Where to Keep Your Freezer
Freezers simply work by exchanging the heat from out of the interior and delivering it to the outside. So, the hotter it is outside the harder the motor has to work.
The positioning is a major issue. Never put your fridge or freezer next to a boiler or close to an cooking appliance. Ensure good ventilation behind your fridge or freezer so that air can easily flow of the grill behind. It’s just like a car’s radiator and needs airflow to efficiently get rid of the heat.
Often people will put a freezer into a garage or even a garden shed. This is fine in the winter but these rooms can, because of low insulation, become very hot in summer and so the freezer has to work harder using more electricity. However many modern freezers do not work well if the room temperature is too low – check the manual or before buying.
Energy Efficiency
Like most electrical appliances, stores (including online) will display the energy rating of freezers. At a minimum go for an A rating and preferably A+. Your freezer runs 24 hours a day and the electricity cost is significant.
Also higher rated machines will have more insulation and hold temperature for longer in the event of a power cut.Some retailers will tell you how long the freezer will hold temperature for. This can vary between 5 hours to 18 days!
With talk of power shortages and cuts coming until new power stations are commissioned buying a freezer that holds temperature is a good idea. It may be possible to run a freezer on a time control so as to take advantage of solar power installations.
Defrosting
With freezers, it’s beneficial to de-frost on a regular basis. If it is frosting up too quickly, check the door seal. You can fold a newspaper and shut the door on it. If the paper falls out, there’s a faulty door seal and it will have to be replaced.
Some freezers come with automatic defrosting which is obviously a time saver, but it will cost you 40% more on the bill when defrosting automatically. Although the thermostat has to go in overdrive to get it back to freezing again when defrosting manually, this is still by far the cheapest option. The manual defrost costs less to buy as well!
Run it Full for Efficiency
Keep your freezer as full as you can, they generally work more efficiently when full for some reason. If, like us, you use your freezer to store home-grown seasonal foods then there are times when the cupboard starts to look bare. Keep an eye out for bargains in the supermarket at the end of the day on bread and fill the freezer with loaves. Alternatively, put crushed up newspaper or loads of squashed supermarket plastic bags to fill up the empty space.
New or Second Hand Freezers
Freezers are actually quite simple machines and tend to have long life. Things can go wrong, the refrigerant gas may leak from a damaged joint, a compressor motor fail or the thermostat dies but most often people get rid of a freezer as it’s not the right size for them or for cosmetic reasons.
Buying an older machine is a risk but generally if it is in working order, seals OK, then go for it. Even if it’s not as efficient as a new machine, a £100 buys a lot of electricity!
Chest or Upright Freezer?
Chest freezers can be really useful even when they no longer work. They make a great rat proof store for chicken food in the shed or can even be pressed into a new life as a water butt. Throw nothing away until you are sure you can’t use it!
Freezer Temperature
Freezers keep food at –18C ° and fast freeze at –26C°. Fast freezing is the optimum freezing temperature for fresh food to retain most of its nutritional value. It is important to keep the freezer temperature constant in order not to increase energy expenditure – every degree below – 18°C increases energy expenditure by 5%. Electronic accurate thermometers are fairly cheap to buy on Ebay to check wit
More Information on Freezing Produce
- Freezers and Freezing Food
- Freezers – Chest or Upright Freezer?
- How to Freeze Food – General Information, Blanching etc.
- Freezing Vegetables – Preparation & Blanching Times Part 1
- Freezing Vegetables – Preparation & Blanching Times Part 2
- Freezing Herbs – How to Freeze Herbs
- Freezing Fruit – How to Freeze Fruits
- Freezer Running Costs – How Much do Freezers Cost to Run
- Freezer Running Costs – Test Results How Much our Freezers Cost
- Running Costs for Freezers Conclusions
