Where to keep your fridge outdoors during a summer garden party

Garden party season has arrived - and if you're taking your guests outdoors for dinners, parties and just about any sunny afternoon at your place, then you may be considering if there's a better way to keep your drinks cool.

One way is to stash your drinks in a second fridge in your cellar or on your terrace, say if you are staying home to watch European Football Championship, Copa América or Olympics events with friends.

But if you are using an older fridge, one downside is that it may have been decommissioned for normal operation and could potentially guzzle a lot of electricity.

To prevent your electricity bills from going through the roof, try and remember to switch off any older fridges after your party or gathering, says Germany's consumer advice centre in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, where countless football fans are heading into their gardens to watch the Euro Championship.

And for anyone hosting a watch party, if you put your fridge outside for the duration of the event, then make sure it is in a shady spot and don't set the cooling temperature too high.

If you are weighing investing in a second appliance as a party fridge, then pick a size that is suitable for long-term use and avoid buying an excessively large fridge with a high energy efficiency class such as C or D.

What about a fancy catering fridge with glass doors? These may look pretty stylish, but often they consume more than 400 kilowatt hours of electricity per year - almost four times the electricity costs compared to a standard refrigerator.