Frost Free Fridge/Freezer or Manual?

Frank99

I was looking to get one of these so called Frost Free Fridge/Freezers but i am a bit concerned that they use more energy, the recent spate of Home and Apartment fires was after the introduction of frost free fridge/freezers, and my brother has had 3 frost free fridge/freezers in the time i have still had my old Indesit manual version.
I defrost mine about once a year with no issues and wonder if it is worth continuing to save energy by going manual after all.:T

Undervalued

I have a Bosch one that seems to work very well although they do make some very strange noises which I am told is normal!

I couldn't honestly say how efficient it is or isn't but them my old FF ran nearly continuously to try and stay cold.

It is certainly very nice never to have to defrost it. Food needs to be well wrapped otherwise it will dry out much quicker than in a normal fridge.

EssexExile

Frost free has been about for over 20 years so they've got the hang of it by now. They are more complicated than non frost free but still pretty simple. Our LG one has been working fine for 15 years.

The energy ratings will tell you how they compare on efficiency.

cranford

Just make sure it has a fire retardant metal back rather than a plastic one which were very common until the fire issue surfaced.

TELLIT01

I certainly wish I'd got FF. It's a pain having to defrost.

savemoney

Had several FF freezers for past 20 years. I currently have one FF freezer and another FF fridge freezer in kitchen. Only issue I found was they dont work very well in very cold areas below 10c or thereabouts

neilmcl

I recently replaced a 7 year old Indesit non frost free FF with a new Beko Frost free one and tbh I much prefer the old one. Never had any issues with it being non frost free, yes you have to defrost it once a year or so but that's no big shakes, easily done within half a day and gives you the opportunity to give a good spring clean.

The main issue I have with frost free machines is trying to keep a consistent temperature between the fridge and freezer compartments. You either get the fridge working to a solid 4-5C and then the freezer is too warm or you set it so the freezer maintains a temp below -18 and the fridge starts to get too cold and the walls start icing up. With the old FF I never had such an issue.

EssexExile

neilmcl wrote: »

The main issue I have with frost free machines is trying to keep a consistent temperature between the fridge and freezer compartments. You either get the fridge working to a solid 4-5C and then the freezer is too warm or you set it so the freezer maintains a temp below -18 and the fridge starts to get too cold and the walls start icing up. With the old FF I never had such an issue.

That's not a specific "frost free" problem, that can happen with either type. In fact it is usually less of a problem with frost free appliances.

neilmcl

EssexExile wrote: »

That's not a specific "frost free" problem, that can happen with either type. In fact it is usually less of a problem with frost free appliances.

I find the opposite to be true. The fact that the freezer has to regularly increase temperature to auto defrost means the temp in both the freezer or the fridge is never consistent and you can never get the freezer cold enough, ie -18 to -20C, without also bringing the fridge temp down too. All the manual defrost !!!!!! I've owned I've always managed to maintain a consistent temperature in the fridge part.

I am talking about fairly cheap machines though £200-£300, I'd accept that the more expensive !!!!!! with individual temperature controls for the fridge and freezer compartments may work better.