Most standard fridges aren't built for a garage. In a Lufkin summer, with average highs in the low 90s outside and hotter in a closed garage, the compressor can run nonstop and still fall behind. If it also struggles on a mild day, something has failed: often dirty condenser coils, a dead condenser fan or a defrost problem.
Why heat is hard on a fridge
A fridge doesn't make cold. It moves heat out through the coils at the back or underneath, and the hotter the air around it, the harder that is. Lufkin's average daily high is 93.3°F in July and 93.7°F in August (NOAA 1991–2020 normals), and a closed garage in the sun gets well above that.
Fridges sold as "garage ready" are built for it. GE, for example, rates its Garage Ready models for 38°F to 110°F. A standard kitchen fridge isn't rated that way.
Rather have a technician look at it? See refrigerator repair in Lufkin.
Winter can be a problem too
It sounds backwards, but a cold garage causes trouble as well. On many standard fridges the thermostat sits in the fresh-food section. When the garage is cold, it rarely calls for cooling, and the freezer can warm up. GE says it doesn't recommend standard fridges where it drops below 60°F.
Simple ways to help it
- Give it room: a few inches at the back and sides, and nothing stacked on top.
- Clean the condenser coils, with the fridge unplugged. Garages are dusty and coils clog fast.
- Keep it out of direct sun and away from the water heater or the dryer.
- Check the outlet. Garage outlets are usually GFCI and trip in storms.
- Don't pack it so full that air can't move.
When it needs a repair
- It's warm on a mild day, not just a hot one.
- It runs nonstop and the back or bottom is very hot.
- The fan at the bottom back isn't turning (unplug it before you look closely).
- There's frost on the freezer back wall. That's a defrost fault, wherever the fridge lives.
- It goes click-hum-click every few minutes.
When to call now
- It's warm even when the garage isn't hot
- The condenser fan has stopped
- It clicks every few minutes and won't start
See emergency refrigerator repair for what to do in the next hour.
Call (936) 304-3264What happens when you call
Tell us the brand and what it's doing. A technician comes out, finds the fault and gives you the price before any work starts, and you decide. More in how a repair visit works.