How often should I defrost my refrigerator?

Why should you defrost the refrigerator?

There are multiple reasons why you should defrost your refrigerator. The first reason is the ice build-up in your freezer takes up available space. The ice build-up can also interfere with the working of your refrigerator. If the frost layer builds on the evaporating coil, then you will see a loss of heat.

The frost layer affects the energy efficiency of your refrigerator as well. Since it ends up working harder to maintain the cooling, it ends up consuming more energy as well. Frost build-up also results in bad odour after some time. All these reasons are why defrosting is important for refrigerators.

There are a couple of ways to defrost your refrigerator. You can follow them to get rid of frosting.

Automatically defrosting your freezer

1. Empty your freezer.

2. Find the temperature knob of your fridge.

3. You can see the guidelines on how to do defrosting right beside the temperature knob.

4. You will find the button at the centre of the temperature knob.

Manually defrosting your fridge

1. Unplug your refrigerator from power.

2. Open your freezer.

3. Bring out all the items from the freezer.

4. Remove drawers and ice cube trays, if any.

5. Put a bowl of hot water inside. The hot water will speed up the thawing process.

6. Now, you just have to wait till the ice breaks down.

7. When all the ice is melted, you can wipe out any dirt with a cloth.

Frost-free refrigerators

Frost free refrigerators come with a heating coil and temperature sensor. They automatically detect when frost is formed, and activate the heater to evaporate the ice. This mechanism doesn’t require you to press any button.

How often should you defrost?

There’s no straightforward answer to this. Many advise defrosting once a year. But this works if your use is minimal, the area around your fridge is cool, and the frost buildup is less. But, if you often use a refrigerator and live in a humid place, then you will need to defrost multiple times. You should check the size of the ice layer and then decide on defrosting.

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