Outdoor freezers - venting requirements

[sgt10]

Does anyone have experience with the small undercounter outdoor freezers? I’m looking at one by ULine and they specifically state do not put behind a door. My available space WOULD be behind a door, but I noticed that the freezer is front bottom venting, and I am wondering whether a substantial vent cut into the bottom of the door might suffice for venting purposes. Any opinions?

 

[cfz2882]

two vents...

..one at the bottom,one at the top to let rising warmer air escape.I have a Uline small fridge(made in 1991) and that one has fan-forced condenser:I think air is drawn in the front grill and blown out the back.

 

[bradfordwhite]

Or provide air movement in some other way such as venting to the outside. You can't just shove a frig or freezer into a tight space and call it a day. It will run all the time creating noise and running up an electric bill.

If possible, could the freezer simply go outside under a porch roof or in a garage?

Be warned: I've tried those Uline products. They are pricey and noisy because you've got the fan, and ultimately messy with lint and dust build up.

I'm amazed at the new offerings in compact freezers these days. Most have no fan.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Could you use a louvered door for ventilation?

 

[sgt10]

Thank you for the suggestions. I plan on cutting an upper and lower vents into the door. There are vents out the side of this outdoor “closet” too. If I had another position for it, I would place it elsewhere, but I don’t. I currently have a small fridge in the space which does fine, but I don’t think it has the same venting needs. Hence my quest to Introduce more air flow. It is meant to be an outdoor freezer, after all, and with vents on all sides it seems like it should be ok.

 

[henene4]

Can not vs must not

I think what they are trying to say is that you can't use cabinet fronts to cover the front.

The manual on their website (if we are talking the same model - UOFZ124) shows the condenser to be completely in the bottom of the machine.
And it only occupies the left side so air can completely circulate right side in left side out.
I would dare to say it uses a fan for air flow since with that horizontal installation, convection alone probably won't do much.

So, if the handle on the front fits behind the cabinet door, there should be enough space for air to circulate around the ventilation grill at the front bottom.
How and where you ventilate the cabinet itself shouldn't matter then as long as enough ventilation is there in general.

So if you put a cutout in the door or the top of the cabinet shouldn't matter.

The more air flow you can provide the more efficient it will run.
The more efficient it runs the longer it will live.
But it should run perfectly fine with just a few square inches of ventilation area.

And I think that at least a certain amount of that cabinet thing is about it being R600a and if it leaks, an enclosed space could lead to an explosive atmosphere building up.

 

[sgt10]

Thanks, that makes sense. That is the model I was looking at. I have cut the door for bottom venting and installed a grill. The doors are so thick that I thought the upper vent suggestion a good one too. I am sure I will compromise efficiency and perhaps appliance life somewhat, but it’s better than putting the freezer in my backyard and looking at it all the time. If I had room in the garage, a larger freezer would make better sense, but I simply don’t, and we don’t have basements in Southern California, hence this kludge solution.

 

[iej]

Simple air circulation, so it can dissipate heat and don’t place it in an area where it is likely to be exposed to direct heat from the sun.