The weekend is here and you’re thinking about grilling those beautiful baby back ribs you bought some time ago. You open the freezer door and, well, your ribs are firmly lodged in a thick layer of frost!

Now you’re having a headache thinking about how to chisel them out. You tell yourself, once again, with resignation, that next time, you’ll leave them out to defrost. But what if you didn’t have to worry about defrosting? What if you could reach into your freezer for a cut of beef, for a bowl of vegetable mix, ready to go straight into the pan. That’s where frost-free refrigerators come in. But what is a frost free refrigerator and why should you buy one?

How Does Frost Form in Refrigerators? 

Frost develops when moist air comes into contact with either the cooling coils or the cold surfaces within the freezer. The moisture in the air first condenses and then freezes, causing a thin layer of fine ice particles known to form.

Over time, this layer can reach several centimetres thick, reducing the availability of space in your refrigerator, and sometimes covering items that are already in your freezer, making them difficult to remove. 

There are several things that may exacerbate the formation of frost. Frequent door openings and defective door seals can cause more warm and moist air to enter the freezer. Also, the significant level of moisture in Singapore’s hot and humid air can cause frost buildup to happen even faster. 

How Do Frost Free Refrigerators Work?

In older refrigerators, defrosting would have to be done periodically. In effect, this involves switching off the refrigerator and letting the ice and frost melt away, before turning it on again. 

With frost free refrigerators, three important elements are added to the refrigerator. These parts are designed to prevent the accumulation of frost, either on the cooling coils or on storage surfaces. 

• Heating elements that are wrapped around the cooling coils.
• A timer
• A temperature sensor

With frost free refrigerators, the defrosting process is done automatically rather than manually. At a preset time, the timer will cause the heating elements around the cooling coils to heat up, melting any frost that has been formed. When all the ice has gone, the temperature sensors kick in to detect if the cooling coils have reached a temperature warmer than 0℃, by which time they immediately turn off the heating elements. 

The Benefits of Frost Free Refrigeration

No Disruptions to Daily Life

Unlike regular refrigerators that have to be manually defrosted on a regular basis, frost free refrigerators do not need to be defrosted manually at all. This makes them low maintenance, and less likely to cause a disruption to your daily life. 

Manual defrostings are time consuming and an inconvenience, as the refrigerators will be unusable for up to a couple of days while the ice melts. It’s also tedious, as the refrigerator has to be emptied and you’ll have to find alternative chillers for certain foods. 

Frost free refrigerators allow you to skip this process and only be cleaned if there are spills or stains. 

Avoiding Frost Damage

The build up of frost and ice has the potential to cause damage to your storage surfaces, as well as to the food. Food, especially, can be affected in terms of taste, texture and appearance. Additionally, some of the natural nutrition within these stored food may be stripped by the presence of fine frost particles. 

A frost free refrigerator allows food to be stored in pristine conditions without significant changes to its appearance and nutritional value. Not only is this good for your budget, as it prevents food wastage, it’s good for your health and wellbeing, too. 

Long Term Energy Efficiency

Although frost free refrigerators use, on average, more energy for every heating cycle, they actually help you save on your energy bill in the long run. This is because the buildup of ice in traditional fridges decreases cooling efficiency, requiring more energy for the compressor to function and produce cooled air in order to reach the same low temperature targets compared to a clearer, frost and ice free refrigerator. 

Clearer Storage Space

This is one advantage for those who usually keep fresh meats, iced desserts and other items in their freezer. The build up of frost and ice affects freezer storage capacity the most, reducing available space and causing food to be stuck to icy surfaces. 

Not only can you now store more food items, you can also retrieve them fairly quickly and easily. All containers or bags will be visible, and you won’t have to chisel away at frosty blocks to reach what you need. 

The Bottom Line

Whether it’s eliminating the need for manual defrosting, or better food preservation, and more usable space, frost-free refrigerators offer many significant advantages, making them a natural fit for modern living spaces. Explore our Mayer selection of refrigerators, all of which integrate frost free technology 

We have a variety of options, from the spacious 480L 2-Door Frost Free Top Mount Freezer Fridge to the more compact 334L 2-Door Frost Free Top Mount Freezer Fridge. Better yet, our refrigerators are eligible for Climate Vouchers so claim your $400 vouchers with us and save on your refrigerator purchase. 

Contact us should you have any questions about our refrigerators or how to use your Climate Vouchers.