Freezer Repair near you

Health Canada sets the target for any freezer at -18 °C (0 °F) or colder. Its emergency food-safety advice applies to a failed freezer just as it does to a power outage: keep the lid or door closed, because a full freezer keeps food frozen for about 48 hours and a half-full one for about 24 hours. Leave a thermometer among the packages so you know how warm the contents got before you decide what to keep.

According to Health Canada, food that still contains ice crystals or feels refrigerator-cold can be refrozen, and it remains safe to eat if it's cooked to a safe internal temperature. Anything that has sat at room temperature for 2 hours or more should be thrown out. If the repair can't happen soon, move the contents to coolers packed with ice, a neighbour's freezer or the freezer section of your fridge. For a freezer that nobody opens every day, a plug-in temperature alarm or a sensor that sends alerts to your phone gives early warning.

Plenty of freezers end up in an attached garage, a cold room or an unheated porch, and those spots are hard on them. Every freezer is designed to work within a range of room temperatures that the manufacturer lists in the manual. When a garage drops below that range in winter, the compressor and its oil don't behave as designed, and the freezer may stop cycling properly or struggle to start. In a hot garage in July, the opposite happens: the compressor runs for long stretches and wears faster.

Some models are rated for garages and built for a wider range, but check the manual rather than the box. Plug it in directly unless the manufacturer allows an extension cord. If the garage outlet is a ground-fault type, a trip can cut the power without any warning, which is one more reason for a temperature alarm. Changes to the outlet or circuit are work for a licensed electrician.

Chest freezers and manual-defrost uprights build frost on their walls or shelves over time. A thick layer acts as insulation, so the compressor works harder while the space for food shrinks. Defrosting is an owner's job, done the way the manual describes.

Replacing a compressor, fixing a leaking coil or clearing a blocked line means recovering the refrigerant before anything is cut or brazed, then evacuating and recharging the circuit. In Quebec, the provincial halocarbon regulation restricts that work on halocarbon appliances to holders of the environmental halocarbon qualification and prohibits releasing halocarbons into the air. In Ontario, the province says only a certified technician may remove, handle and dispose of refrigerants.

The rating plate inside the lid or door names the refrigerant, and some newer freezers use a flammable hydrocarbon that calls for technicians trained to handle it. Ask which certificate the technician holds before any sealed-system work, and be wary of an offer to simply add refrigerant: a freezer that has lost its charge has a leak that must be found and repaired first.

Thermostats, start relays, gaskets, hinges, fans, defrost parts and alarms are modest repairs on a cabinet in good condition. Replacement usually wins when the compressor has failed, when coils sealed into a chest freezer's walls are leaking, when rust has come through the cabinet floor, or when a cracked liner has let moisture soak the insulation. Scarce parts for an older model push the same way.

An old freezer can also cost more to run than a current one. Natural Resources Canada requires the EnerGuide label on new freezers, and it shows each model's annual energy use in kilowatt-hours.

A dead freezer still holds refrigerant and compressor oil, so it shouldn't be taken apart for scrap until the refrigerant has been recovered by a qualified person. An out-of-service chest freezer is also a particular hazard for children, because a lid that seals tightly can trap anyone who climbs inside.