Throughout the cold months, here in Rochester that would be..., all the months except June, July and August. No, not really but it does get cold through the winter months. I get several calls for refrigerators that do not operate properly or not at all when they are in the garage, breeze way or a cold basement. That is not surprising to me. It is because your refrigrator is too cold.
What do you mean by that?
Huh, I am so confused right now!
Let me explain, the ambient (surrounding air space) temperature of the refrgierator is below the operating temperature of the thermostat of the unit. The refrigerator thinks it is cold enough so it will not run. The fresh food compartment is always trying to maintain approx. 38-42 degrees F. When the temp. falls below this it will not run. The freezer on the other hand does not have a separate thermostat to control its temp. The freezer compartment is designed to reach a deep freeze based on the ammount of cooling needed to maintain the fresh food compartment. So if the fresh food side does not need to run, then the freezer will not get cold at all and both compartments wil equalize in temperature over time. Once the weather warms up the unit will work like normal. My suggestion is to heat the room the unit is in, turn it off for the cold season, or move it to a warmer location. Any area that is constantly above 40 degrees F. is sufficient.
Some refrigerators will work regardless of the temperature because of good insulation but most are not going to work. Freezer units will have the same problem but not until the ambient temperature gets much lower, into the single digits for an extended period of time. The first signs of failure is softened ice cream. The sugar content in ice cream lowers the freezing point so that at 32 degrees F. water is frozen solid but ice cream is liquidy.
Have a safe and happy winter season and God bless you.
