4-5c. I assume the oil DID thicken up in the cold, but I didn't plug the fridge back in until I was reliably above 4c again in the room -- by that point I figured the compressor would be able to handle the temp. Admittedly this was my first winter with the keg fridge, but it seemed perfectly happy.
 
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