No, sleeping on a refrigerator in your Connecticut backyard is not illegal; the often-cited “weird law” stems from urban myths and misattributed refrigerator abandonment statutes like CT Gen Stat § 53-215, which only prohibits discarding airtight appliances without removing doors or lids to prevent child entrapment.​
Relevant Refrigerator Law
Connecticut General Statutes § 53-215 makes it a class D misdemeanor to abandon refrigerators, ice boxes, or similar containers outdoors or in unoccupied structures without removing the airtight door or lid, with each day as a separate offense. This 1955 law targets safety hazards, not sleeping or other uses, and local codes like Putnam’s echo it for abandoned appliances. No provision addresses sleeping on top of one.​
Urban Legend Origins
Lists of “dumb laws” falsely claim Connecticut or nearby states ban sleeping on refrigerators outdoors, often confusing it with Pennsylvania myths or general abandonment rules. These circulate online without statutory basis; actual laws focus on public safety, not quirky prohibitions.​
Backyard Regulations
Connecticut backyard activities fall under local zoning (e.g., nuisances under CGS § 19a-341) or HOA rules, but placing or using a functional refrigerator raises no criminal issues beyond abandonment if discarded. Nuisance complaints could arise from neighbors if it attracts pests, but sleeping itself lacks prohibition.
SOURCES
[1](https://law.justia.com/codes/connecticut/title-53/chapter-943/section-53-215/)
[2](https://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/is-putting-locks-on-fridge-or-freezers-at-night-be-5422811.html)
[3](https://eregulations.ct.gov/eRegsPortal/Browse/RCSA/Title_19Subtitle_19-13-BSection_19-13-b56/)
[4](https://eregulations.ct.gov/eRegsPortal/Browse/RCSA/Title_19Subtitle_19-13Section_19-13-b57/)
[5](https://blackmanvoice.net/2023/10/23/weird-laws-in-america/)
