Does a fridge run better if full?

cx6

Another thought - if you want to reduce the volume of free air in your fridge then may be better to fill it with empty plastic bottles (with their tops screwed on) rather than bottles of water.

coffeehound

I've seen expanded polystyrene blocks suggested, too.

victor2

Let me think....
Fill my fridge with bottles of beer or air?

QrizB

coffeehound said:

One thing worth doing at this time of year if poss is to leave things outdoors to cool overnight before putting them in ... Needs a secure outdoor place though!

The boot of a car works quite well, although once or twice my bottled water has frozen!

badger09

coffeehound said:

One thing worth doing at this time of year if poss is to leave things outdoors to cool overnight before putting them in.  I sometmes do this with bottles of water, cans of soft drinks and beer.  Needs a secure outdoor place though!

The very small en-suite to our guest bedroom serves as an indoor chiller. In fact, when we moved in in February last year, I used it as a fridge! Also came in useful this Christmas for defrosting the turkey.

We have now installed a fancy glass radiator/towel rail contraption, but rarely use it as we don't want to encourage guests to stay too long

jvjack

Realy like this one. Would like to know the answer/science.
Mine is fridge only. Had mini freezer sat on top of fridge but turned it off.
Stored only fish fingers and they are ok for couple of days in fridge i think.
Probly seperate one but am now pondering on cheapest way to cook an egg.

Ultrasonic

jvjack said:

Realy like this one. Would like to know the answer/science.

The correct answer has been given above - it saves a bit of energy to keep a fridge fuller as you don't have to chill so much warm air each time the door is closed. Fill it excessively and the fridge won't chill as effectively away from the back due to poor air circulation.

k_man

Also, if the usage of the fridge changes frequently, so the 'fillers' are taken in and out (as real contents are used/added), then this may increase energy usage, as the fillers need to be chilled each time.

Lip_Stick

There used to be an advert on TV telling you not to overfill your fridge. I think it was due to lack of air circulation affecting food. The freezer works better when packed though, I believe.

Ultrasonic

k_man said:

Also, if the usage of the fridge changes frequently, so the 'fillers' are taken in and out (as real contents are used/added), then this may increase energy usage, as the fillers need to be chilled each time.

Yes, it wouldn't make sense to do this. Rather I think if there is basically pretty much always more space than needed then filling this spare space makes some sense. I have a couple of 2L bottles in the door of my fridge with this in mind.