Good question to ask before winter. Your Kenmore 253.24082100 was built for Sears by Frigidaire (Electrolux), as the 253 prefix shows. The answer depends on two temperature limits, one for cold and one for heat.
The usual range
Unless a freezer is specifically labeled “Garage Ready”, Frigidaire-built freezers like this one are generally meant to run where the room stays between about 32°F and 110°F. The exact limits for your model are in the owner’s manual, usually under “Installation” or “Location”. Garage-ready models are rated down to about 0°F.
What happens below the limit
A freezer doesn’t heat itself. In a cold garage, the thermostat sees that the inside is already cold and the compressor runs very little. In a freezer-only unit, the food usually stays frozen, unlike in a refrigerator with a freezer on top, where the freezer can thaw. The risks are mechanical:
- The compressor oil thickens in severe cold, so the compressor works harder each time it starts.
- Very long off-periods followed by hard starts can shorten compressor life.
- Frost and condensation can build up when the garage swings from cold to warm.
In Erie, an unheated garage can fall well below 32°F for weeks, so plan for it.
What you can do
- Keep it full. A full freezer holds its temperature longer and cycles less.
- Put a thermometer inside and check it after the first cold week. If the food stays at 0°F or below, the freezer is doing its job.
- Keep it off the bare concrete and away from the garage door, where the cold drafts are worst.
- Watch summer too. A closed garage above 100°F makes the compressor run nonstop. Leave space around the unit for airflow.
- Don’t add a heater inside the cabinet or wrap the freezer. That blocks airflow and can be a fire risk.
If you’d rather not take the chance with a freezer full of food, a garage-ready freezer, or moving this one indoors for the coldest months, is the safest option.