Freezer for my garage
- Thread starter DanHoo
- Start date
Ed P
TVWBB Platinum Member
After 30 years or so, we recently bought one of these, one sensor for the freezer in the house, the other for the freezer in the garage.
DanHoo
TVWBB Olympian
Thanks. good idea. I can use that when PG&E shuts off my power to decide if/when to start the generator.
I'll also put my Kill-A-Watt on this for a bit to see how much power it draws.
Ed P
TVWBB Platinum Member
I'm not sure if you noticed, but lithium AA batteries are recommended for the sensors (2 ea/sensor) @ temps <0°F.
We had an extended power outage many years ago and I had more problems with the refrigerator than the freezer. As long as you don't open the lid the frozen food stays cold for a very long time, but even a few degrees of temperature rise can cause spoilage in the refrigerated section. I put the 2nd sensor in the freezer section of the fridge because of an ongoing situation with this dumb-a$$ Samsung refrigerator, but I think it should rightfully belong in the fridge section otherwise.
DanHoo
TVWBB Olympian
Thanks. I didn't notice. It makes sense that batteries don't like cold. I was going to start with enloop AAs as I have them. I'm mostly wanting to check initial temps.
I suggest watching your Samsung closely. I've had a couple of friends that had Samsung refrigerators that died when they were about 5 years old. Recently I helped a friend with one. with 2020 hindsight, I think there was an early failure in a fan or a controller that went un-attended, and a few weeks later it died completely. The estimate from a repairman was $1200. He didn't mark the parts up that much but the labor and tools to evacuate and recharge the system are not ones I own so I punted on helping. In the end, the samsung was replaced.
Jim Lampe
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
without reading all the comments....
we have the whirlpool gladiator fridge/freezer for the last 5 years.
works extremely well,
no problems at at.
in the 5 years, we've had winter temps well below 0ºF and with the garage baking inside with summer heat as high as 102ºF.
and this garage IS NOT ATTACHED to the house so no help there with heat or air conditioning
WELL WORTH the money we paid.
www.gladiatorgarageworks.com
we have the whirlpool gladiator fridge/freezer for the last 5 years.
works extremely well,
no problems at at.
in the 5 years, we've had winter temps well below 0ºF and with the garage baking inside with summer heat as high as 102ºF.
and this garage IS NOT ATTACHED to the house so no help there with heat or air conditioning
WELL WORTH the money we paid.
Appliances - Garage Refrigerators & Freezers | Gladiator
Heavy duty garage appliances, including garage refrigerators, freezers, & beverage coolers, designed to withstand the garage and keep you ready for any occasion.
www.gladiatorgarageworks.com
Ed P
TVWBB Platinum Member
This Sammy replaced a KitchenAid that we had for I don't know how long. The only problem I ever had with the KA was the icemaker and I replaced that a few times while we had it. The Sammy is a big POS and I will never buy another one. I'd like to stuff it full of fresh horse manure and send it back to South Korea. By comparison, our Whirlpool clothes dryer, the first time I replaced the belt, support wheels and idler was in 1985...I write it on the drum whenever I replace the stuff. The washer is the same way, we bought them as a pair brand new, they just run and run and run.
Steve Hoch
TVWBB Platinum Member
I doubt any of today's appliances are as good as the older ones. The only advantage we have today when shopping for them are all the online reviews you can look at before making a decision. In my experience, pretty much all the Samsung appliances I've looked at have a lot of bad reviews for component failures. I would stay away from them in general.
MikeCantell
TVWBB Pro
gladiator dont think they make these any more,put a compressor in 1 last year cost the customer over $1000 , said he loved it but if it quit again he would replace it, they are a pain to work on and some parts are NLA
Rich Dahl
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
I have a garage ready frost free upright and if a power failure occurs it has a three day protection if unopened and I have a monitor in our kitchen that monitors both freezers and the frost free upright in the defrost cycle only goes up 15-20 degrees for 30 minuets about every three days.
I've had it about four years and zero issues. I had a brisket I cooked that had been in the freezer over a year and it came out just fine. So much more convenient than a chest freezer.
Also, an upright will hold up to three times as much as a chest freezer in the same footprint.
Samsung fridges are great...until they break down. I have had 2 that have died on me in about 5 years each.
As far as the topic of the thread, I have a trusty old no frills fridge that I bought like 11 years ago by GE. I have carried that thing from house to house for the garage, lol. It is pretty much regulated to a beer and meat marinating fridge at this point, but I love it. It is about 18 cubic feet and it was $225.00. Couldn't come close to that kind of bargain these days. Wow, I feel old.
We're only letting ourselves get burned once by Samsung's design deficiencies and lack of coverage. Much happier with a Bosch refrigerator, granted, we're only 2 years in.
LMichaels
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
Yeah now in my case looking for a dishwasher. Current Electrolux POC is not fully rinsing so dishes are coming out stinking of soap residue and needing to be rinsed before use 
looking for another Bosch.
Also looking to put my garbage LG range in the dump. Wat another total piece of garbage. Why I did not fix my Bosch is beyond me. How stupid I am
looking for another Bosch.Also looking to put my garbage LG range in the dump. Wat another total piece of garbage. Why I did not fix my Bosch is beyond me. How stupid I am
Jeff Boudman
TVWBB Wizard
I’ve been a Lowe’s customer for years but my four attempts at buying a freezer from them ended up badly. Anyway, I purchased an upright frost free from HD and couldn’t be happier.
DanHoo
TVWBB Olympian
I put one probe (left one) in a basket, and one at the bottom (right one)
It is half full of food.
Freezer is at the factory setting. Should I go a little colder?
Ed P
TVWBB Platinum Member
What does the Kill-O-Watt meter tell you? Mine are set for -4°F. I tried to locate the sensor about in the middle of the cube, away from any nearby surfaces. Also, after that 7yo turkey incident, I try to limit storage to a year.
I think going lower won't gain anything other than fast freeze, but it depends on how you use your freezer (how many times you open/close, add food that needs to be frozen, etc.)
Last edited:
Bill F in Ontario
TVWBB Fan
Years ago I was meat manager at a large grocery chain and a lady came to me with a complaint about a frozen Butterball stuffed turkey. She told me the frozen stuffed turkey ( which you cook from a frozen state ) took a lot longer to cook and wasn't ready in time for her her scheduled Thanksgiving time meal. There was nothing wrong with the turkey other than the longer than normal cooking time , so I took her phone number, and I called the Butterball hotline and explained the situation and they in turn called the customer. The customer approached me the following week and told me that Butterball had called her and they had determined that she had her freezer temp. was set way too low and that explained the longer than normal cooking time . I have a small upright freezer and set the temp as close to 0 Fahrenheit as possible and fill any empty areas with ice packs to keep it full so it doesn't run as much . .
Last edited:
Our refrigerator/freezer combos get the freezer set to 0 F, the upright freezer gets set to -10 F (as low as they'll go.) I cook to temp, especially when cooking meat.
<scratches head> @Bill F in Ontario Cooking a Butterball from *FROZEN*? Really? And worse, a pre-stuffed bird? That just sets off the willies in me, I'd be very very uncomfortable about internal temps remaining too low while the exterior overcooks. That would seem to be to just scream a very low oven, and foil tented for a long time (uncovered for maybe the last hour-ish.) Holy crud.... this is a real product in Canada. I'll be dipped, learn something new every day.
<scratches head> @Bill F in Ontario Cooking a Butterball from *FROZEN*? Really? And worse, a pre-stuffed bird? That just sets off the willies in me, I'd be very very uncomfortable about internal temps remaining too low while the exterior overcooks. That would seem to be to just scream a very low oven, and foil tented for a long time (uncovered for maybe the last hour-ish.) Holy crud.... this is a real product in Canada. I'll be dipped, learn something new every day.
Bill F in Ontario
TVWBB Fan
Stuffed Butterball turkeys( pre stuffed with dressing only ) are to be cooked from a frozen state as per cooking instructions on the label , not regular frozen Butterball turkeys ( not stuffed with dressing ) which are thawed and then cooked . The stuffed turkeys are cooked frozen because of all the stuffing in the cavity of the turkey which is why stuffed frozen butterballs are cooked from frozen so again there is no opportunity for bacterial growth.. Do they not sell frozen Butterball stuffed turkeys in the USA ? , In Canada I would say they must represent 15-20 % of all frozen turkey sales.
Last edited:
Apparently not. Per the Butterball product page, on where to buy, it's only Canadian locations.