Frost free fridge freezer or not

SteveJW

As above any advantages / dissadvantages of frost free/ auto defrost fridge freezers.



Many thanks in anticipation of any replies


Steve

EssexExile

Frost free/auto defrost you don't have to defrost.

On the other hand there is more to go wrong, they can be noisier, the workings take up more of the space & they cost a bit more.

For me, frost free every time.

that

I have had both. I would never buy an auto defrost fridge again, frost free all the way.

Frostfree does have it negatives, like you always have to let the air flow internally, or leave an airflow so keep the products in baskets. fans so could be slightly noisier. The big downside is that you have to seal all the food, no more meat just wrapped in plastic or grease proof. If you dont encapsulate the food it extracts the moisture too and give things a different consistency when thawed. Myself an others will say if you do not seal meat in plastic bags or containers, besides loosing consistency when thawed, the taste will be different as in less flavourful. Unsure, but think a normal fridge freezes quicker when fuller.

Positive is that no defrosting. I have bought 3 up to now (me and parent) and would buy again

dj1471

Frost free for sure. I'd forgotten just how much hassle traditional freezers are when they frost-up until I recently had one in a rental property.

Mine has a super-freeze button which you press when you add something unfrozen to freeze it rapidly, so it doesn't take longer.

I would advise you not to go for an expensive brand as repairs are so expensive it's cheaper to buy a new one when they break just outside the warranty period.

trailingspouse

Frost-free all the way. It's been a long time since I had to take everything out (and worry about it going off) while I waited for it to defrost, leak all over the floor, and have to attack the ice with a knife to hurry it up...
I haven't actually noticed any problem with things wrapped in cling film, and I'm not aware of any extra noise.

elsien

Our frost free one used to have something in the back of the freezer icing up which then used to make the integrated fridge switch off. So we still had to turn everything off and defrost it once in a while.

poppellerant

Maybe this is limited to my model of fridge freezer, but when I first got it the cracks and bangs that came from it alarmed me. As I wasn't used to these noises, I thought the appliance was faulty so contacted Hotpoint who told me that these noises were perfectly normal and the thing was just defrosting itself. About 10 years on, the fridge freezer still cracks and bangs. I suppose if it was faulty, it wouldn't have lasted 10 years.

Although I haven't seen anybody else in this thread mention these noises, I have read about them online. My point was just give you my experience.

EssexExile

poppellerant wrote: »

Maybe this is limited to my model of fridge freezer, but when I first got it the cracks and bangs that came from it alarmed me

I said they could be noisy! When they first came out some made noises that customers likened to gunfire! I didn't argue because they seemed to know what gunfire sounded like, which worried me a little.

stator

Frost free freezers are less environmentally friendly, because they are heating up the internal surfaces to melt the frost, then cooling it down again.
They are also not as a good for preserving food, for the same reason above.
A non-frost free freezer is best if you want long term storage of food, eg months.

If you are just keeping food in the freezer you bought from the supermarket for a week or two at most, then I don't suppose it makes much difference.


I find the noises annoying, so my next freezer might not be frost-free.
If you have two freezers then defrosting isn't such a hassle, you just reduce the amount you have in them, cram everything into one freezer and turn the other one off with a few towels and buckets to catch the water.

EssexExile

A 4 star freezer is a 4 star freezer, whether it's frost free or not. You can keep stuff in there for months. The heater doesn't heat up the surfaces of the freezer, it heats the evaporator which is hidden behind or below. The fans don't work during the short melting cycle so the warm air doesn't get to the food.

SteveJW

Many thanks for all the replies


Food for thought