Q: We got a new refrigerator for Christmas as a gift to each other, and are planning on moving the old one out to the garage to use as extra freezer space.  Do you foresee any problems with that move?

-Steve in Sugar Hill

A: There are several issues you are going to have to deal with…

First of all is your gift giving.  I know, I know, I know – nothing says romance like a new ‘fridge, but seriously consider staying away from gifts that include a power cord.

That said, your next concern are the gashes that you are going to leave on your wood floor and door frame from physically moving the fridge through it as you wrestle it out to the garage.  You can avoid the flooring issue by getting some melamine (big box store) and rolling the appliance on top of it.  Get a 4 x 8 sheet, cut in half the short way and keep moving the pieces as you roll your ‘fridge.

(Isn’t a diamond pendant looking better now?}

Your next issue will be dealing with the years of gunk that have built up on the floor where the fridge used to sit.

The wiring in your garage will be adequate to run a refrigerator, I am of course assuming that you have a 110 outlet there and your current refrigerator runs on 110.

Your real problem however, is that most indoor refrigerators are designed to work best within a room temperature range between 60 and 100 degrees.  If your garage gets colder than that in the winter, (which will be here this week) and I imagine it does unless you have a well-insulated, well-maintained garage, it is very possible that the unit will not work at all.

Since the freezer is set to come on only when the fridge is working, during cold weather (like today) it may actually warm frozen items.

You have probably heard that heat is bad for frozen items.  It causes thawing and spoilage.

There are specific brands of refrigerators that are specifically made for unheated garages, but I would doubt that your old refrigerator would fall into that category.

One more bonus tip - a lot of electrical outlets in your garage are protected by GFCI's and are not designed for a refrigerator.  The constant large voltage draw caused by the compressor going on and off can fool the GFCI into thinking a short exists thus causing it to turn off the circuit.

If you are going to add a fridge to your garage have an electrician install a dedicated, single outlet, non-GFCI protected outlet just for the fridge.

-----