Can You Keep a Fridge in Your Garage?

Whether you want a place to store your "outdoor" food and beverages for summer entertaining, or you just need extra shelves to hold the spoils from your Costco run, getting a second fridge can help. For many homeowners, the garage serves as a good storage space for vehicles, sports equipment, tools and more. But if you’re looking to get another fridge and don't have enough indoor space, you might wonder whether you can plug it in in the garage.

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Is It OK to Put a Refrigerator in the Garage?

Yes, you can certainly put a fridge in the garage. Whether it works as intended depends on certain circumstances. Indoor fridges use sensors to detect the indoor temperature and adjust the fridge temp by running the compressor. This keeps your food and drinks at a suitable temp. However, the fridge temperature can be severely affected by outside temperatures. While indoor fridges are designed to handle typical household temperatures, they can run into issues when the air surrounding them is too hot or cold.

You can work around these problems by investing in a garage-ready fridge or insulating your garage to regulate the temperature better. Or, if you live in a mild-year-round climate, you will likely experience less temperature variability that may harm the compressor.

What Kinds of Fridges Are Best to Keep in the Garage?

Garage-Ready Refrigerators

Your best bet is to pick a refrigerator designed to be kept in the garage. Garage-ready fridges are built to withstand drastic temperature differences between summer and winter. These appliances are created with added insulation and extra temperature sensors that allow the fridge to detect the outdoor temperature, not just the indoor temperature, and also have separate thermostats for the fridge and freezer sections. Unlike indoor fridges that often experience stable temperatures, these fridges can handle temperature fluctuations in either direction.

Energy-Efficient Refrigerators

If a garage-ready fridge isn't in the budget, you can make do with a regular fridge that is marked as "energy efficient." You want to look for an energy-efficient refrigerator that’s Energy Star-certified. Fridges that sit in very cold or very hot temperatures will run the compressor more often, so you'll want to ensure it’s efficient to avoid high bills.

Can You Put a Refrigerator in an Unheated Garage in the Winter?

A fridge can work in a cold or unheated garage, but you may need to do more routine maintenance to keep it running. The fridge's thermostat does not know whether the fridge is cold because of the compressor or because cold air is seeping in. When that happens, and the compressor doesn’t run, the temperature in your fridge's freezer can actually increase because the freezer relies on the compressor to stay active and maintain its temperature. This can result in the freezer items spoiling.

That said, there are some things you can do to ensure your fridge works properly or more effectively in an unheated garage. You can add insulation around your garage to maintain a more stable temperature and improve the overall appliance energy efficiency. You can also routinely clean the fridge coils to remove dirt and debris. This is especially helpful if you’re going to keep them in a garage where there is often more dust and dirt than in a typical kitchen. Cleaning the coil helps the fridge operate more efficiently by allowing it to release heat more easily. You can also opt for a garage-ready model, which may better handle these conditions.

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Should You Unplug a Garage Refrigerator For the Winter?

You can leave a garage fridge plugged in during the winter, but it's important to heed the advice from the previous section. Keep the condenser coils clean and keep an eye on both the fridge and freezer temperatures. If the winter is mild, you'll likely have no issues at all. But if you get a deep freeze, you'll want to check on your garage fridge every day or two to ensure it's running properly.

Even though you don't need to, it may be wise in many cases to unplug your refrigerator for the winter. If you just use it to keep drinks and snacks handy during the warmer months, it might not serve any purpose running during the winter — plus, it's going to eat up a lot of unnecessary electricity. It's okay to give your garage fridge the winter off.

How Do I Protect My Refrigerator in a Hot Garage?

A fridge can also stay in the garage during the hot summer months, but you just need to be aware that it will use up more energy than usual. The appliance's compressor will run more often to counteract the additional heat. This is where insulating your garage is helpful, as it provides benefits for both winter and summer. If possible, keep your fridge away from windows where it may see direct sunlight, as this can warm it up. Keeping your fridge full of cooled food and drinks also helps.

Do Garage Fridges Last as Long as Indoor Refrigerators?

When it comes to lifespan, there are downsides to garage fridges. Unfortunately, fridges stored in garages won’t last as long as those stored indoors. Since your compressor will run more often to handle colder and warmer temperatures, it will experience more wear and tear than a typical fridge. The garage is a good final place for older fridges before you toss them.