We heat our cottage only to 46 degrees (enough to keep the pipes from freezing) and now have been told this temperature is causing the freezer of our refrigerator to turn itself off occasionally. This time it resulted in a lot of spoiled food. We are unwilling to spend the money to heat the place to 60 degrees during out absences.

If the temperature was raised to about 60 degrees for several hours during our absences about once a week, would this help solve the problem?

Collaterally, are we risking ruining the whole refrigerator by running it at this low temp?

I have had the same problem with my cabin. Raising the temp once a week will not solve the issue. It will still thaw after a day or two and then refreeze when your temp rises. Try raising the stat to over 50 degrees and you may hit that perfect point. Lowering the freezer temp to its lowest setting will also bring about a positive change. If you are interested in talking about winter options for a cabin send me a private message.

Good luck,
Bob