Garage refrigerator not cooling in summer

Why the garage is different

A refrigerator moves heat from inside the cabinet to the air around it. The hotter that air, the harder the compressor works. In a kitchen at 75°F it runs less than half the time. In a garage at 110°F it never stops. Sherman Oaks sees many days above 95°F from June through September, and a closed garage with a west-facing door runs 10–20°F above the outside air.

What you will notice

• Ice cream is soft and drinks are cool, not cold, in the afternoon. By morning it has recovered.
• The sides of the cabinet are hot to the touch.
• The compressor clicks off and on. This is its overload protector cutting power when it overheats.

What helps

• Clean the condenser coils. Garage dust clogs them fast. This is the single most useful step.
• Give it room. Leave a few inches behind and above the unit. Do not box it in with storage.
• Move it off the hot wall. Away from the garage door and away from a water heater or dryer.
• Do not overfill it with warm drinks at once on a hot day. Load it in the evening.

When it needs repair

If the refrigerator does not recover overnight, the heat has usually finished off a weak part. The common ones are the condenser fan motor, the start relay and the compressor overload. These are standard repairs. If the compressor itself has failed on an old garage unit, we will tell you plainly whether the repair is worth the money.

Buying a second refrigerator for the garage

Look for a model the maker describes as garage-ready and check the upper temperature limit in the manual. A chest freezer handles heat better than an upright refrigerator.