The appliance will be out of the way, but there are factors to consider before you decide to place it there
Several freezers in our tests are marketed as “garage-ready,” meaning they are designed to perform well in a broader range of ambient temperatures than a typical freezer.
By Mary H.J. Farrell
If you keep a standalone freezer to stay stocked up between sales or shopping trips, you may be tempted to relegate that large appliance to the garage. It’s a common place for freezers, and often it’s easier to find space there than in a cramped kitchen. But if you live in a region with significant temperature swings, your garage may not be the best place for this appliance.
Can You Keep a Freezer in the Garage?
Changes in temperature in an unheated garage can be hard on freezers. “You need to make sure that the unit is not exposed to temperatures above 110° F or below 0° F, because that may damage the freezer,” says Breann Chai, a CR project leader who tests large appliances.
Wendy Treinen, director of brand and product communications at GE Appliances, agrees. “In hot weather, the freezer has to work overtime, and in very cold temperatures, the freezer ‘gets confused’ and shuts off, failing to keep a freezing temperature because it ‘thinks’ it is already maintaining a temperature of 0° F,” she says.
If your freezer’s compressor has to work overtime to maintain its interior temperature when it’s very hot in your garage, it costs you more money to run the appliance. If it’s too cold and the compressor shuts off, your food could thaw.
But not every part of the country experiences such temperature extremes. And if your garage is insulated and climate-controlled, it’s fine to put a freezer there. You just want to make sure the space is dry. Keep the freezer away from windows and out of direct sunlight, because that makes it work harder to maintain the proper interior temperature. For safety reasons, you shouldn’t use an extension cord for a major appliance, so place the freezer close to an outlet. And make sure there’s plenty of space for air to circulate around the freezer so that it operates at its best.
Consumer Reports tests freezer performance at three ambient temperatures: 55° F, 70° F, and 110° F. Our tests show which freezers keep the internal temperature consistently cold with a minimum of warmer or cooler spots, as well as how long they keep food frozen during a simulated 9-hour power outage. That’s important if you tend to freeze expensive cuts of meat.
A number of freezers in our tests of upright and chest models are marketed as “garage-ready,” meaning they are designed to perform well in a broader range of ambient temperatures than a typical freezer. (Our tests reveal that some do, and some don’t.) All of the upright and chest models listed below are characterized as garage-ready, and excelled in our tests for thermostat control and temperature uniformity. They also rated well in our tests for energy efficiency, since running an extra appliance—regardless of where it’s located—will add to your utility bill. For more information on freezers and our complete test results, see our freezer buying guide and ratings.
Upright Freezers
Hisense CFU21N6AWE
The Hisense CFU21N6AWE is the highest-scoring large upright freezer we test. It hits its set temperature and maintains it, earning high marks on our temperature uniformity test. Thermostat control is also top-notch. It’s very quiet and holds its own during a simulated outage. And it has a quick-freeze feature, which is handy when you load it up after a big shopping trip.
GE FUF14DLRWW
The self-defrosting, small GE FUF14DLRWW offers top performance. With a capacity of 12.6 cubic feet, it sports two fixed and two adjustable shelves, two slide-out drawers, and four shelves in the door. It aces both the temperature control and uniformity tests and gets very good marks for energy efficiency. It held its internal temperature during the power outage simulation. This model gets a middling score for noise, but if you put it in the garage, the noise level shouldn’t bother you. The quick-freeze feature is a nice bonus.
Chest Freezers
GE FCM22DLWW
At a little over 6 feet wide, the extra-large GE FCM22DLWW offers a usable capacity of 21.3 cubic feet, far more than our other recommended chest freezer of this size. Performance on our tests for temperature control and uniformity is stellar, meaning the freezer hits its set interior temperature of 0° F and maintains it uniformly. Its performance in our power outage test is excellent, and its energy efficiency is top-notch. This freezer runs quietly, too. It has bright LEDs inside, which, given its size, help you find what you’re looking for.
Insignia NS-CZ10WH6
The midsized Insignia NS-CZ10WH6 from Best Buy gets exemplary scores across the board. It’s an energy miser with an accurate thermostat that keeps the interior at a constant temperature. And your food will be safe during a power outage; this model did a solid job on that test, too. It’s a tad noisy, but that shouldn’t be a concern because most folks place chest freezers outside living areas.
Insignia NS-CZ70WH0
The Insignia NS-CZ70WH0 is a champ at keeping a set temperature, and its thermostat is spot-on. Your food will survive a moderately long power outage, and this small chest freezer runs quietly. Energy efficiency is near the top of our ratings, but a number of larger chest freezers are even more efficient.
How CR Tests Freezers
To test freezers, our engineers fill each model with boxes of frozen spinach and run it in our test chambers for about six weeks to evaluate how well it keeps the packages frozen.
The results allow us to assess their thermostat control and temperature uniformity (the ability to maintain a consistent temperature throughout the freezer cavity). Our engineers also measure usable storage capacity, which doesn’t always match manufacturers’ claims.
In addition, we calculate energy efficiency, evaluate noise output, and judge how long a freezer can keep food frozen during a power outage. All of this data is folded into an Overall Score for each model and appears in our freezer ratings charts.
Consumer Reports is an independent, nonprofit organization that works side by side with consumers to create a fairer, safer, and healthier world. CR does not endorse products or services, and does not accept advertising. Copyright © 2026, Consumer Reports, Inc.