Phasing out of fast freeze switches on freezers

[Bouleversee]

I urgently need a new fridge freezer as mine never switches off and the freezer section is getting iced up and drawers difficult to pull out. The only two which will fit the space are an Indesit model which has had terrible reviews and only guarantees parts, not labour, and a Lec model which is OK but does not have a fast freeze switch. I queried this and was told that fast freeze switches are being phased out due to legislation changes, though the girl said more expensive models have them, which didn't make a lot of sense. The spec. says: freezing capacity (kg/24 hrs) 3. I have no idea how this compares with others, whether it would be sufficient if I were buying a lot of fresh meat and fish at once (being now solo I tend not to shop frequently) and whether slow freezing would mean the items had to be eaten sooner. The person I spoke couldn't answer my queries and was supposed to be emailing back but hasn't.

Does anyone know anything about this subject? I can't read the manual online (possibly due to Ublock). Also does anyone have experience of Lec fridge freezers? They do seem to have quite good reviews and come with a 3 yr guarantee.

[jackdaww]

I urgently need a new fridge freezer as mine never switches off and the freezer section is getting iced up and drawers difficult to pull out. The only two which will fit the space are an Indesit model which has had terrible reviews and only guarantees parts, not labour, and a Lec model which is OK but does not have a fast freeze switch. I queried this and was told that fast freeze switches are being phased out due to legislation changes, though the girl said more expensive models have them, which didn't make a lot of sense. The spec. says: freezing capacity (kg/24 hrs) 3. I have no idea how this compares with others, whether it would be sufficient if I were buying a lot of fresh meat and fish at once (being now solo I tend not to shop frequently) and whether slow freezing would mean the items had to be eaten sooner. The person I spoke couldn't answer my queries and was supposed to be emailing back but hasn't.

Does anyone know anything about this subject? I can't read the manual online (possibly due to Ublock). Also does anyone have experience of Lec fridge freezers? They do seem to have quite good reviews and come with a 3 yr guarantee.

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ive had a hisense rb338n4ew1 for 2 years and its good - quite narrow so might fit you..

if you put a load of unfrozen stuff in , the freezer will work flat out until it stabilizes.

its not wise to put very big unfrozen loads in - that may partially defrost existing content .i

i suspect the fast freeze switch has always been marketing gimmick.

[6Tricia]

I have a 210 Lt LEC freezer in my shed. It has worked perfectly for over 10 years - (kept pretty full with garden produce!). It does have a fast freeze function, but I usually freeze stuff in my kitchen fridge/freezer and transfer a day or so later. HTH.

Tricia

[Bouleversee]

Thanks, both. It's the height which is the problem. Can't be more than about 176 cm. and about 55m wide. The model I am considering is TF55178 which they say can't be in a garage or shed or anywhere below 16C which my kitchen might possibly get down to in the deep mid winter unless I leave some heating on.

How long do your freezers take to freeze to desired temperature if you don't put too much in at once?

I'll have a look at your Hisense model, Jackdaww but I think my daughter did a full search with filters which I am hopeless at and only came up with an Indesit one which had terrible reviews.

[GrandOiseau]

I urgently need a new fridge freezer as mine never switches off and the freezer section is getting iced up and drawers difficult to pull out.

Could this all be related. Have you tried emptying and fully defrosting? We do ours every couple of years.

How old is it?

[Slarti]

I don't recall when we last had a fast freeze switch on our fridge freezers.

But then we've been "frost free" for about 15 years, so perhaps it doesn't apply then?

Slarti

[jackdaww]

Thanks, both. It's the height which is the problem. Can't be more than about 176 cm. and about 55m wide. The model I am considering is TF55178 which they say can't be in a garage or shed or anywhere below 16C which my kitchen might possibly get down to in the deep mid winter unless I leave some heating on.

How long do your freezers take to freeze to desired temperature if you don't put too much in at once?

I'll have a look at your Hisense model, Jackdaww but I think my daughter did a full search with filters which I am hopeless at and only came up with an Indesit one which had terrible reviews.

======
yes the hisense is 180cm by 55cm .

[kempiejon]

Thanks, both. It's the height which is the problem. Can't be more than about 176 cm. and about 55m wide. The model I am considering is TF55178 which they say can't be in a garage or shed or anywhere below 16C which my kitchen might possibly get down to in the deep mid winter unless I leave some heating on.

Every fridge and freezer has codes for the working temperatures. Many/most won't like it in a shed or garage in the cold of winter.
These are the codes so it looks like you'll need SN and the TF55178 is one of the other ratings.
10-32°C: SN
16-32°C: N
16-38°C: ST
16-43°C: T

Read more: https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/freezer ... our-garage - Which?

[Bouleversee]

I urgently need a new fridge freezer as mine never switches off and the freezer section is getting iced up and drawers difficult to pull out.

Could this all be related. Have you tried emptying and fully defrosting? We do ours every couple of years.

How old is it?

I don't know; it was here when we moved here in May 2008 and it is auto defrost. Worked OK till recently though I had to run it on a low setting (fridge) or things got too cold and that didn't switch off either. Some of the door fitments in the fridge are broken; I really do need a new one.

[Bouleversee]

I don't recall when we last had a fast freeze switch on our fridge freezers.

But then we've been "frost free" for about 15 years, so perhaps it doesn't apply then?

Slarti

The Lec model is frost free, but then so is my present one and it has a fast freeze switch. Do you know what the freezing capabilities of yours are, for comparison.

[Bouleversee]

Thanks, both. It's the height which is the problem. Can't be more than about 176 cm. and about 55m wide. The model I am considering is TF55178 which they say can't be in a garage or shed or anywhere below 16C which my kitchen might possibly get down to in the deep mid winter unless I leave some heating on.

Every fridge and freezer has codes for the working temperatures. Many/most won't like it in a shed or garage in the cold of winter.
These are the codes so it looks like you'll need SN and the TF55178 is one of the other ratings.
10-32°C: SN
16-32°C: N
16-38°C: ST
16-43°C: T

Read more: https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/freezer ... our-garage - Which?

Yes, it must be N. I don't want to put it in my garage. The point is there doesn't seem to be any other model which would fit into the space heightwise.

[Slarti]

I don't recall when we last had a fast freeze switch on our fridge freezers.

But then we've been "frost free" for about 15 years, so perhaps it doesn't apply then?

Slarti

The Lec model is frost free, but then so is my present one and it has a fast freeze switch. Do you know what the freezing capabilities of yours are, for comparison.

Beyond the fact that it is the volume of the top draw, I have no idea.

Sorry
Slarti

[Hardgrafter]

You need to differentiate between freezers and fridges.
Fridges need to be in heated rooms > 10°C so that they can auto defrost and have internal temperatures from say 4°C to 10°C.
Freezers can be in garages, but not frost free models.
Fridge freezers need to be in heated rooms, and a dual compressor type is preferable, as this is the only way to operate the fridge and the freezer independently. if there is only one compressor, then internal temperature control is a compromise.

[midnightcatprowl]

I've got two kitchen freezers. One is a free standing Beko which claims to be frost free and which DOES have a fast freeze switch. The other is the bottom half of a Logik (cheapie from Curry's) fridge/freezer which also claims to be frost free and which does NOT have a fast freeze switch.

I don't use the fast freeze switch on the Beko (and had given up using it on the freezer it replaced) because as someone else has said, having it on doesn't seem to make any difference as the freezer responds to any increase in temperature inside by running continuously until things return to normal.

My comment on 'claims' to be frost free relates to the fact that actually both do operate in a frost free way except that they tend to dump the water on the bottom of the freezer where it then freezes again. However, it is so much easier to lever frozen water from the bottom than to fiddle with frost on shelves and the internal back and sides of the freezer that I don't worry about this too much.

[pochisoldi]

My comment on 'claims' to be frost free relates to the fact that actually both do operate in a frost free way except that they tend to dump the water on the bottom of the freezer where it then freezes again. However, it is so much easier to lever frozen water from the bottom than to fiddle with frost on shelves and the internal back and sides of the freezer that I don't worry about this too much.

In my experience, frost free fridges and freezers are dependent on a drain hole which decants defrosted water outside the compartment into a plastic tray mounted on top of the compressor. The normal waste heat from the compressor then evaporates off the water.

If there's pools of water inside then the first thing to check is that the drain hole isn't blocked.

[UncleEbenezer]

Thanks, both. It's the height which is the problem. Can't be more than about 176 cm.

I have a height restriction: it has to go under a shelf quite a lot lower than that. My current fridge-freezer is just 143cm. Even at that height, I had a choice of several, and made a shortlist of two that were full (albeit small) fridge-freezers. At 176 cm you should have a wide choice, unless you have other constraints you're not telling us?

I wouldn't let absence of a fast-freeze bother me. What I would want to look out for is how easy or hard it is to defrost - if it's not automatic. Anything in the freezer that doesn't come out for cleaning and defrosting should be easily accessible, and fiddly corners are bad!

[UncleEbenezer]

My comment on 'claims' to be frost free relates to the fact that actually both do operate in a frost free way except that they tend to dump the water on the bottom of the freezer where it then freezes again. However, it is so much easier to lever frozen water from the bottom than to fiddle with frost on shelves and the internal back and sides of the freezer that I don't worry about this too much.

It shouldn't be a problem on shelves. You just take out the drawers, and melt the ice with a hairdryer, then dry with whatever is convenient - I use an ancient (but clean) towel. Pick a time of year - spring or autumn[1] - when your outside temperature is comfortable but not hot. That's where the freezer's design really makes a difference: ideally there should be nowhere the water pools, and nowhere that's not easily accessible to wipe down.

[1] both, if it needs frequent defrosting. And better to defrost before it's got so bad it really bothers you - or even starts to perform visibly badly.

[Alaric]

In my experience, frost free fridges and freezers are dependent on a drain hole which decants defrosted water outside the compartment into a plastic tray mounted on top of the compressor. The normal waste heat from the compressor then evaporates off the water.

On freezers, there are two types. On one, the water is evaporated and a fan circulates cold air. On the other the excess moisture is frozen into ice sheets at the bottom, which you have to remove periodically.

With the model I have, there's a fast freeze button on the evaporation type. What it does is run the compressor and fan continuously.

[richlist]

We find that using a wallpaper stripper......the steamer type......is ideal for defrosting a freezer. In fact most wallpaper strippers come with a small attachment for scraping the ice off the inside of freezers.

[88V8]

We had a freezer in the shed. I connected it through a thermostat wired to switch off if the temp went below yea....
Worked fine for many years.

We have a Liebherr that fits into a 22" width, but it's a fridge-freezer so not much help. Their freezers are mostly too wide &/or too high.
https://home.liebherr.com/en/gbr/produc ... tml?page=1

Bear in mind the thermostat option, easy to do.

V8