Questions You Should Know about No Frost System Built-in Refrigerator

Key Takeaways

If you have an old refrigerator or one of the small dorm refrigerators, you know all about the frost that forms around the coils that cool the freezer. If you let it build up long enough, the frost can get 6 inches thick and eventually there is no room to put anything in the freezer.

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This frost forms when water vapor hits the cold coils. The water vapor condenses -- turns to liquid water. Think of the water beading up on a glass of iced tea on a summer day -- that is an example of water vapor in the air condensing. The same thing happens on the ice-cold freezer coils, except that when the water condenses onto the coils it immediately freezes.

A frost-free freezer has three basic parts:

Every six hours or so, the timer turns on the heating coil. The heating coil is wrapped among the freezer coils. The heater melts the ice off the coils. When all of the ice is gone, the temperature sensor senses the temperature rising above 32 degrees F (0 degrees C) and turns off the heater.

Heating the coils every six hours takes energy, and it also cycles the food in the freezer through temperature changes. Most large chest freezers therefore require manual defrosting instead -- the food lasts longer and the freezer uses less power.

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If frost coats and builds up in a refrigerator/freezer, it can leave little room for anything else. It also forces the unit to work harder. As a result, energy is wasted and your electric bill goes up. Frost-free refrigerators avoid these problems. Here, we’ll discuss how they work, starting with why frost forms in a fridge in the first place.

Why Does Refrigerator Frost Form?

Frost is the result of water vapor condensing on cold coils inside the refrigerator. These coils distribute refrigerant that absorbs heat to keep the interior cold. As the vapor condenses into liquid, the surface temperature is cold enough for it to freeze, eventually forming a layer that may be several inches thick.

How a Frost-Free Refrigerator Avoids This Issue

A frost-free fridge, which is just about any model sold today, uses various methods to prevent frost. It often has a temperature sensor to monitor conditions inside the unit. When ice forms or temperature falls below a certain threshold, the sensor can trigger a heating cycle, and turn off any heating element when the temperature rises above 32℉. However, this isn’t the only process a frost-free refrigerator may use; others include:

• Defrost Timer: A built-in mechanism is programmed to turn on a heater, for example, every six hours. It can also be set to trigger after the compressor has run for a specific time period. Adaptive timers can track not only when the compressor runs, but also how many times the refrigerator door is opened and other parameters.
• Defrost Heater: The defrost heater is usually placed near the evaporator coils where frost tends to build up. It can be woven through the coils as well. Oftentimes, the heater is a wire filament within a glass or aluminum tube; electricity heats the tube and melts any frost nearby. Melted liquid and condensation collect in a drip pan where they evaporate.
• Defrost Heating Elements: An anti-sweat heating element is built into the refrigerator frame to stop condensation from building up on the appliance’s exterior. A small heater may be placed under the water dispenser tube of fridges with a water supply system in the door. It prevents the water dispenser line from freezing.

What About Efficiency?

It is true that adding heat to a refrigerator increases energy consumption. Temperature changes can affect food stored in the freezer. In some models, especially large chest freezers, food may not last as long, which is why manual defrosting is used. This also uses less power.

In fact, a manual defrost unit may use half as much energy. But the amount of maintenance it needs can be inconvenient and time-consuming. Factoring in the inefficiencies that frost can cause, a frost-free refrigerator with an anti-sweat heater uses about 5% to 10% more energy than a model without one. However, you can save energy by using the heater manually (i.e., turning it on only when condensation is visible).

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