So at my ranch acreage, I've got a pole barn and a framed-in bunkhouse with all the amenities on one end. The bunkhouse has an off-grid electrical system. But this spring I am bringing in grid power to the property (for construction of a home, well, etc.) and will run grid power to the pole barn while we're at it.

As I will no longer be constrained by the power consumption limits of my off-grid system, I want to put an additional refrigerator and a freezer in my pole barn. I don't have room for these extra appliances in the insulated bunkhouse area; they would need to be situated in the unheated pole barn. Thus they would be subject to extreme temperature fluctuations (twenty below in the winter and triple digits in the summer months).

Will refrigerators and freezers tolerate that kind of abuse or will they croak in short order? Or would I be advised to build a small insulated "enclosure" for them in the pole barn to mitigate the extreme temperature swings?

Anyone have experience in this area or suggestions?